ResortQuest International, Inc., a leading `click and mortar` brand name in vacation condominium and home rentals and sales, property management services and online booking service, today announced a travel marketing agreement with America Online, Inc., the world`s leading interactive services company, under which ResortQuest will become a premier sponsor of a new Vacation Rentals area on the Travel Channels of several America Online brands.
ResortQuest`s newly formed technology division, ResortQuest Technologies, will create a special version of its on-line central reservations site for vacation rental properties throughout North America for use by AOL and CompuServe members and visitors to AOL.COM, Netscape.com, and AOL Digital City. The co-branded online reservations site will offer ``virtual tours`` of individual rental units and real-time, state-of-the-art online booking capability.
Through this agreement, ResortQuest will present their 18,000 plus rental inventory to the more than 29 million AOL and CompuServe members and tens of millions of additional users of America Online`s Web brands. ResortQuest already has begun a marketing campaign under the ``Packages and Cruises-Family`` and ``Packages and Cruises-Ski`` areas of America Online`s Travel Channels; AOL members also may access ResortQuest through AOL Keyword: ResortQuest.
``We are one of the only vacation rental companies in the industry with a broad-based, real-time booking capability and the technological capability to deliver inventory to the major travel portals, and we view this new agreement as a breakthrough for ResortQuest,`` said David Levine, ResortQuest chairman, president and chief executive officer. ``This alliance with America Online significantly widens the distribution reach of our on-line inventory, and we view this relationship as an excellent growth opportunity.``
``Going online has become an essential part of making travel plans, and we are always looking for new ways to make the process easier and more convenient,`` said Mayo Stuntz, chief operating officer, AOL Interactive Services. ``Through our new agreement with ResortQuest, the users of our brands will be able to research locations, take 360-degree virtual tours of properties, comparison shop and book on-line.``
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