Chicago, IL (January 29, 2003) - With electronic distribution of hotel room nights approaching $18 billion in annual worldwide revenues, TravelCLICK and the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) honored excellence in electronic marketing at the HSMAI Travel Awards Gala in New York. 

TravelCLICK presented the second annual HSMAI/TravelCLICK E-Marketer of the Year award to Loews Hotels at last night's dinner.  Charlotte St. Martin, executive vice president of marketing for Loews Hotels, accepted the award. In addition, three individual hotel properties, each representing a region of the world, were also recognized as  "2002 E-Marketer of the Year" award winners.

The 2002 E-Marketer Award winners are: 

HSMAI / TravelCLICK E-Marketer of the Year - Loews Hotels
Brand/Chain E-Marketer of the Year - Loews Hotels
The Americas E-Marketer of the Year - Four Seasons Hotel Boston
Asia/Pacific E-Marketer of the Year - The Peninsula Hong Kong
Europe/Middle East/Africa E-Marketer of the Year - The Savoy London

"All four of the award recipients share the consistent quality we looked for in selecting the HSMAI/ TravelCLICK E-Marketer of the Year: aggressive pursuit of control over their e-commerce," said Bruce W. Mainzer, senior vice president of marketing, TravelCLICK. 

This year's e-marketer award selections, like last year's, were driven by booking performance achieved in electronic channels. Each e-marketer winner is the highest performer in their category, based on electronic bookings through GDS and the Web and superior marketing strategy. 

HSMAI/TravelCLICK E-Marketer of the Year - Loews Hotels

Loews Hotels was selected as the Brand/Chain E-Marketer winner based on its strong performance in growing its electronic bookings year over year. Loews Hotels was selected as the overall E-Marketer of the Year Award for its superior integration of e-marketing strategies including the deployment of technology, a system-wide rate re-structure, well-planned property and corporate electronic media campaigns, and tracking of results across its 18 properties.

Standardizing the rate structure made the properties easier to view, sell and manage on the GDS. Loews also restructured their Web site to complement the new rate structure and provide customers their best rates. 

The brand utilizes GDS advertising extensively - an average of two to three campaigns per property per year. In addition, the company executes corporate campaigns that complement local hotel property initiatives. 

"Loews employs electronic advertising and uses electronic tracking tools to monitor, analyze and fine-tune our e-marketing strategies," said St. Martin. "Loews is a believer in e-marketing because it enables us to target our guests with specific offers. It's not the shotgun approach; it's the laser sharp approach. We've had a response rate of 29% on some direct and e-marketing campaigns."

"Compared to traditional media, it's the difference between night and day," said Teresa Surin, vice president, revenue management, Loews Hotels. "E-marketing and the technology we employ allow us to be nimble and react at a moment's notice." 

The Americas E-Marketer of the Year - Four Seasons Hotel Boston 

The Four Seasons Hotel Boston, the only five-star, five-diamond hotel in Boston, is recognized for excellence in rate and availability strategy combined with effective e-marketing. 

Instead of discounting, this hotel utilized electronic marketing channels to increase demand from corporate, group and transient markets. The Four Seasons Hotel Boston then utilized TravelCLICK's Hotelligence report to competitively benchmark their electronic marketing and continually maximize their revenue from GDS and consumer online channels.

Asia/Pacific E-Marketer of the Year - The Peninsula Hong Kong 

The Peninsula Hong Kong earned its award for its strategic focus on e-marketing. This 300-room luxury hotel kicked off their electronic marketing plan for 2002 with a complete audit of the room and rate information on all electronic channels. By monitoring their competition, The Peninsula Hong Kong was able to zero in on adjusting rates while maintaining rate integrity. 

The hotel drove traffic to their Web site by marketing an advance sale rate aggressively on their own Web site and on the GDS. The hotel also used intelligence tools on a daily basis to monitor bookings by channel and rate-code in order to refine and adjust their e-marketing messages. On a per room basis, the Peninsula drove the highest electronic revenues and electronic room nights among its competitors. 

Europe/Middle East/Africa E-Marketer of the Year - The Savoy 

A 237-room luxury property in London, The Savoy achieved the position of the top-producing non-U.S hotel on Orbitz. Great timing, execution and placement of The Savoy's marketing message on Orbitz were keys to their success.

The Savoy also conducts bi-annual audits of rates and rooms showing in all of the GDS systems; and completely revised its own Web site to ensure the best rate strategy. The Savoy uses a number of electronic marketing capabilities, including a templated electronic newsletter, to customize offers to specific customers and market segments. The Savoy was a 2001 TravelCLICK E-Marketer Award finalist. 

"To achieve results, successful hotels demand evaluation measures from their e-marketing partners, as well as tools that help maximize their control over their business," said Mainzer. "E-marketing is not a special science. E-commerce doesn't change basic marketing principles, it just makes them more dynamic and makes those who stay on top of their game more successful."

About TravelCLICK 
TravelCLICK (www.travelclick.net) is the leading provider of solutions that help hotels and other travel industry suppliers maximize net revenue from electronic distribution channels. TravelCLICK's competitive benchmarking reports provide hotels with price and booking performance information unavailable through any other source. The company's exclusive electronic marketing networks allow hotels and other travel related suppliers to target promotional messages to specific travel agents, consumers, and group meeting planners when they are booking travel. Established in 1996 and headquartered in the Chicago area, TravelCLICK operates in more than 140 countries around the world.