Leisureplanet today announced that it has formally begun to provide travel services to Yahoo! France and Yahoo! Deutschland’s new travel properties, fr.travel.yahoo.com and de.travel.yahoo.com. The launch marks the implementation of a key element in Leisureplanet’s declared European expansion strategy, and supports the company’s ability to deliver a flexible platform for Web networks to build their own travel front end.

“By combining the travel and Internet expertise of Leisureplanet and Yahoo!, we’re able to offer users a compelling travel service that aims to establish a benchmark standard for European travel sites,” said Pierre Kleinhans, chief executive officer of Leisureplanet. “Working with Yahoo! in Europe allows us to reach a vast new audience and further extend our distribution and brand awareness.”

“Yahoo! continues to expand our offerings to become the one place users need to go to find and connect to anyone or anything, including commerce services such as booking travel arrangements,” said Fabiola Arredondo, managing director of Yahoo! Europe. “We are pleased to be working together with Leisureplanet to provide users in France and Germany with a single resource on the Web to satisfy their travel needs - allowing them to conveniently go from researching holiday destinations to booking airline tickets, car rental and hotel accommodations quickly and easily.”

Yahoo! France Travel and Yahoo! Deutschland Travel both feature localized content and online bookings of air, car and hotel services and include Leisureplanet’s 10,500 independent hotel listings. Competitive airfares unique to each market are provided by Leisureplanet’s local fulfilment partners, Aeroworld in Germany, and Reductour in France.

“As an added benefit for users, we are supporting Yahoo!‘s travel booking services with pre- and after-sales e-mail and telephone customer service. This will be handled through our central customer service center in Belgium, and through local call centers in each country. This quality of customer care and commitment to customer service is what Yahoo! Travel customers deserve,” added Kleinhans.

The launch with Yahoo! in Europe is expected to enhance Leisureplanet’s brand awareness in the French and German markets, and is in line with the company’s stated intention to be the leading provider of European internet travel services. Founded in 1995, Leisureplanet is an Internet-based, international travel services company with one of the world’s largest image-rich hotel, flight, car and hotel reservation facilities; and comprehensive proprietary travel guides for more than 180 travel destinations. Leisureplanet is committed to achieving leadership in global travel e-commerce through offering tailored services in European and other international markets. Operations include multi-lingual call centre and customer support facilities, two electronic publishing units, and information system and website development unit, a hotel recruitment centre in addition to a local travel agency partner network.

Leisureplanet offers choice, competitive prices and customer service. The company is in the process of deploying localised websites supported by local customer service agents in European and other international markets. Each local website will provide a comprehensive selection of competitively priced travel products for local consumers, presented in the local language.

Leisureplanet is 81%-owned by Leisureplanet Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ: LPHL), a publicly traded investment company whose holdings also include businesses in various industries, including value-added convenience foods and leisure products.

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