HOTELMARKETING.COM

Orbitz expands merchant program

February 11, 2004 |

Thanks to Choice Hotels International, Destination Hotels & Resorts and Kimpton Hotels, Orbitz' merchant program is now surpassing the 7000 mark of participating hotels.

Orbitz announced that the number of participating hotels in its expanding merchant program has surpassed the 7,000 mark, enhanced by new partnerships with Choice Hotels International, Destination Hotels & Resorts and Kimpton Hotels that all offer discount OrbitzSaver rates.

“Our new agreements with these major players in the hotel industry give travelers even more reasons to book their lodging arrangements on Orbitz.com, where they can save up to 70 percent off retail rates at popular hotels and resorts,” said John Samuel, executive vice president of Consumer Travel at Orbitz. “The addition of Choice Hotels, with its family of well-known economy and mid-scale brands, enhances Orbitz’ selection of affordable hotel options. In addition, Destination and Kimpton expand our assortment of luxury resorts and upscale boutique properties.”

“Distributing our hotel rates and inventory via a strong partner like Orbitz allows Choice Hotels to further expand our online reach and to lower costs for our franchisees worldwide,” said Mary Beth Knight, vice president, e-commerce for Choice Hotels.

OrbitzConnect, a virtual pipeline between Orbitz and its merchant hotel partners’ central reservations system, offers hotels a more flexible approach to managing online inventory. OrbitzConnect allows hotels to update their content displayed on Orbitz.com from reservation confirmations and room rates to amenity information and enhanced room descriptions, seamlessly and in real- time.

By helping hotels reduce labor and operating costs, Orbitz is able to enhance its breadth of OrbitzSaver rates and help consumers increase their savings opportunities through more discount hotel rates.

These new, desirable OrbitzSaver rates add to Orbitz’ existing wide selection of merchant and published rates at 45,000 independent hotels and brand name chains worldwide.

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