With Priceline's (PCLN) stock gaining a staggering 1800% ($23 Jan 2006 to $440 in Jan 2011) since the beginning of 2006, it comes as no surprise that it has been recognized as the single best-performing stock in the S&P 500 over the past five years. Priceline is the second largest player in terms of booking volumes after Expedia and competes with other leading online travel agencies such as Travelocity, Orbitz in the very competitive online travel industry in the U.S.

Exotic locales still want those tourists from the developed world, but they're now seeking another lucrative customer: tourists from China.

Marriott International (NYSE: MAR), a leading brand in the highly competitive hotelier industry, posted third-quarter results Thursday morning. Management actually went beyond the high end of its guidance by producing adjusted income from continuing operations of 15 cents per diluted share. According to our earnings preview, Wall Street was figuring on 13 cents per share for the bottom line.

Of course, the earnings beat has to be put in some perspective. Earnings from continuing operations declined well over 50% year-over-year. And the top line plunged 17%. These are significant drops, and they show that the global recession still has some bite left in it, no matter what some of the rosier headlines as of late have said about a recovery.

Despite a net increase of 1.6% in U.S. exports in May 2009, services exports fell 0.4% with travel and tourism exports off a whopping 3% month-over-month. According to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, spending related to travel from other countries to the United States fell to $9.5 billion for the month – down 22% year-over-year.

The global travel market continues to feel the squeeze from an ongoing recession, as travel discounts and cheaper fares have been insufficient to counteract sluggish consumer spending. Recreational travel just isn't a priority these days, and businesses are curtailing travel budgets as they try to shore up their resources and spend prudently.

How can exports not rebound? Last year ended on a sour note after posting record results, and 2009 is by all accounts likely to be ugly. The tourism and travel industry is expected to shed more than 200,000 jobs this year. Fortunately, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. The U.S. Department of Commerce expects international visits to the United States to come back in 2010 – after its first forecasted year of decline (i.e., 2009) since 2003.

This year, international travel to the United States is expected to fall 8%. The following year, however, U.S. travel exports are expected to gain 5%, with 5% annual increases through the end of 2013. We'll come out ahead in all this, but it's going to take some time.

Will the influx of foreign visitors over the next four years be enough to turn the travel industry in the United States around? It's too soon to tell right now, and much will depend on the contributions made by domestic routes. Needless to say, even this glimmer of hope must be welcome to investors committed to the airline and hotel sectors.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: HOT) Chief Executive Steven Heyer passed up $35 million in severance after he was ousted following allegations of personal misconduct.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal [subscription required], Heyer said he gave up the money because "life is too short" to defend himself against the allegations. "I'm burned out," he told the paper "I wanted to walk away from this job with my head held high."

Heyer's attempt at taking the high road is hard to believe.

An anonymous letter sent to Starwood's board in February had 10 specific instances that alegedly showed that Heyer had created a "hostile work environment," the Journal said, adding that Heyer was accused of making inappropriate physical contact with a female employee outside a public restroom. Heyer denied the allegations.

There must have been pretty damning evidence against him for Heyer to give up a big severance package. He still isn't poor, though, collecting $250,000 in salary, a $2 million bonus, and restricted stock that has vested worth $4.8 million, Bloomberg News said.

Starwood deserves credit for acting swiftly and decisively in this matter. These days, companies have little tolerance these days for this type of boorish behavior from chief executives or anyone else for that matter.

There may be a silver lining in this for investors.

Since Heyer vowed to keep Starwood independent, his departure may lead to a sale of the hotelier to founder Barry Sternlicht, the owner of Starwood Capital, or other private-equity firms, according to Bloomberg.