Westcoast Hospitality (NYSE:WEH)
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Red Lion and WestCoast Hotels Launch Enhanced GDS Connectivity on
the New MICROS Opera Central Reservations Platform
Travel Agents Benefit by Receiving Access to Real-Time Rates and Availability
SPOKANE, Wash., Oct. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- WestCoast Hospitality
Corporation (NYSE:WEH), representing Red Lion and WestCoast Hotels in the U.S.
and Canada, now participates at the highest level of connectivity in the three
largest Global Distribution Systems (GDS') serving travel agents in North
America. This new level of functionality was implemented by leveraging the
enhanced GDS interface of MICROS Opera Central Reservations platform by MICROS
Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRS). The GDS' are the sales and inventory distribution
backbone for travel agents, in-house corporate travel departments, and many of
the Internet distribution systems. In an effort to increase travel agent hotel
sales, the GDS' recently launched data integrity initiatives that provide their
customers with data sourced directly from a hotel company's reservations
system. This new level of connectivity is referred to in the industry as "Next
Generation Seamless." In short, this enhancement provides GDS users with
real-time rates and availability that is 100% identical to the information used
by a hotel company's own reservations staff. This increased accuracy allows
travel agents to sell more confidently and reduces the instances where the GDS'
are bypassed as travel agents book via telephone to assure their clients the
lowest rates. Galileo Inside Shopper, Worldspan Integrated Hotel Source,
Sabre Direct Connect Shop, the respective GDS' Next Generation Seamless
products, were implemented by WestCoast between July and September, 2004. The
certification process is underway with Amadeus to provide their customers with
enhanced connectivity via their next-generation seamless product, Dynamic
Access. A cutover date is expected to be announced shortly.
"Travel agents remain a very important market channel for our hotels," said
Barry Hughes, VP - Marketing and Distribution for WestCoast Hospitality. "While
many travel vendors are turning their backs on travel agents and trying to
displace them, they still play an important role in the fulfillment process for
many leisure and corporate customers. Our investment in Next Generation
Seamless Connectivity should be viewed by our travel agent partners as our
commitment to their future success," said Hughes. Hughes added, "We were the
launch customer for the MICROS Opera Central Reservations platform eighteen
months ago, and since then we've continually offered new booking enhancements
to make it easier for travel agents to sell our hotels. Agents have responded
in kind, and have commented on the increased ease and confidence in booking our
hotels electronically through the MICROS Opera Central Reservations system."
"We are very pleased to see customers like WestCoast Hospitality use the tools
we have developed to grow their businesses and gain a competitive advantage in
the marketplace," said Tom Giannopoulos, Chairman and CEO for MICROS Systems.
"We developed the new Opera platform that was launched by WestCoast, to provide
hotel companies with access to the tools and functionality once limited to only
the largest hotel brands," Giannopoulos added. WestCoast Hospitality is the
first independent hotel company of its size to participate in the GDS Next
Generation Seamless programs. "To be successful in hotel automation, MICROS
must keep its customers on the leading edge of technology, with the broadest
connectivity to the GDS and ADS Channels," Giannopoulos said.
About WestCoast Hospitality
WestCoast Hospitality Corporation is a hospitality and leisure company
primarily engaged in the ownership, management, development and franchising of
mid-scale, full service hotels under its WestCoast(R) and Red Lion(R) brands.
In addition, through its entertainment division, which includes its
TicketsWest.com, Inc. subsidiary, it engages in event ticket distribution and
promotes and presents a variety of entertainment productions. G&B Real Estate
Services, its real estate division, engages in traditional real estate-related
services, including developing, managing and acting as a broker for sales and
leases of commercial and multi-unit residential properties.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
federal securities law, including statements concerning plans, objectives,
goals, strategies, projections of future events or performance and underlying
assumptions (many of which are based, in turn upon further assumptions). The
forward-looking statements in this press release are inherently subject to a
variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed. Such risks and uncertainties include, among
others, matters discussed in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the
2003 fiscal year and in other documents filed by the Company with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
About MICROS Systems
MICROS Systems, Inc. provides enterprise applications for the hospitality and
retail industries worldwide. Over 150,000 MICROS systems are currently
installed in table and quick service restaurants, hotels, motels, casinos,
leisure and entertainment, and retail operations in more than 130 countries,
and on all seven continents. In addition, MICROS provides property management
systems, central reservation and customer information solutions under the brand
MICROS-Fidelio for more than 15,000 hotels worldwide, as well as point- of-sale
and loss prevention products through its subsidiary Datavantage for more than
50,000 specialty retail stores worldwide. MICROS stock is traded through NASDAQ
under the symbol MCRS.
For more information on MICROS and its advanced information technology
solutions for the hospitality industry, please contact Louise Casamento,
Director of Marketing at (443) 285-8144 or (800) 638-0985. You can also visit
the MICROS website at http://www.micros.com/ or send an email to .
DATASOURCE: MICROS Systems, Inc.
CONTACT: Julie Langenheim, Executive Services and Investor Relations
Manager of WestCoast Hospitality Corporation, +1-509-777-6322,
, or Louise Casamento, Director of
Marketing of MICROS Systems, Inc., +1-443-285-8144, or +1-800-638-0985
Web site: http://www.micros.com/
http://www.westcoasthotels.com/