Internet Travel Network (ITN) And Pegasus Systems / Travelweb Announce Partnership For Online Air And Hotel Bookings
Dallas, TX and Palo Alto, CA - April 21, 1997 - Internet Travel Network (www.itn.net)(ITN) and TravelWeb(SM) (www.travelweb.com), both leading online travel reservations services, today announced that each company will utilize the other's technology for online travel bookings.
As a result of the agreement, ITN's easy-to-use airline reservation system will be installed on TravelWeb, one of the most popular travel reservations sites on the Internet. ITN in turn, will use Pegasus Systems, Inc.'s THISCO hotel booking capabilities for its own popular public site, providing ITN's users with direct reservations access to more than 13,000 hotels in more than 140 countries.
ITN also intends to offer the advanced hotel booking capabilities to its numerous private-label leisure travel Web sites and to its corporate travel management Intranet clients.
ITN hosts over 125 private-label and corporate booking systems as a third-party provider of Internet-based travel technology using reservations data supplied by the major airline-owned global distribution systems (GDS) such as Apollo, System One, Worldspan and Sabre. This agreement with Pegasus Systems marks the first time that ITN and its various sites will gain direct access to hotel reservations systems without having to access the GDSs.
ITN said it will immediately begin work to integrate Pegasus Systems' hotel booking system, rolling it out first to its many private label and corporate customers, which include leisure travel services such as American Express, Ticketmaster, Global Online Travel, and corporate clients such as Texas Instruments, VeriFone, and Nationsbank. With connections through Pegasus Systems' THISCO system, ITN customers will have a direct connection to hotel companies' room reservations inventory.
"Pegasus Systems gives ITN and ITN customers a vastly improved link to hotel inventory and to hotel information in general," said Ken Swanton, ITN CEO. "We feel our ability to offer and book hotels is now greatly enhanced through our partnership with Pegasus Systems."
TravelWeb intends to incorporate ITN's flight reservations booking system by June. "ITN has demonstrated its commitment to providing its private-label Web site customers with the most advanced, yet easy-to-use, airline reservations capabilities," said John F. Davis III, CEO of Pegasus Systems, TravelWeb's parent company. "Although we added airline booking to TravelWeb last year, the additional flight reservations features that ITN offers will further enhance the site. We believe our TravelWeb customers will appreciate the additional functionality.
"Likewise, our hotel clients, which include the more than 14,500 hotels currently in TravelWeb, will enjoy the additional exposure and distribution opportunities that ITN and its clients will provide."
About TravelWeb and Pegasus Systems
Dallas-based Pegasus Systems, Inc., parent company of TravelWeb(SM), THISCO(TM) (The Hotel Industry Switch Company), and HCC(TM) (The Hotel Clearing Corp.), provides global electronic distribution technology solutions to hotels, travel agencies, meetings and convention planners and corporate travel departments around the world. In late 1995, Pegasus Systems expanded its THISCO technology to provide hotel reservations capabilities over the Internet via its Web site TravelWeb (www.travelweb.com). In 1996, TravelWeb users booked more than $6 million worth of hotel room reservations. Currently, TravelWeb receives about 27,000 visitors per day, and approximately 30 percent of TravelWeb's users are located outside the U.S. Pegasus Systems' major shareholders include 15 large hotel and travel companies.
About Internet Travel Network
Internet Travel Network(ITN) () provides complete travel reservation services over the Internet to consumers, corporate and leisure travel markets. Providing air, car and hotel reservations on the Web, ITN enables fast, fun and easy-to-use booking systems for travelers. ITN's system interconnects with existing major travel reservation systems for speed, accuracy and reliability around the clock. ITN's customers and partners include Worldview Systems, CNN interactive, Travel and Transport, Ticketmaster Corporation, Global Online Travel and Associated Travel Services, Inc. ITN's corporate customers include Texas Instruments, Schering Plough, World Bank and many others. The company is privately held and headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif. ITN's public service is located on the World Wide Web at www.itn.net
TravelWeb B-Roll Available: Both PAL and NTSC
Pegasus Systems, Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in the trademarks or names of companies listed.
CONTACT:
Karin Wacaser
Pegasus Systems, Inc.
