Audio Interview w/ Andrew Rubinacci, Director, Distribution Planning, Six Continents Hotels - Commenting on 6C's Recently Announced Merchant Agreement with Travelocity

Six Continents Hotels jumped a little higher on the on-line distribution bandwagon this week as inventory from 3,300 properties appeared on Travelocity.com. In this streaming audio interview, 6C's Andrew Rubinacci joins us to discuss the deal, the technology and the advantages associated with on-line merchants such as Travelocity.

Click here for the related 6C press release!

Andrew Rubinacci is director, distribution planning for Six Continents Hotels, Inc. (www.sixcontinentshotels.com), the hotel business of Six Continents PLC SXC, a leading global hospitality group. As director, distribution planning, Mr. Rubinacci is responsible for Six Continents Hotels' global external distribution strategy, managing all facets of the global distribution systems and third-party websites for Six Continents Hotels' family of brands. Mr. Rubinacci is a 15-year veteran of the hospitality industry, with extensive experience spanning revenue management, guest services, hotel operations and e-commerce. Most recently, Mr. Rubinacci served as vice president, revenue management, Meristar Hotels & Resorts, where he was responsible for the corporate revenue management and distribution channel effort, as well as implementing a standardized revenue management process throughout the company. Returning to Six Continents Hotels in 2002, Mr. Rubinacci started with the managed hotel side of the company in 1991 in the management training program at the Holiday Inn Select in Nashville, Tenn. After that, he continued to serve in management roles at properties in Orlando and Montgomery, Ala., and has held roles of increasing responsibility with both Six Continents Hotels and Bristol Hotels & Resorts at the corporate level. Mr. Rubinacci earned two bachelor's degrees in business administration, majoring in marketing and hospitality administration from Florida State University. Mr. Rubinacci currently serves on the board of the Hotel Electronic Distribution Network Association (HEDNA) and is a Certified Hospitality Sales Professional (CHSP) and Certified Rooms Division Executive (CRDE) with the American Hotel & Motel Association.

Six Continents Hotels owns, manages, leases or franchises more than 3,300 hotels and 515,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories around the world. Its properties bear some of the most recognized hotel brands in the world: InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn®, Holiday Inn Select®, Holiday Inn Garden Court SM, Holiday Inn SunSpree® Resort, Holiday Inn Express® and Staybridge Suites® by Holiday Inn®. Each year, Six Continents Hotels hosts more than 150 million guests.

Travelocity pioneered the online travel space and continues to be the most popular travel service on the Web, giving consumers access to reservations and information for more than 700 airlines, 55,000 hotels, 50 car rental companies and 6,500 cruise and vacation packages, all backed by more than 1,000 customer service representatives who offer 24-hour assistance. With 36 million members, Travelocity is the sixth largest travel agency in the United States. It has been recognized worldwide for its leadership in the online travel space, and it operates or powers Web sites in seven languages across four continents. Travelocity is wholly owned by Sabre Holdings Corporation [NYSE: TSG] , the leading provider of technology and marketing services for the travel industry. More information on Sabre can be found at www.sabre.com . Additional information about Travelocity can be found on the Web at www.travelocity.com.

Kevin Heilbronner is the US Editor for wiredhotelier.com and hospitalitynet.org, providing streaming multimedia-content for these websites. Based outside of Washington DC, Heilbronner has worked with Hsyndicate to conduct interviews at several hospitality trade shows in the US and Europe over the last couple of years. His column and content are featured in the Hospitality Net weekly newsletter. A familiar voice in Washington, DC, Heilbronner is the stadium announcer for the NBA's Washington Wizards, WNBA's Washington Mystics and WUSA's Washington Freedom. He resides in Centreville, VA and can be reached via email: [email protected].

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IHG Hotels & Resorts is a global hospitality company, with a purpose to provide True Hospitality for Good. With a family of 19 hotel brands and IHG One Rewards, one of the world's largest hotel loyalty programmes, IHG has over 6,000 open hotels in over 100 countries, and more than 1,900 in the development pipeline.

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