Starwood Hotels and Resorts acknowledged a growing impact of U.S. consumer-based weakness, airline cutbacks and business travel reductions in some sectors

. "A few non-U.S. markets [are] starting to be impacted, like London, Paris and Tokyo," said chief financial operator Vasant Prabhu, who also mentioned Ireland and Spain. In the United States, "new group bookings are declining, although cancellations are not up and we are still facing a positive territory for the balance of year and 2009."