Worldspan, the leading global reservation system and
e-commerce provider for the travel industry, has announced the introduction of Hotel Tax, Surcharge and Fee Disclosure functionality in Worldspan Hotel Source, the company`s premier hotel reservation technology.
This exclusive Worldspan
enhancement provides e-commerce subscribers and traditional travel agents with real-time rate information - complete with all known hotel taxes, surcharges and fees for requested hotel properties directly from the participating hotel company`s internal reservation system. Worldspan is the first and only global distribution system to offer an automated hotel tax disclosure product.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., one of the leading hotel companies in the world with more than 700 hotels in 80 countries, is the first participant in Hotel Tax, Surcharge and Fee Disclosure from Worldspan. The Worldspan system will provide this exclusive new functionality for all Starwood properties, including St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, Westin Hotels & Resorts, Four Points Hotels by Sheraton, and W Hotels.

“With Hotel Tax, Surcharge and Fee Disclosure, Worldspan subscribers can quickly determine the total room cost up front, including all applicable taxes and fees, without additional searches or phone calls to the hotel property,” commented Graham Nichols
, Worldspan vice president for EMEAA. “For subscribers and hotel companies alike, the benefits are better customer service, fewer rate discrepancies, higher customer satisfaction, and increased productivity. We are very pleased that Starwood Hotels & Resorts, an industry leader, has chosen to participate first with this remarkable new product.”

“Communicating clear, complete rate information to consumers is essential for maintaining the highest level of customer satisfaction, and Worldspan`s new Hotel Tax, Surcharge and Fee Disclosure technology will help us accomplish that goal,” said Linda Kent, director, Global Agency Distribution for Starwood. “In addition, by further automating and simplifying the rate rules process, this valuable new enhancement allows Worldspan subscribers to book Starwood accommodation for their clients faster and with greater confidence than ever.”

Worldspan Hotel Tax, Surcharge and Fee Disclosure functionality allows participating hotel companies to return, in a fixed field, all known taxes, fees and surcharges for display to the travel agent or e-commerce user in Hotel Source Rate Rule. New qualifiers have been created to identify how each fee is to be calculated, for example, per person, per night or per stay.  New indicators identify whether the numerics in these fields are a monetary amount or a percentage.

Worldspan has introduced a number of first-to-market hotel reservation solutions, making Worldspan Hotel Source® one of the most advanced and robust hotel booking technologies available. Recent enhancements to Hotel Source include: Integrated Hotel Source Availability, providing travel agents with real-time availability status directly from a participating hotel company’s internal reservation system; and Integrated Hotel Source Rate Range, which, combined with Integrated Hotel Source Availability, allows agents to shop for hotel properties on the first screen with real-time rate range and availability status.

“As these powerful new innovations demonstrate, Worldspan`s leadership position in both global travel distribution and travel e-commerce continues to pay dividends for all our customers` traditional travel agencies, e-commerce subscribers and travel suppliers with industry-leading technology that cuts across conventional market sectors,” noted Nichols.

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