Calgary, Alberta, Canada � May 4, 2004 � VIP Investment Corporation, a channel marketing provider committed to being �the number one producer of reservations and profitability per client� for hotels, car rental companies, and regional airlines, announced it is expanding its reservation booking services with the addition of two new Internet technologies: Website Services and Merchant Express.  The new services maximize room sales from property websites, and streamline management of up to 15 third-party site inventories and rates from one screen.  VIP�s Website Services product suite will provide hotels with search engine optimization to guide shoppers using Internet search sites like Google and Yahoo to the hotel websites.  The suite also includes website enhancement features to enable client sites to convert visitors more efficiently.  Merchant Express is VIP�s branded Web yield management tool that gives properties the power to maximize any and/or all of their Internet sites simultaneous on one page.
 

�The clearest measure of industry success is profitability,� said VIP President, Kelly Blake.  �Our new services are designed to bring more profitable reservations to our clients in two ways: enabling them to sell more rooms from their most profitable reservation source, their own site; and by coordinating their global web-booking strategy.�   Room rates generated from hotel-controlled websites average 6.5 percent higher than those from third-party booking providers.   Blake also noted that search engine optimization (SEO) is an essential service for hotels that maintain a reservation engine on their website because it brings more business to them by making the hotel�s websites more visible to leading Internet search engines.

Kelly Blake

VIP Website Design and Development Services transform client sites into efficient booking channels by dynamically re-packaging their online look and feel and highlighting special offerings, such as weddings or spa treatments, to generate additional revenue.  Up to five pages of client Web content are redesigned to feature �calls to action� that direct shoppers to book on the hotel�s site.  Once the website is redesigned VIP uses a proprietary �critic program� that analyzes each client site for its attractiveness to search engines to maximize Internet exposure.  The goal is to have each site appear on the first page of most hotel inquiries.

Merchant Express, VIP�s second new offering, gives hotels the power to manage all their online channels more effectively.  It does this by enabling properties to access and change their third-party Internet availability and rates across 15 sites, like Hotels.com and Expedia, at one time from one screen. Now hotels with extensive online room offerings are able to access all their Internet availability and rate offerings and change them with one click, instead of individually, which is time consuming and error prone.   Merchant Express can save hotels up to 50 hours each month by giving them better information in a consolidated form, and lets them respond more quickly to market changes and gives them the ability to strategically drive room revenue direct to their hotel. 

About VIP
VIP Investment Corporation (www.vipintcorp.com) is a channel marketing organization that drives revenue for hoteliers, car rental owners and regional airlines through a multi-channel reservation sales center, the adoption of leading-edge technology, and partnerships with clients to provide ongoing education.  Founded in 1979, the privately held Calgary, Alberta-based firm pursues a mission of being "The number one producer of bookings and profitability per client." This is accomplished through mastering the electronic channel marketing environment, developing and implementing strategies for each client's unique position, and educating customers about how to optimize participation in the changing electronic marketplace.  VIP, the industry's second largest provider of reservation sales services to hotels, car rental companies and airlines, serves more than 5,000 clients worldwide.   A sister subsidiary of VIP acquired Lexington Services in November of 2003.  The combined companies are a central distribution point to every viable Internet Web booking site, and to all of the major global distribution systems including Sabre, Galileo, Pegasus, WorldRes, Amadeus, and Worldspan. VIP is headquartered in Calgary, Canada with a USA headquarters in Dallas, Texas and significant development office presence in Denver, Colorado, London, United Kingdom, Hong Kong and other cities located around the world.