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Atlanta (April 5, 2006) � Hotel Booking Solutions Incorporated
(HBSI), the leading provider of Demand ManagementSM
technologies and services to the global travel industry, announced today
it has signed an agreement with a subsidiary of Harrah�s Entertainment,
Inc. (NYSE: HET), the world�s largest provider of branded casino entertainment,
to provide advanced Demand Management solutions for Harrah�s 34 domestic
casino resorts. HBSI will work with Harrah�s to maximize resort room
revenue and profits by providing Harrah�s with a single interface to manage
online distribution channels.
Long recognized as a technological leader in the gaming industry, Harrah�s currently uses its proprietary Revenue Management System (RMS) to manage demand for its 40,000 hotel rooms across the country. Rates quoted to customers are constantly adjusted based on the customer�s loyalty to the company and room availability � ensuring that Harrah�s gets the right customer in the right room and the right time. Harrah�s ability to dynamically adjust room rates, however, does not currently extend to outside companies � particularly vacation providers such as Travelocity and Liberty Travel/GoGo � that sell rooms to customers. With HBSI�s Demand Management tool, the power of RMS will be extended to this important source of room demand allowing Harrah�s to boost business from its outside distribution partners when room demand is soft � and slow business from this source when it is not needed. This new Demand Management technology also gives online distributors live two-way connectivity to Harrah�s reservations system and its latest inventory and prices. �The travel industry is driven by consumer demand and our success at Harrah�s depends on a comprehensive understanding of our demand generators and an ability to shape this demand using revenue management to ensure that our best customers get our rooms based on their gaming revenue or room rate they are willing to pay,� said Steve Pinchuk, corporate vice president of revenue management for Harrah�s. �Hotel Booking Solutions Incorporated clearly understands the challenges that we face at Harrah�s, and I am confident that their Demand Management solutions will help us maintain our leadership position in customer satisfaction and revenue management through intelligent revenue generation, cost savings and operating efficiencies.� HBSI�s proprietary Demand GatewayTM technology integrates the multitude of complex distribution channel models, irrespective of supplier size, relationship or technical sophistication, and provides a single, robust two-way interface from Harrah�s channels of distribution directly to LMS, Harrah�s property management system. The Demand Gateway manages the movement of Harrah�s room availability, rates, reservations and other data elements from its properties to any distributor with whom Harrah�s has a contractual relationship. Demand Gateway also allows Harrah�s yielded room rates and availability to be cached and updated in real time. The implementation will include Harrah�s entire domestic portfolio of casino resorts, which includes such well-respected names as Caesars, Horseshoe, Flamingo, Rio, Bally�s and Paris Las Vegas. �We�re delighted with our new relationship with Harrah�s. Harrah�s is the leading gaming company in the world with a long history of growth, innovation, stability and service,� said Larry Hall, president and chief executive officer of HBSI. �Our Demand Management solutions will help Harrah�s achieve their corporate objectives by allowing Harrah�s to make distribution, rate, and inventory decisions based on their leading revenue management practices with much greater confidence and by creating a highly efficient operating environment. This initiative will provide Harrah�s with a distinct competitive advantage in the distribution landscape by eliminating the �resistance� between supply and distribution.� Generating and shaping travel demand remains a critical success factor for hotels in today�s competitive and highly complex online marketplace. Hotel companies must optimize customer satisfaction and profits while they control, track and analyze existing and future demand, launch aggressive promotional activities, support new and existing products types, as well as synchronize room product availability with travel buyer demand like never before. HBSI�s comprehensive Demand Management solution has quickly become the solution of choice by leading hotel companies that desire end-to-end supplier connectivity, tracking, management and optimization. About Hotel Booking Solutions Incorporated
About Harrah�s Entertainment
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Contact:
Kevin Ruhman
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