Press Release
December 13, 2000
PARSIPPANY, NJ -- Bass Hotels & Resorts, Inc. and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Inc., Worldwide have joined
other hotel industry leaders to adopt EasyAccess HOD, a new hotel information distribution product from WizCom
International Ltd. (``WizCom'').
EasyAccess HOD is a Web-based application that allows hoteliers and hotel companies to easily update hotel description
information through a single point of entry (simultaneously) on the four major Global Distribution Systems (GDSs)
used by travel agents including Amadeus, Galileo, Worldspan and Sabre, as well as linked Internet sites.
``Clearly hotel companies are realizing the benefits from cost savings to management efficiencies that EasyAccess
HOD delivers,'' said Flo Lugli, president of WizCom. ``What's more, EasyAccess HOD is proving to be WizCom's most
successfully product launch to date.''
WizCom also announced new enhancements for EasyAccess HOD that include a central reservation system (CRS) interactive
feed and a connection to WizCom's Internet Distribution System. With the CRS interactive feed, updated hotel description
information is uploaded from customers' CRS and transmitted directly to EasyAccess HOD. The feed allows hotel companies
to input information through EasyAccess HOD once, eliminating the need to re-enter information for each hotel property.
EasyAccess HOD also allows customers to send and easily update hotel description information for over 1,200 Internet
travel sites and portals through WizCom's Internet Distribution System.
``With more than 3000 hotels and 490,000 rooms around the world, we needed a product like EasyAccess HOD to help
us easily manage and maintain updated and accurate hotel information,'' said Barbara McCall, director of electronic
distribution systems for Bass Hotels & Resorts, which includes Inter-Continental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn,
Holiday Inn Express and Staybridge Suites brands in its hotel portfolio. ``As distribution opportunities grow,
automation and enhanced data integrity will improve our customer service and help reduce our overall operational
costs.''
``The WizCom agreement provides Starwood with an innovative solution that will increase efficiency while maintaining
accurate data transmission to the GDSs and the Internet without worrying about complicated technology issues,''
said Barbara Coleman, Director of Electronic Distribution for Starwood, which represents 750 hotel properties around
the world under names like Sheraton, Westin, and W Hotels. ``EasyAccess HOD will save us time and money by doing
a job that currently requires a multitude of entries by a large number of people into a vast array of external
distribution channels.''
EasyAccess HOD is a part of WizCom's EasyAccess Plus suite of products designed for the hotel industry to manage
information distribution more effectively and cost-efficiently.
WizCom International, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Cendant Corporation (NYSE: CD - news), is a leading global
provider of electronic reservations processing and information management systems for the travel industry. WizCom
provides its hotel, car rental, and tour / leisure travel customers with innovative, flexible and cost-effective
electronic distribution and e-commerce solutions for the Internet, GDS and / or other travel reservation systems.
Established in 1987, WizCom has an extensive customer base with more than 90 hotel companies and over 25 car rental
firms operating in more than forty countries worldwide.
Bass Hotels & Resorts [LON:BAS, NYSE:BAS (ADRs)], the world's most global hotel company is the hotel business
of Bass PLC of the United Kingdom which owns, operates or franchises more than 3,000 hotels and 490,000 guest rooms
in close to 100 countries and territories. The Bass family of hotels and resorts includes the following brands:
Inter-Continental®,: Crowne Plaza®, Holiday Inn®, Holiday Inn Express® in the Americas, Express
by Holiday Inn(SM) in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, and Staybridge Suites® by Holiday Inn®.
Bass Hotels & Resorts, Inc. offers information and reservations capability on the Internet.
Starwood is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 725 properties in 80 countries
and 120,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. With internationally renowned brands, Starwood is a
fully integrated owner, operator and franchiser of hotels and resorts including: St. Regis, The Luxury Collection,
Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, W brands, as well as Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier
developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts. SOURCE Starwood Hotels & Resorts.
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Contact:
WizCom International, Ltd., Parsippany
Joe Neubig,973/496-7984
or
Fleishman-Hillard, New York
Sunil Oommen, 212/453-2315