IN THIS ISSUE:

Introducing TravelCLICK Interactive

2002 eMarketer of the Year
Award
Categories

Savoy's Big Win on Orbitz

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Winter 2002         

Electronic Booking
Forecast for 2003
New TC Interactive Division Helps Maximize Direct Distribution

As electronic distribution of room nights continues to grow, many hoteliers are asking, "Are we doing everything possible to maximize our share of business?"

In TravelCLICK's forecast for 2003, the GDS remains the largest source of electronic bookings for hotels. TravelCLICK advises clients to remain focused on this lucrative source of room nights.

The Internet will continue experiencing dramatic growth, as third party sites such as Priceline, Expedia, and Orbitz remain key sources of room nights. However, many hoteliers fail to recognize the importance of direct distribution through their own property or chain Web site.

Direct distribution via the Internet in 2003 is forecasted to be 1.5 times the size of the third party Web site marketplace.

Hotels need to pay more attention to developing their direct online presence, not only because of the impressive size of this marketplace, but more importantly, property and chain sites represent the electronic channels with the lowest distribution cost. In addition, these sites are attracting an increasing consumer audience because of the quality and breadth of content.

Introducing TravelCLICK Interactive

In response to hotels' distribution and revenue management needs, TravelCLICK has launched a new division: TravelCLICK Interactive. This division is now assisting hotels, owners and management companies in online strategies to increase consumer direct business and achieve lower distribution costs. Among the services that can help hotels are:

• Internet Marketing Planning: A comprehensive review of the property's E-commerce strategy includes E-distribution analysis, site navigation and database applications.

• Search Engine Optimization: Almost 90% of on-line consumers use search engines to find products on-line.

TC Interactive helps hotels maximize their presence on these critically important search engines.

• Web Site Review: A thorough usability and content assessment to identify opportunities for improving user experience and conversions.

• Electronic Marketing: Electronic campaign planning and database assistance for driving more direct bookings.

At the helm of TravelCLICK Interactive is Richard Chambers, former founder of hospitality-marketing.com, senior marketing alumnus of The Leading Hotels of the World and Omni Hotels, and co-author of the global marketing textbook Marketing Leadership in Hospitality. "Richard Chambers knows the online marketplace, and his approach will help hotels drive increased direct business with reduced marketing and distribution costs," said Ray Cohen, president and co-CEO of TravelCLICK. For more information, please contact your local TravelCLICK expert.




TravelCLICK Launches "EMC"
Client Extranet Provides Exclusive Access for New Data Reports

In response to the hotel industry's widespread adoption of Internet tools in day-to-day operations, TravelCLICK has developed a client extranet, called the Electronic Marketing Centre or "EMC," now in use by 60 select clients during its pre-launch phase.

The EMC is a secure, password-protected extranet that enables users to access, manipulate and archive competitive benchmarking and electronic marketing campaign data in an environment customized for their individual hotel. The EMC will be the exclusive source for all of TravelCLICK's future data tools, including the new RateVIEW and enhanced Hotelligence reports.

The new enhanced Hotelligence report differentiates between the top travel agencies and Web sites for delivering weekend versus weekday room nights. RateVIEW is the only competitive rate monitoring report that allows hotels to separately identify retail from net (wholesale) rates on sites such as Expedia and Hotels.com.

As the EMC is fully deployed, TravelCLICK will be providing access to more hotels. For more information, please view our tour on www.travelclick.net, email wmead@travelclick.net, or contact your local expert.



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