Hilton Hotels extend link with Expedia

"With this agreement, Hilton Hotels Corporation can now provide Expedia.com customers with enhanced access to our company's merchant model inventory," said Tom Keltner, president -- brand performance and franchise development group at Hilton. "The direct connection between Hilton's central reservation system and Expedia will result in an enhanced quality of interaction with a preferred online distribution channel. Because all of our company's hotels that participate in this program share a common property management system, they will have direct access to Expedia to manage their rates and availability in an efficient and dynamic manner."

By providing wholesale rates to Expedia, participating Hilton Hotels Corporation hotels can take advantage of promotional and merchandising features that augment demand for their properties, when it is most needed and without a permanent commitment. Expedia provides these hotels to customers via its Expedia(R) Special Rate (ESR) program. Also, with Expedia's dynamic packaging technology, travelers can build customized trips that combine the company's properties with flights and/or car rentals at a single price. By booking these packages on Expedia.com, travelers can often find tremendous cost savings that protect the rate integrity of the suppliers. Nearly 9,000 hotels worldwide participate in the ESR program.

Beginning this summer, Hilton's central reservation system will have a direct connection, based on XML open standards, into Expedia's database, becoming one of the first hotel companies to implement such a direct connection. As a result, Hilton properties will gain access, from their property management system, to Expedia's tools, which help individual hoteliers manage price and inventory in a dynamic fashion. Both Hilton and Expedia will also benefit from the elimination of manual processes, such as the faxing of bookings; these faxes will be replaced by automated, electronic notifications.

"Each of Hilton Hotels Corporation's brands represent a consistency in hospitality quality that we are proud to make available to our customers," said Lloyd Frink, vice president of hotels and packages at Expedia, Inc. "With this agreement and the development of direct connect access, we hope to ensure a win-win situation for Hilton and Expedia customers."

Through its acquisition of Newtrade Technologies Inc., Expedia is developing a direct connectivity platform that is based on OpenTravel(TM) Alliance (OTA) standards. By using Web services, this technology provides Expedia with the flexibility to connect to existing hotel inventory management systems, to provide enhanced access to Expedia's yield and rate management capabilities, and to manage software, hardware, and networking issues in a cost-reduced environment.