TORONTO, ON | DerbySoft, a technology company at the forefront of hospitality distribution in China, and VFM Interactive, the world’s leading provider of online media production and distribution solutions for the hotel and travel industry, announced an exclusive partnership to empower the thousands of hotels in DerbySoft’s system to increase online bookings across a full spectrum of channels through the power of visual imagery.

For the first time, Chinese hotels can use VFM’s web-based digital media management platform, Vscape®, to store, manage, and seamlessly distribute their hotel images and other rich visual content to VFM’s vast distribution network, enabling them to tell their story visually and extend their marketing message to the world. This is especially important in China where four out of five hotels are independent, and where rich media can help level the playing field for independent properties that wish to compete with the global brands for inbound travelers. VFM powers the largest and fastest rich media distribution network in the industry, providing rich visual content on behalf of its hotel clients to major travel intermediaries such as the four global distribution systems (GDSs) – Amadeus, Galileo, Worldspan and Sabre – as well as more than 25,000 travel and travel-related sites. VFM’s distribution network enables hotels to compete more effectively across the Web by ensuring that their photos, virtual tours, videos and other rich marketing content can be viewed by, and influence the purchasing decisions of, consumers shopping for hotels on major online travel agencies, travel research sites, search and meta-search engines, portals, meeting planner sites, as well as corporate booking engines.

In addition to distribution, VFM will provide rich media production services to participating DerbySoft properties including the creation and editing of high-definition 360 degree virtual tours, full motion video, and photomontages.

“DerbySoft is committed to partnering with best-in-class companies to help serve all of our hotels, from large global brands to small independents,” said Dave Revelle, Director of Business Development for DerbySoft. “By partnering with VFM Interactive, we are giving our hotels access to the very best tools to attract new customers and drive higher online bookings.”

According to the Pacific Asia Travel Association, tourism to China is expected to soar with nearly 500 million visitors arriving by 2010, generating US$4.6 trillion in revenue. This alliance between DerbySoft and VFM Interactive enables diverse hotels in China to visually tell their story, stand out in the crowd, and capture these new inbound travelers.

“We can’t think of a more natural partnership than this one with DerbySoft and we are thrilled to be working together,” said Paolo Boni, president and CEO of VFM Interactive. “Hoteliers spend their marketing dollars to bring in more guests and it only makes sense that they focus on methods that produce a strong ROI. With more than three quarters of travel planning being done online and rich media a proven ROI enhancer, the partnership between VFM Interactive and DerbySoft is a natural.”