HITEC 2001 Interviews - Mr. Michael Madison - CEO Andbook Online Ltd.

About Andbook Online Ltd.
andbook.com is the on-line hotel reservation service for travellers. It was founded through a partnership between three of Europe's leading hotel operators: Accor, The Forte Hotel Group and Hilton International. Our aim is to help you to find, choose and book your hotel of choice on-line, quickly and easily.

With a comprehensive range of over 50,000 hotels throughout the world's major destinations andbook.com ensures you have access to the widest possible choice of rooms and rates. So whether you are booking a room for yourself, a colleague, or a friend andbook.com allows you to make an informed decision from the richest and most reliable source of information on the internet.

Furthermore, andbook.com has partnered with major hotel chains across Europe and the rest of the world to provide you with a unique service to ensure that you receive the ultimate internet booking experience. Our service includes innovative search features and enhanced information, including dynamic mapping, multi-lingual descriptions, detailed pictures, corporate rates and improved availability.

Partner hotels are displayed as "preferred hotels" on the website and already include Hilton, Le Méridien, Sofitel, Posthouse, Novotel, Heritage, Mercure, Ibis and Travelodge (UK). More chains are to join in the coming months.

Bio Micheal Madison
CEO andbook.com
Michael Madison is the CEO of Andbook Online Ltd, the joint internet venture announced in May 2000, between Accor, The Forte Hotel Group and Hilton International. Andbook Online Ltd. is registered as an independent company and received European Commission approval in February 2001

Prior to his appointment as CEO, Michael was a key figure behind the initiative responsible for driving forward the development of the web joint venture between the three European hotel companies.

Michael previously held the position of Worldwide Director e-Commerce for The Forte Hotel Group. Here he had responsibility for all activity in the e-Commerce space. This included the co-ordination of all web-based developments for the Forte Hotel Group, its Le Méridien, Heritage Hotels and Posthouse brands and ; plus co-ordination and support of the Intranet and the continued growth of Forte's presence in the Global Distribution Systems (GDS) and Airline Systems.

Michael Madison (42) has a multi-discipline background in the travel industry, primarily the car rental sector. He joined Forte in 1998 as Worldwide Director, Distribution and Revenue management, with e-commerce as part of his portfolio of activities. Prior to this, he was an independent consultant based in the South of France, following a long career at Hertz Europe. Leaving this organisation as Marketing & Sales Director, Germany, his career there encompassed areas of operations, business planning, operations systems, pricing and distribution.

Born in Germany to an American father and a Dutch mother, Michael was educated in Germany and Scotland and graduated from Pomona College, Claremont, California USA with a BA in International Relations. He is fluent in German, English and French with good working knowledge of Spanish and Italian.