March 27, 2001

TRUST International Appoints Connie Rheams President Of TRUST In The Americas - Reservations Technology Provider Plans Continued U.S. Growth

ORLANDO, FL, March 27, 2001 - TRUST International, a member of the Bertelsmann Group, today announced the appointment of Connie Rheams as President of TRUST in the Americas. Rheams will continue to report to Dr. Peter Agel, CEO of TRUST International. She had served as Vice President of Business Development for the past two years from the Orlando, Florida office, where she was responsible for sales and marketing initiatives in the Americas.

"As President of TRUST, I will continue our plans for growth in the U.S. market for hospitality technology and service solutions," stated Rheams. "We will continue to strengthen strategic partnerships, expand our client base, and optimize the Bertelsmann relationship through enhanced digital content management and distribution."

At the ResExpo 2001 conference on March 28, Rheams will present TRUST's growth strategy, the company's first joint content management initiative with Bertelsmann and TRUSTView, an Internet-based data management and analysis tool.

Connie Rheams has 16 years of experience in the travel industry. Previously, Rheams spent 14 years working with AMR Corporation where she held various management positions at American Airlines, TeleService Resources, and SABRE.

Rheams served on the Latin American Task Force at American Airlines, which coordinated all aspects of integrating Eastern Airlines operations throughout Central and South American routes. She led the Hospitality Division at TeleService Resouces and served as the head of Product Marketing for SABRE Internet Travel Solutions, which developed custom designed Web sites for companies such as and lowestfare.com. Rheams also managed the reservations outsourcing relationship with Canadian Airlines.

"Connie Rheams has an impressive track record of managing relationships with global travel organizations. We are certain that through her leadership we will continue to position TRUST as a innovator in hospitality technology," said Dr. Peter Agel, CEO.

About TRUST International

TRUST International (www.trustinternational.com) is a member of the Bertelsmann Group, the international media giant. TRUST develops and implements a state-of-the-art central reservation system, providing tailor-made, real-time reservations and global distribution solutions for the hospitality industry. TRUST services provide real-time solutions that seamlessly connect hotels and bookers worldwide, including private label telephone lines, connectivity to all Airline Reservations Systems and to various websites and Internet platforms. TRUST maintains three offices worldwide including the Headquarters in Frankfurt, the Americas office in Orlando, Florida, and a reservations center in Singapore. Among TRUST's clients are some 1,300 hotels at 685 destinations in 95 countries such as SRS-WORLDHOTELS, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts, Pan Pacific Hotels & Resorts, Kempinski Hotels & Resorts, Dorint Hotels & Resorts, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Preferred Hotels & Resorts, Swissôtel, Oberoi Hotels, Astron Hotels, and Small Luxury Hotels of the World.