NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Hospitality provider Starwood Hotels announced Tuesday that it plans to create 12,000 new jobs worldwide in 2010, increasing its staff by more than 8%, with about half of the new positions located in the United States.
Starwood (HOT, Fortune 500), which employs 145,000 workers at hotels in more than 100 countries, said a majority of the additions will be made at the 80 to 100 new hotels the company and its development partners are slated to open this year in both large markets and small markets worldwide.
Starwood chief executive Fritz van Paasschen, in a statement, said the travel industry -- which already employs 7.7 million Americans -- is in a unique position to spur job creation after a year of cutting costs.
The new hotels will have open positions in general management, human resources, food and beverage, engineering and maintenance, housekeeping and spa and guest service, the company said.
Starwood operates properties under nine brands including Westin, Sheraton, and W Hotel. It will begin to fill positions at soon-to-open hotels in Austin, Texas, Brooklyn, N.Y., Biloxi, Miss., and on Vieques Island in Puerto Rico.
The company said the jobs are expected to be in high demand, since Starwood hotels drew a record number of job applicants in 2009, with more than 10,000 people vying for 300 openings at a recently opened W Hotel in Washington, D.C. 
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