Pleasant Holidays Selects Travelweb LLC as Exclusive Provider of Net-Rate Hotel Inventory for the Internet Vacation Package Site

Business Wire, Dec 18, 2002

Business/Travel/Internet Writers

DALLAS & WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 18, 2002

Agreement Significantly Expands Travelweb LLC's Online Distribution

Reach for its Hotel Customers and Marks First Discount

Hotel Product Offered by Pleasant Holidays

Dallas-based Travelweb LLC today announced it has signed an agreement with Pleasant Holidays to become the exclusive provider of private-label net-rate hotel inventory for the PleasantHolidays.com vacation travel Web site. Pleasant Holidays is one of the world's largest vacation package providers and this agreement marks the first time the company will offer travel agents net-rate hotel products for their clients via the Internet.

According to the agreement, Westlake Village, Calif.-based Pleasant Holidays plans to begin offering its affiliates Travelweb LLC's wide selection of net-rate hotel room inventory under private label in the first quarter of 2003.

Pleasant Holidays currently boasts leisure product distribution affiliations with more than 20,000 travel agencies nationwide, including AAA Travel, American Express Travel Related Services and Carlson Wagonlit Travel, which greatly expands Travelweb LLC's distribution reach for its participating hotel brands and properties. AAA's individual local travel clubs offer Pleasant's packaged vacation products to more than 45 million members through PleasantHolidays.com and AAA.com. Pleasant Holidays' affiliates American Express Travel and Carlson Wagonlit Travel are ranked the top two travel agencies, respectively, in the United States in 2002 by Travel Weekly Magazine.

"Travelweb LLC's automated merchant model approach gives Pleasant Holidays the opportunity to offer travel agents and their clients the latest and often the best deals on popular hotels in many of the top vacation destinations worldwide," said Tim Irwin, Pleasant Holidays' president and chief executive officer. "This agreement will also make it possible to further strengthen our distribution affiliations with leading travel retailers by providing discount hotel products to their customers. Travelweb's new automated model and private-label hotel offering is flexible enough to be easily integrated as a fully-branded discount hotel product for Pleasant Holidays' and our affiliates' customers."

The first of its kind in the hotel industry, Travelweb LLC's model enables hoteliers to offer consumers the most current discounted hotel rooms directly from hotels' central reservations systems (CRS) and to dynamically allocate net-rate inventory that has generally not been available to consumers through online travel sites. This direct CRS connection eliminates the error-prone manual method and helps ensure a smooth hotel stay for consumers.

Travelweb LLC's model also benefits affiliate travel Web sites by bolstering their travel offerings to travel agents, which helps increase revenues. Travelweb LLC's net-rate distribution program includes top worldwide hotel brands including Omni Hotels and Kimpton Boutique Hotels, as well as Travelweb LLC investors Hilton Hotels Corporation, Hyatt Corporation, Marriott International, Inc., Six Continents Hotels and Starwood Hotels.

"The addition of Pleasant Holidays is a significant milestone in Travelweb LLC's affiliate distribution strategy," said Joe Humphry, chief executive officer of Travelweb LLC. "Travelweb LLC is expanding Pleasant Holidays' affiliate offerings to include net-rate hotel rooms, while greatly increasing the inventory distribution reach for our net-rate hotel program participants. Pleasant Holidays now has the ability to capitalize on the booming online discount hotel sector to enhance its strong relationships with its distribution affiliates by offering a vast selection of net-rate hotel products in some of the world's most desirable leisure destinations."

The Travelweb LLC Automated Model

For years, hoteliers have been using an antiquated and inefficient method to distribute discount hotel inventory via the Internet. Traditionally, wholesale travel agencies and Web sites fax or e-mail consumer room requests to the hotel properties. These requests are manually keyed into hotels' property management systems. However, often there are missing faxes, incorrect reservations and numerous customer service nightmares for hotel operators. In addition, consumers typically receive a confirmation number from the Web site, NOT from the hotel property - often leading to lack of consumer confidence that their rooms will be ready upon arrival to their destination.

Through Pegasus Solutions' leading technology, Travelweb LLC changed the net-rate distribution landscape by introducing the hotel industry's first direct connection to hotels' central reservations systems. For hotel operators, Travelweb LLC automates the distribution of net-rate rooms by enabling them to allot discounted inventory in real time and better manage yield and revenue for rooms that may otherwise go unsold. Additionally, Travelweb LLC's model significantly reduces the typical electronic distribution costs that hoteliers have been accustomed to through the non-automated model. Consumers now have direct access to a wide selection of discounted hotel room rates worldwide that are often the most competitive on the Internet. Once a room is booked through one of Travelweb LLC's private-label affiliate Web sites, such as Orbitz, continental.com, and PleasantAgent.com, consumers receive a confirmation number directly from the hotel's CRS, not from the travel Web site, helping to ensure hassle-free check-in for travelers and higher customer satisfaction.