Preferred Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

, a prestigious brand of 128 distinctive, independent luxury hotels and resorts unveiled a new Web site in November in New York to members of the media and hoteliers. Robert Van Ness, Vice President of Sales for Preferred’s parent company, IndeCorp Corporation, spoke with local journalists and member hotels in New York to discuss the design of the new site.

“One of the primary goals of Preferred is to leverage the positioning of the brand and its member hotels among the 2.5 million pages on the Internet, which drives an increasing number of hotel bookings,” said Van Ness. “In addition to improving Preferred’s Web site, the organization has engaged outside resources and partners to help the individual hotels by providing them with Internet photo libraries, email marketing campaigns, measurement tools and other valuable resources. Under the Preferred Brand Independent hotels that might not otherwise be able to afford technology capabilities on their own can find cost-efficient ways to increase and monitor their presence on the Web.

Through the power of IndeCorp Corporation, the umbrella company that provides shared sales, technology and administrative resources for three brands of independent hotels that include Preferred Hotels & Resorts, Summit Hotels & Resorts and Sterling Hotels & Resorts, Preferred was able to make the following enhancements to their site that includes:
? Navigation that is more user friendly and intuitive

? Hotel Search by country, region, state, city

? Quick Availability search on every page

? Customized integration with the Netbooker booking engine

? A featured Hotel Section

? The ability to easily forward Web site to friends and colleagues
? A Press Room

“Now more than ever before, there is strength in numbers,” says Van Ness. “There is not only a benefit to working together, but in this current economy, it’s a necessity. The IndeCorp umbrella allows our brands to make extensive enhancements at a cost that is shared between three organizations”

Phase two of the site enhancement will roll out in 2004 and these changes will make the Web site a one-stop shop where travel agents or guests can book a room and simultaneously take care of all of the travel arrangements. Guests will be able to book tee times, set up spa appointments, review local restaurants and attractions and also check the local weather.
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