Wyndham Worldwide Named to DiversityInc's Top 50 Companies for Diversity for Third Year

PARSIPPANY, N.J., April 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Recognized for the recruitment, professional development, and inclusive environment provided to all associates, guests and customers, Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN), one of the world's largest hospitality companies, was named one of the DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity. This marks the third consecutive year Wyndham Worldwide has been in the Top 50.

"With over 34,000 associates serving millions of customers across six continents, our commitment to maintaining strong diversity in perspective, talent, and background keeps Wyndham Worldwide an exceptional hospitality provider, a successful company, and a great place to work," said Stephen P. Holmes, chairman and CEO, Wyndham Worldwide. "For us diversity isn't a program, it's simply how we do business."

Wyndham Worldwide remains committed on growing its businesses globally, with a focus on its performance and people in the communities where it operates. Believing diversity enriches the organization as a global hospitality provider; Wyndham Worldwide is dedicated to providing opportunity, education, resources, leadership and a voice for every individual, so that the Company can best deliver memorable experiences to its customers.  

Highlights of the Company's Diversity and Inclusion key initiatives include:

• A host of Associate Business Groups designed for employees to engage in the business expansion process, networking, personal and professional development and affiliation with colleagues across the Company that share common interests and experiences. Most recently, the Company introduced its newest group, NEXT, which works to foster an environment that encourages knowledge sharing and increased productivity while creating meaningful relationships, and driving business through initiatives that further the understanding of the varying needs of each generation to produce better services and products.
• Professional development and mentorship offerings for the entire workforce, including women, which represent almost 55 percent of the Company's total U.S. workforce and 38 percent of all director-level and above positions.
• Programs designed to increase and leverage diversity in the hospitality industry through ownership and the customer's experience. For example, Hoseasons, one of Wyndham Exchange & Rentals brands, recently announced it will launch a campaign appealing to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender holidaymakers.
• Partnering with Springboard Consulting to complete a comprehensive corporate disability assessment and gap analysis, supporting a strategic plan that aligns with the Company's existing community outreach, as well as recruitment and employment of people with disabilities. 
• Developing a national scholarship program for the 2015/2016 school year to formalize the Company's existing support of minority and economically disadvantaged students, while continuing support of local schools in communities where it operates.

DiversityInc also announced a number of Specialty Lists. Wyndham Worldwide was named as one of the top 10 companies for Supplier Diversity (#4), Global Diversity (#6) and Diversity Councils (#7). This marks the first time the Company was named to three Specialty Lists.

Wyndham Worldwide has also been named a Top 50 Company for Latinas by LATINA Style, recognized by the Human Rights Campaign as one of the "Best Places to Work for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Equality" and by the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility. Additionally, the Company maintains strong partnerships with organizations such as the National Diversity Council, Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, National Society of Hispanic MBAs and National Association of Black, Hispanic, Asian and Women MBAs.

"Maintaining an inclusive environment where every person feels able to contribute and deliver their best performance, provides us with a rich foundation of perspectives and experiences that benefit our company, our customers, and our communities," said Patricia Lee, senior vice president, human resources and chief diversity officer, Wyndham Worldwide. "This is made possible every day by the behaviors, decisions, and actions of our leaders and associates who embrace our Company's core values and work to enhance the supportive culture that we have." 

Wyndham Worldwide has worked to integrate its associates, business and communities in all that it does, with a strategic focus on the environment and sustainability, diversity and inclusion, community support and responsiveness, and human rights and ethics. In the years since its introduction on the NYSE in 2006, the Company has continued to demonstrate its leadership in being a responsible corporate citizen.

DiversityInc, the leading publication on diversity and business, annually recognizes companies that exemplify meaningful diversity management through their corporate practice. The DiversityInc Top 50 list includes companies from a wide range of industries whose leadership, procurement practices, communications and associate engagement best reflect the reality of the rapidly changing face of today's dynamic workforce.

About Wyndham Worldwide
One of the world's largest hospitality companies, Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN) provides a wide range of hospitality services and products through its global portfolio of world-renowned brands.  The world's largest hotel company based on the number of properties, Wyndham Hotel Group is home to many of the world's best-known hotel brands, with over 7,600 franchised hotels and approximately 661,000 hotel rooms worldwide. Wyndham Exchange & Rentals is the worldwide leader in vacation exchange and the world's largest professional manager of vacation rentals, providing more than 5 million leisure-bound families annually with access to over 107,000 vacation properties in over 100 countries through its prominent exchange and vacation rental brands. The industry and timeshare ownership market leader, Wyndham Vacation Ownership develops, markets, and sells vacation ownership interests and provides consumer financing to owners through its network of over 200 vacation ownership resorts serving approximately 904,000 owners throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and the South Pacific. Based in Parsippany, NJ, Wyndham Worldwide employs over 34,000 associates globally.

For more information, please visit www.wyndhamworldwide.com.

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