Dallas-based Pegasus Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: PEGS) today announced GL Network International, a travel reservation service company based in Seoul, Korea, is tapping Pegasus to “power” the hotel booking capabilities for its new full-service Internet site, HotelWeb (www.hotelweb.co.kr). Recently launched, HotelWeb is available for the general public, as well as in a private label version for the corporate intranets of some of Korea’s largest corporations. Pegasus Systems is a leading provider of hotel industry transaction processing and electronic commerce services and operates its own Internet travel reservations site: TravelWeb‰ (http://www.travelweb.com).

As the first Korean Internet travel service to be “Powered by Pegasus?,” GL Network’s HotelWeb provides Korean consumers with real-time online hotel reservation capabilities and detailed property information on nearly 32,000 hotels in 170 countries. Over the next six months, GL Network intends to translate the property information of select hotels into Korean, focusing on hotels located in destinations that are known to be popular with Korean travelers. According to GL Network, top travel destinations for Korean travelers include Japan, China, the United States and Europe. GL Network’s Web site is one of the most comprehensive online travel services available in the Korean market and includes airline reservations and car rentals.

Through its agreement with Pegasus, GL Network has stated it plans to build on the success of Pegasus’ proven online booking engine and extensive hotel database to become a leading travel reservations provider for direct-to-consumer sites and corporate travel booking systems in Korea. According to GL Network, its strategy also includes partnering with large Internet service providers (ISPs), Internet search engines and major Web portals. Some of the key companies signed with GL Network’s reservation service include Hitel, one of Korea’s largest ISPs (www.yeshotel.com); search engines AltaVista.co.kr and Samsung’s Naver.com; Korea Technology Banking Corporation; Samsung’s Unitel ISP (www.unitel.co.kr); SK Corporation, the largest cellular service provider in Korea (www.netsgo.co.kr); and Korean Air, the largest airline company in Korea.

“Our agreement with GL Network represents Pegasus’ second major Internet agreement in Asia. By providing Korean travelers with virtually the same online hotel database and booking capabilities available on TravelWeb.com, but in the traveler’s native Korean language, GL Network should prove to be popular,” said Pegasus Systems’ President and Chief Executive Officer John F. Davis III. “Adding Korea’s GL Network to our Online Distribution Network should generate even more bookings for our hotel customers and more Internet transactions for Pegasus.”

Jae Hoon Kim, president, GL Network said, “Our goal is to become the number one online travel reservation service in the Korean market. A critical component in our success equation is to partner with Pegasus, which gives us direct access and the technology to book nearly 32,000 hotels around the world online and in real-time.”

With direct connections via the Pegasus Electronic Distribution system, Pegasus’ Private Label Reservation Service provides third-party Web sites and services such as HotelWeb with hotel reservation and confirmation capabilities similar to those available through Pegasus’ consumer retail Web site, TravelWeb.com. Currently, nearly 70 Web sites have hotel reservations “Powered by Pegasus,” including Microsoft’s Expedia.com, Travelscape.com and Japan’s Recruit Isize Travel. During the nine-month period ending September 30, 1999, Pegasus processed Internet hotel bookings representing an estimated $350 million in room revenues.

According to estimates by research firm Jupiter Communications, online travel bookings will grow to $16.6 billion by 2003, with hotel reservations commanding almost 25 percent of all bookings. According to Forrester Research, sales in the travel industry have become the largest online retail category, with estimated online transactions of $7.8 billion in 1999, growing to $32 billion in 2004.

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