TRUST International Hosts Customer Conference On Hospitality Reservations Technology

Dr. Peter Agel, CEO of TRUST International, and Sven Hohmann, COO and CFO, presented an overview of corporate strategies and highlights, past and present, including a 23% increase in overall bookings and a 32% increase in revenue in 2000. Hohmann joined TRUST International from Bertelsmann, where he held executive positions in multiple areas including mergers and acquisitions, in November 2000.

Other customer conference sessions included presentations and workshops on strategies and tactics for GDS and Internet marketing and a preview of new TRUST products to be introduced later this year. The sessions are primarily focused on driving customer participation and feedback. Additionally, Dr. Ingo Schneider, CEO of BeMobile, the mobile service unit of Bertelsmann mediaSystems, offered a glimpse of the wireless communications environment of the near future in a presentation entitled Mobile Internet Technologies Today & Tomorrow. Schneider discussed the convergence of the Internet and wireless devices as well as a steady increase in the use of mobile Internet devices in the global consumer market and their effect on the travel industry.

Connie Rheams, president of TRUST in the Americas, commented, "The annual conference is a thought-provoking forum valued by TRUST customers worldwide. We take this opportunity to interact with those using our products and receive feedback on what has worked best for them. This year, the growing participation of conference attendees arriving from the Americas has been a satisfying affirmation of TRUST's growing presence in the Western hemisphere."

About TRUST International

TRUST International (www.trustinternational.com) is a member of the Bertelsmann Group, the international media giant. TRUST develops and implements a state-of-the-art central reservation system, providing tailor-made, real-time reservations and global distribution solutions for the hospitality industry. TRUST services provide real-time solutions that seamlessly connect hotels and bookers worldwide, including private label telephone lines, connectivity to all Airline Reservations Systems and to various websites and Internet platforms. TRUST maintains three offices worldwide including the Headquarters in Frankfurt, the Americas office in Orlando, Florida, and a reservations center in Singapore. Among TRUST's clients are some 1,300 hotels at 685 destinations in 95 countries such as SRS-WORLDHOTELS, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts, Pan Pacific Hotels & Resorts, Kempinski Hotels & Resorts, Dorint Hotels & Resorts, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Preferred Hotels & Resorts, Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts, Oberoi Hotels, Astron Hotels, and Small Luxury Hotels of the World.