PARIS -- , the portal for making online reservations in any of Accor's 3,400 hotels across 90 countries in real-time, is now fully operational. The system has been up and running for tests since April 27th.

In order to set up a powerful online reservations system, Accor connected all of its hotels' sites to a mesh network. A single reservation engine links all of the group's brands to the central reservation service "Accor Reservation Services".

From now on, a hotel room can be booked via:

  • , which lists all of the offers from all Accor hotels.
  • The websites for each Accor brand: sofitel.com, novotel.com, mercure.com, coralia.com, (due to be opened in September 2000) thalassa.com, , etaphotel.com, , motel6.com and redroof.com. Much as these sites have their own branding, they all use the same architecture to help internet users navigate between sites.
  • accor.com, the website which contents useful information on the Group, its brands and services.

is user-friendly and provides a quick and simple reservation service. It has a number of advantages including:

  • it only takes 4 clicks to make a reservation.
  • direct real-time access to a hotel's rates and availability.
  • a secure reservation system namely due to the encryption software used to communicate payment details.
  • immediate confirmation of the reservation plus a reference number are issued by e-mail with a map on how to get to the hotel.
  • alternative proposals are made if the hotel selected is fully booked.
  • reservations may be modified or cancelled online at any time using the reference number.
  • the service is currently available in three languages, French, English and German. Spanish and Portuguese will soon be added thus bringing to five, the number of languages.
  • an accurate description of each hotel, plus -for certain chains- photos, virtual guided tours, tourist information and downloadable access maps.
  • Weekend and holiday promotions.
  • Links to the group's partner sites such as Air France and the SNCF.

and the group's hotels websites are currently being listed by the key search engines and in directories (Altavista, Yahoo, Lycos, Excite...). An on and off-line advertising campaign will run in the Autumn in Europe. It will be extended to other regions worldwide, namely North America and Asia-Pacific, at the end of the year.

The Accor hotel group's internet portal was awarded a "Dauphin d'Argent" in the e-commerce category at the Festival International Comunica 2000 in Deauville, which took place June 14 - 16.

Accor with 129,000 associates in 140 countries, is the European leader and one of the world's largest group in travel, tourism and services with two major international activities:

  • hotels: 3,400 hotels (370,000 rooms) in 90 countries, and travel agencies, restaurants and casinos;
  • services: each day, over 11 million people in 30 countries use a broad range of services (vouchers and cards, online services) developed, issued and managed by Accor on behalf of corporate clients and public authorities.

Information on Accor is available on Internet at www.accor.com

Beth Walsh
Laura Davidson Public Relations
212/696-0660
Accor