Eighty-Eighth Hotel Signs with Leading Link for Online Booking

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. October 14, 2008

NEW YORK, NY, February 2, 2007. Leading Link, a total Internet reservations and marketing management solution, has begun the New Year with the signing on of Dusit Laguna Resort, Phuket, and Grand Hotel Park, Gstaad. Leading Link is the customizable Internet booking engine (IBE) for seamless integration into member hotels' websites offered exclusively by The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd.

Independent landmark properties such as H^otel Plaza Ath'en'ee in New York, Lausanne Palace & Spa in Switzerland, and The Merrion in Dublin, have been using the Leading Link product for years. The service is provided on an `a la carte basis to Leading member hotels and is increasingly popular, not only with independent properties, but also with hotels associated with their own established brands, such as Dusit's Laguna Resort, Auberge Resorts' The Inn at Palmetto Bluff, and Occidental's Royal Hideaway.

"Leading Link provides a great service to our guests by allowing them to check our date availability for accommodations, securing reservations on our website and receiving an immediate real-time confirmation," says Jim Beley, general manager, The Inn at Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton, South Carolina. "This is a seamless process that appears to be part of our website, with the same quality presentation. We are most pleased with the increased revenue opportunities that this provides the resort."

Leading Link integrates seamlessly into a property's own website and provides complete reservations and distribution management services including:

 Real-time online booking and instant confirmation, modification and cancellation

 Direct link from the hotel's website to the Leading CRS

 Detailed user information about properties, rates and rooms - including pictures

 Reservation summary with options to alter selected guest or travel data

 Availability displayed on calendars

 Optional customer profiles for repeat guests

 Support for negotiated rate booking functionality, with restricted viewership

True to the position of The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. as the leader in global sales representation, Leading Link also offers the largest multilingual presence available with translations into 10 languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, traditional Chinese, simplified Chinese, Japanese and modern Russian.

One of the most notable advantages of Leading Link is the maintenance of a single database, simplifying the entire process, allowing hotels to ensure rate parity integrity across all channels, and virtually eliminating all room for error. The highly sophisticated and powerful TRUST Voyager CRS provides the hotel with the optimal tools to maximize revenues via the hotel's own website.

Additionally, with the three-screen reservation format provided by Leading Link, versus the one-screen presentation offered by other Internet booking engine providers, clients are able to more fully convey the complete array of experiences available at a property through richer content, including detailed descriptions of facilities and special programs, and a multitude of images. The availability of additional information improves conversion, enhances revenue per stay and drives incremental revenues from the sale of value-added products. "In 2006 alone, Enchantment Resort, Sedona, Arizona, increased its bookings on the property website by 20% through the booking engine and search engine marketing services offered by Leading Link," states Shelley Pyne-Hanley, vice president, sales and marketing, Leading Interactive Reservations.

Furthermore, clients who participate in Leading Link can benefit from significant cost savings on all of their automated bookings, both GDS and Internet. The GDS and Internet fee for members of The Leading Hotels of the World is based on a sliding scale according to production volumes. Leading Link volumes are included in the total production figure for purposes of calculating the sliding scale level.

"Leading Link has been a worthwhile investment to Royal Hideaway. Not only is it very user-friendly but it also offers us the ability to instantaneously update rates and confirm reservations 24 hours a day, 365 days a year," comments Jean Agarrista, general manager, Royal Hideaway, Riviera Maya, Mexico. "As the luxury market trend becomes more last-minute, this tool allows us to capture new business at a moment's notice. We are very pleased with the services it offers our resort."

About The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd.

Established in 1928, The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. is a prestigious luxury hospitality organization representing more than 430 of the world's finest hotels, resorts, and spas. As the largest international luxury hotel brand, the company maintains offices in 24 major markets across the globe.

Since its inception, The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. has been noted for its innovative character. In addition to sales, marketing and reservations, it offers a full range of products and services to its members - including cutting-edge Internet strategies, financial solutions, architectural and design consulting, and educational support, through 10 joint ventures and ancillary businesses.

High resolution images of member hotels are available for downloading through the press room at www.lhw.com/press. For reservations and information, visit www.lhw.com or telephone toll-free from the USA, Canada, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, (800) 223-6800.

Press Contact:

Claudia Kozma Kaplan

Vice President, Corporate Communications

Tel: (212) 515-5708 E-mail: [email protected]