Best Western has added translated content to its web site. All online hotel and booking information is now available in French, German, Italian and International Spanish. Additionally, all Asian hotel property listings and reservations web pages are available in simplified Chinese, Japanese and Korean.David Kong, president and CEO of Best Western International commented: “The ability for our customers to learn about properties or book a reservation in their native language is an absolute necessity for our continued global expansion and growth.”

Currently, Internet bookings comprise 44 percent of all Best Western
reservations. “The Internet is our fastest growing distribution channel,”
said Ric Leutwyler, senior vice president of brand management and member
service. “It is critical that we seek continuous improvement in every
aspect of the customer’s online experience.”

Best Western’s global
Internet bookings have grown an average of 54 percent per year over the
past five years. In keeping with this demand, additional enhancements to
the company’s web site are scheduled to be rolled out later this year.

Best Western selected SDL International for the translation effort. The project, took eight months to complete with more than 4.2 million words
translated. SDL used its Knowledge-based Translation System
with terminology from the hospitality industry for the
majority of the project. The use of computer-automated translation
substantially reduced costs, with accuracy and readability assured by
human post-editing and translation.

On-going translation requirements are estimated at 10,000 new words per
week; a continual process that will be managed by SDLWorkFlow. This
translation management system further reduces time and cost by automating
the distribution of changes, and managing the application of translation
assets, such as the specialized terminology, to the new content.
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