Pegasus Solutions, Inc. today announced it has expanded its relationship with the International Airline Passengers Association (IAPA), one of the world`s most prestigious and influential travelers associations.
Pegasus has upgraded the functionality of IAPA`s Web site at www.iapa.com to include negotiated hotel rates and mapping options through MapQuest(TM). Dallas-based Pegasus Solutions is a leading provider of hotel industry transaction processing solutions and electronic commerce services.
Since 1998, the hotel booking portion of IAPA`s Web site has been Powered by Pegasus(TM) and, as a result, offers its members a choice of more than 40,000 hotels in more than 200 countries. “Over the past two years, Pegasus has successfully provided an online hotel booking service to our members using the Web,” said Mike Mullany, IAPA special projects manager. “We are confident in Pegasus` abilities and have now signed a new agreement to use upgraded Web capabilities. This new service will provide our members with enhanced services such as mapping as well as access to the specially negotiated IAPA rates at many of the properties featured. We have been pleased with the amount of traffic seen so far and anticipate the new functionality driving more traffic.”
IAPA`s initial contract with Pegasus allowed its members to select and book accommodations online by providing direct access to the central reservations systems (CRS) of the 40,000 hotels represented in Pegasus` Online Distribution Database, ranging from luxurious five-star hotels to independent family-run properties. More than 40 percent of the hotels in the database are located outside the United States.
IAPA uses its connection to the Pegasus Electronic Distribution Switch to access the hotels` CRSs. Under the previous agreement, IAPA`s online hotel reservation pages were hosted by Pegasus, but with the new functionality, IAPA is able to host its own booking engine and online hotel reservation pages. IAPA remains connected to the Pegasus Online Distribution Database and continues to use the Pegasus Electronic Distribution Switch to connect to the database and to the hotel CRSs. The mapping option, which will be provided by MapQuest(TM), includes hotel location maps for Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. While users will not be able to search for driving directions, the maps can be used to show the location of the hotels.
Gideon Dean, Pegasus Solutions` senior vice president of worldwide technology sales and account management, said, “We are pleased to further solidify our already long-term relationship with the International Airline Passengers Association. This upgrade will provide continued support to the IAPA membership, and we are pleased to help one of our customers grow their service levels.”
IAPA is headquartered in London and maintains additional offices in Dallas and Hong Kong. The organization, which caters to the frequent international business traveler, has more than 100,000 full members in more than 200 countries and an additional 250,000 associate members. According to IAPA, together, these members account for more than 8 million airline passenger trips per year. The typical IAPA member is a 34 - 55 year old male in a managerial or professional position in a predominantly small or medium-sized enterprise. Members generally spend $100,000 per year on business travel and make an average of 15 business trips per year.
According to industry analyst Forrester Research, online hotel sales are expected to grow to $5.7 billion in 2004. Bear Stearns` lodging, gaming and leisure research group predicts that by 2002, hotel bookings via the Internet will generate $3.1 billion in revenues. The research firm PhoCusWright reports that the fastest growing segment of consumer online travel buying is hotels with 51 percent of online buyers reserving hotel rooms, up 39 percent from one year ago.
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