Press Release: Oakwood Worldwide
June 10, 2002
LOS ANGELES, CA -- Oakwood Worldwide, the leading global provider of corporate housing, has issued a response to
a press release issued June 7 by a competitor, BridgeStreet, a wholly owned subsidiary of MeriStar Hotels &
Resorts (NYSE:MMH).
BridgeStreet's press release claimed that the company had just become the first in the corporate housing industry
to list its properties on GDS, the reservation system used by travel agents.
"Since 1998, Oakwood Worldwide has been providing its global inventory of corporate housing on the GDS systems.
This service has been enjoyed by our customers, and is well-documented in the industry," says Todd Larsen,
Oakwood's vice president of interactive sales. "We respect that more than four years later, our competitors
have decided to also pursue this distribution system."
"Oakwood Corporate Housing (a division of Oakwood Worldwide) is making a big push for travel agent business
amid increased competition in the extended-stay housing market," wrote Travel Weekly magazine (March 9, 1998),
in an article which introduced Oakwood's travel distribution efforts via the GDS.
"Corporate housing" describes fully-furnished apartments that are an alternative to hotels for extended
business and leisure travel. Often leased on a month-to-month basis, corporate housing is available for short stays
in some locations.
The leading global provider of corporate housing, Oakwood offers locations in virtually every city in the U.S.
as well as select locations in the U.K. and Asia.
"We offer almost 150 locations on GDS throughout the U.S., U.K., Japan, Korea, China, Thailand, and the Philippines,"
says Larsen.
Larsen cites Los Angeles, Seattle, San Jose, San Diego, Chicago, Boston, Miami and London as examples of the Oakwood
properties which are already popular with travel agents and clients. Oakwood's luxurious accommodations in Asia,
which are comparable to five-star hotels, have been a hit with travel agents booking destinations such as Tokyo,
Seoul, Bangkok, Guangzhou and Manila. Travel agencies interested in Oakwood Worldwide properties are invited to
contact: (toll-free) 866.263.6613 or GDS Chain Code: IP. A complete list of Oakwood's GDS codes on SABRE, Galileo,
Worldspan and Apollo can be found at www.oakwood.com/gds. Oakwood properties can also be found on travel web sites
such as Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz.
Los Angeles-based Oakwood Worldwide is a privately held company.
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Contact:
Oakwood Worldwide
Robert Philips, 310/268-8085
rphilips@oakwood.com