This partnership will enable Open World to bundle Akamai’s content and application acceleration technologies to it’s 2,000 hotel web sites for more than 60 brands in over 10 languages. In doing so Akamai and Open World will ensure improved end-user experience, greater adoption of online booking and customer services applications.
Open World integrates a combination of Professional Services and Travel Agency teams, providing intuitive design and creative ingenuity with search marketing science, advanced web engineering and revenue-generating opportunities, all designed to increase direct online business and return on investment. Open World’s clients include: The Dorchester Group, Hilton International, Hyatt International, InterContinental, Peninsula Hotels, Raffles Hotels & Resorts, Dusit Hotels & Resorts, Rocco Forte Hotels, Small Luxury Hotels of the World, WORLDHOTELS and La Manga resort, amongst many otherAkamai Technologies also comes with its own knowledge and expertise of the Travel & Hospitality industry segment where the Internet has become the fastest growing distribution channel, accounting for billions of dollars in sales for travel-related companies, as well as dramatic savings in operational and infrastructure costs. Akamai helps to increase revenue, enhance the brand, reduce site abandonment and increase conversion of “lookers” to “bookers”, as well as increase adoption of online apps for many leading travel industry organizations worldwide, including American Express, AirAsia, Cathay Pacific Airways, Travelocity, InterContinental Hotels, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, United Airlines Loyalty Group, Tourism New Zealand, Zuji and many others.
Akamai solutions make the Internet a more predictable, scalable, and secure e-business platform, without the cost of building out e-business infrastructure. Specifically, Akamai increases business partners’ adoption of web applications by accelerating online business processes, enhances customers’ experience by reducing the time to deliver web content, provides on-demand scalability to support more buyers generated by marketing campaigns as well as tools and services that make distribution and management of Internet applications and content easier and more cost-effective - providing unprecedented insight and control over global web operations.
Open World too has acknowledged the potential of the Internet as an effective marketing and revenue-generating channel for the travel industry, and has invested in advanced technology and implemented best practices to ensure clients would successfully reach relevant audiences on the Internet. Open World’s open source-based Internet server cluster delivers over 41 million pages per month with 100% uptime.
As a result of this partnership ,Open World will bundle Akamai’s Content Delivery service as a component of its website hosting offering to its customers, so that Open World’s customers can benefit from the world’s largest distributed computing platform, which can deliver accelerated content and applications anywhere in the world, regardless of Internet conditions.
Joe Nguyen, Open World’s COO said “We are excited about the partnership with Akamai. Open World aim to provide ‘best of breed’ solutions and this partnership allows us to maintain a world class content distribution platform for our clients. The ability to service content quickly will also free our clients up to consider richer content without worrying about download speed and the associated usability issues."“No travel industry player can ignore the growth of online revenue, whether direct supplier-to-consumer relationships or through online intermediaries. Akamai is partnering with Open World to bring our suite of technologies to its 2,000 hotel customers, to ensure that each of their hotel properties has the very best face on the Web, and that each and every customer interaction is a positive one. Akamai’s track record of increasing revenue for our travel customers and Open World’s experience in development and delivery of Web applications will give our customers a strategic revenue advantage.”
About Akamai | Akamai® is the leading global service provider for accelerating content and business processes online. More than 1,800 organizations have formed trusted relationships with Akamai, improving their revenue and reducing costs by maximizing the performance of their online businesses. Leveraging the Akamai EdgePlatform, these organizations gain business advantage today, and have the foundation for the emerging Web solutions of tomorrow. Akamai is "The Trusted Choice for Online Business." For more information, visit
www.akamai.com.
Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act | The release contains information about future expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai's management that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, absence of information about actual revenues generated by online site visits, any inaccuracies in data collected or reported by Akamai, changes in Akamai’s retail customer base, unpredictability of Internet usage by individuals and other factors that are discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other documents periodically filed with the SEC.
About Open World | Established in 1995, Open World specialises in eCommerce solutions for the travel and hospitality industry and hosts more than 2,000 web sites for over 60 brands worldwide in more than 10 languages. With 11 offices around the word, Open World is a truly global company which seamlessly integrates best practice in both the art and science of delivering full-service eCommerce solutions. This includes customised web site design, applying 'first-in-natural-search' marketing science, direct channel distribution and reservation system integration.
