Galileo International, a leading provider of electronic global distribution services (GDS) for the travel industry, announced today that it has signed an agreement with the Wasteels Group in France to convert to the Galileo Global Distribution System in early 2003.  The Wasteels Group, which includes Voyages Wasteels and OTU Voyages has nearly 100 offices throughout France and is one of the top five French travel groups, specializing in rail and leisure travel.

“We chose Galileo as our unique technology partner in France due to its ability to answer our needs for servicing the leisure segment of the market and enabling us to realize very significant savings,” said Jean-Pierre Facondini, managing director of Wasteels France.

“The agreement reached with Wasteels represents the largest customer win achieved by Galileo in its history of operations in France, which is the third largest travel market in Europe,” said Gordon Wilson, executive vice president and managing director of Europe, Middle East and Africa for Galileo International.  “The Wasteels conversion is a testament to the investment Galileo has made in its products for the French market, particularly the rail and leisure products in addition to our air, car rental and hotel capabilities. It is also a reflection of the customer-focused efforts of our teams working in our French and European operations.”

Wasteels will begin to move its operations to the Galileo platform in early 2003.  It will use both Galileo global products, such as the fully customizable Viewpoint(tm) 3.0 graphical user interface, and Web Services, as well as locally developed products such as Galileo Leisure Pro(tm).  Galileo Leisure Pro enables bookings for the major French tour operators, ground transportation providers and insurance suppliers, with full integration into the selected back- and mid-office systems used by the travel agency.  Additionally, Wasteels will take advantage of a new negotiated fares database developed by Galileo`s Danish subsidiary, TravelWare, in which Galileo International has had a controlling interest since September 2002.

Galileo International is a global technology leader.  Its core business is providing electronic global distribution services for the travel industry through its computerized reservation systems, leading-edge products and innovative Internet-based solutions.  Galileo is a value-added distributor of travel inventory dedicated to supporting its travel supplier, agency and corporate customers and, through them, expanding traveler choice.  A subsidiary of Cendant Corporation (NYSE: CD) and part of Cendant`s Travel Distribution Services Division, Galileo is headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, USA, and has offices worldwide. 
Visit www.galileo.com.

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