Press Release: Pegasus Solutions, Inc.
July 3, 2002
DALLAS & WASHINGTON -- Pegasus Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq:PEGS) yesterday announced it has inked a five-year deal
with Washington, D.C.-based Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE:MAR) for centralized management of travel agency
commissions for Pegasus' member agencies. Under the agreement, Marriott International's nearly 2,400 hotels and
resorts in the United States and in 64 other countries will continue to participate in Pegasus Commission Processing,
the hotel industry's leading travel agent commission processing service. The Pegasus Commission Processing service
was created in 1992 by Dallas-based Pegasus Solutions, a leading provider of hotel industry transaction processing
and electronic commerce services.
Marriott began working with Pegasus Commission Processing in 1997 and represents one of Pegasus' top 10 hotel customers
using Pegasus' commission management service. Pegasus Commission Processing continues to handle the centralized
processing and consolidated payment of Pegasus member travel agency commissions worldwide on behalf of Marriott
International's properties operating under the brands of Marriott, JW Marriott, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Courtyard,
TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites and Ramada International.
According to Larraine Voll Morris, Marriott International's vice president of global sales, service and support,
travel agents continue to be valued business partners for this global leader in hospitality, and Marriott's long-term
relationship with Pegasus helps to ensure the travel agent community continues to be very satisfied with this hotel
giant's commission payment performance. "Pegasus provides a great benefit to its member travel agencies by
consolidating Marriott hotel commissions with those of other participating hotels and making it easier for agencies
to process, track and manage these payments," Voll Morris said.
Voll Morris continued, "Pegasus processes a significant portion of our agency commissions each month and truly
complements Marriott's Centralized Travel Agency Commission (CTAC) system."
"Throughout its 75-year history, Marriott has earned a reputation in the travel industry for paying agent
commissions in a timely and accurate manner. We are pleased to have helped solidify Marriott's stellar position
with the travel agent community," said Jeff Bzdawka, senior vice president of Pegasus Financial Services.
"We also congratulate Marriott on its 75th anniversary!"
Extracting information from Marriott International's central depository of hotel transactions, Pegasus collects
monthly guest stay information related to hotel bookings made by travel agencies and travel Web sites that are
members of Pegasus Commission Processing. Pegasus consolidates Marriott's hotel information and commission payments
with similar information and payments from other Pegasus participating hotels. Pegasus then sends detailed reports
and a consolidated commission payment in the agency's choice of currency. Member travel agencies are located in
more than 200 countries. By participating in Pegasus Commission Processing, many member travel agencies and travel
Web sites have realized increases in commission revenue and a reduction in expenses associated with typical manual
methods for tracking, collecting and managing hotel commissions.
Travel agencies can also elect to receive total automated commission management through Pegasus' Electronic Reconciliation
& Tracking service, which experienced 42 percent growth in agency participation in 2001. Pegasus also maintains
highly responsive customer service support for travel agencies, with more than 70 percent of queries being serviced
while agents are on the phone with Pegasus. With the majority of travel agencies worldwide as subscribers and more
than 32,000 hotel property members, Pegasus processes an average of $41 million in travel agent commissions per
month on behalf of more than 80 hotel companies in 159 countries.
Company Information
Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE:MAR), a leading worldwide hospitality company celebrating its 75th anniversary
in 2002, has nearly 2,600 operating units in the United States and 64 other countries and territories. Marriott
International operates and franchises hotels under the Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Residence
Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites and Ramada International brand names; develops
and operates vacation ownership resorts under the Marriott Vacation Club International, Horizons, The Ritz-Carlton
Club and Marriott Grand Residence Club brands; operates Marriott Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate
housing through its Marriott ExecuStay division; and operates conference centers. Other Marriott businesses include
senior living communities and services, and wholesale food distribution. The company is headquartered in Washington,
D.C., and has approximately 142,500 employees. In fiscal year 2001, Marriott International reported systemwide
sales of $20 billion. For more information or reservations, please visit our web site at www.marriott.com.
Dallas-based Pegasus Solutions, Inc. (www.pegs.com) is a leading global provider
of hotel reservation technologies. Its services include central reservations systems; electronic distribution services
that connect more than 44,000 hotels to the Internet and to the global distribution systems (GDS); travel agent
commission processing and payment services; the Utell marketing and reservation representation service (www.Utell.com);
and PegasusCentral(TM), a Web-based enterprise solution with property management applications. Pegasus' customers
comprise tens of thousands of travel agencies around the world, including the top 10 largest U.S.-based travel
agencies(1); more than 48,000 hotel properties around the globe, including all of the 50 largest hotel brands in
the world based on total number of guest rooms(2); and thousands of Web sites/services have their hotel reservations
Powered by Pegasus(TM). In addition to its corporate headquarters in Dallas, Pegasus has 22 offices in 16 countries,
including regional hubs in Phoenix, London and Singapore. The company's stock is traded on the Nasdaq National
Market under the symbol PEGS.
This statement contains references to future events and projected results, including anticipated transactions involving
the Company and its service offerings. There can be no assurance that the referenced future events or projected
results will actually occur or that the future financial performance of the Company will be as projected. Actual
occurrences, results and performance may differ substantially and materially from those projected as a result of
a number of risks and uncertainties, such as adverse changes in general market conditions for business and leisure
travel as a result of additional terrorist activities, action by U.S. military forces, changes in hotel room rates,
capacity adjustments by airlines, trends in the overall demand for travel, and the inherent difficulty in making
projections during this period of uncertainty, as well as other risks and uncertainties mentioned in this statement
or detailed in the Company's periodic reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission including its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2001.
1 Travel Weekly, June 25, 2001, "Top 50 Travel Agencies"
2 Hotel Business, February 7, 2002, "The Top Hotel Brands"
- ranked by total number of rooms (2001)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact:
Pegasus Solutions, Inc.
Karin Wacaser, 214/234-4129
karin.wacaser@pegs.com
or
Publicis Dialog for Pegasus
Kelly Campbell/Laurie Swyers, 972/628-7738 / 972/628-7761
kelly.campbell@publicis-usa.com
laurie.swyers@publicis-usa.com