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Accor North America Selects VFM Interactive to Distribute
Rich Media Tours for Motel 6  Locations
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DALLAS, Texas  and TORONTO, Ontario (August 14th, 2008)� Accor North America, one of the nation�s largest owners and operators of economy lodging, announced today that it has entered into an agreement with VFM Interactive to provide rich media management and distribution services to its Motel 6 properties.  

As part of the agreement, VFM will distribute newly created online video tours for participating Motel 6 properties to partner travel and travel-related websites, including major online travel agencies, travel research sites, search and meta-search engines, portal, as well as major travel intermediaries such as the Global Distribution Systems (GDSs) and Pegasus.  In addition, Accor North America will utilize VFM�s web-based digital media management platform, Vscape, to manage and distribute Motel 6 property photos to VFM�s extensive distribution network.  

�We have long been believers in the importance of rich media in marketing hotels online,� said Anne Lawrence, VP, Distribution Services for Accor North America.  �Recently, we created rich media tours for many of our Motel 6 properties so we could more effectively showcase all of what our Motel 6 properties have to offer to online consumers.  Given that VFM has long distributed rich media for our North American Sofitel and Novotel hotels, we knew that with their unmatched distribution reach they were the perfect partner to ensure that our Motel 6 message would also reach as many online consumers as possible.� 

�We are delighted to have been selected once again by Accor North America to help them market their properties more effectively across the Internet,� said Paolo Boni, president and CEO of VFM Interactive.  �Numerous studies have now shown that rich visual content is the most effective tool to convey a hotel�s value proposition to online consumers.  As a result, as the economy slows and consumers become more value conscious, having rich media widely distributed online is a very effective and economical way to drive more bookings and support higher ADR.�  

About VFM Interactive

VFM Interactive is the leading end-to-end provider of online media production and distribution solutions for the hotel and travel industry. VFM helps hotel and travel companies enhance their online marketing through rich visual content including still images, videos, 360º virtual tours and Flash presentation. VFM�s Vscape® platform allows hotels to manage and distribute their rich media content on the industry�s largest and fastest-growing distribution network of more than 25,000 websites where consumers most often research and purchase travel products. This network includes online travel agencies, travel suppliers, search portals and Global Distribution Systems such as Travelocity, Orbitz, Priceline, TripAdvisor, American Airlines, Yahoo!, SideStep, Sabre Travel Network, Galileo and Worldspan. VFM�s Vscape media distribution platform is utilized by more than 35,000 hotels from dozens of major hotel chains and resorts from brands and management companies including Best Western, Choice, Crowne Plaza, Hilton, Holiday Inn, Interstate, La Quinta, Marriott, Outrigger, Radisson, Regent, Sheraton, Sol Meliá, W, Westin and Wyndham. For more information, visit www.vfmii.com.

About Motel 6

Motel 6 offers the best price of any national chain at more than 900 company-owned and franchised locations throughout the United States and Canada. For 21 years Motel 6 has used the tagline, �We�ll leave the light on for you,� earning the chain the highest brand recognition in the economy lodging segment. Motel 6 was the first national pet friendly chain, welcoming pets since 1962. Standard amenities include free local phone calls, no long distance access charges, free morning coffee, data ports, Wi-Fi Internet access and cable channel line-up with premium channels including HBO, ESPN/ESPN2, and CNN. Most locations offer swimming pools and guest laundry facilities. For more information, visit www.motel6.com

About Accor North America

Headquartered in Dallas (Carrollton), Texas, Accor North America operates more than 950 upscale and economy properties including nationwide economy leaders Studio 6 and Motel 6 and the upper-upscale Sofitel and upscale Novotel hotel locations in the U.S. and Canada. For more information, visit http://www.accor-na.com/.

About Accor Worldwide

Accor, the European leader and a major global group in hotels, the global leader in services to corporate clients and public institutions, operates in nearly 100 countries with 170,000 employees. It offers to its clients over 40 years of expertise in its two core businesses:
- Hotels, with the Sofitel, Pullman, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, Ibis, All Seasons, Etap Hotel, Formule 1, Studio 6 and Motel 6 brands, representing more than 4,000 hotels and nearly 500,000 rooms in 90 countries, as well as strategically related activities, such as Lenôtre.
- Services, with 23 million people in nearly 40 countries benefiting from Accor Services products in human resources, marketing services and expense management.


 
Contact:

Louise Meyer
VFM Interactive Inc.
[email protected]
(708) 497-2320
Website: www.vfmii.com

 

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Also See: GenaRes Worldwide Reservation Services Appoints VFM Interactive As Their Exclusive Provider of Rich Media Production and Distribution Services / August 2008
VFM Interactive Announces Expansion of Hotel Team; Highly regarded industry veterans, Darlene Rondeau and Susan Tennant, to help grow VFM's hotel media production and distribution business / July 2008
VFM Interactive Inc. Announces the Completion of $13.5 Million Financing to Support its Ongoing Expansion Lake Capital Leads Investment in VFM Interactive Inc./ April 2008
Outrigger Hotels & Resorts and OHANA Hotels & Resorts Roll-Out New Online Videos for Their Hawaii Properties / March 2008
Myfidelio.Net And VFM Interactive To Provide Hotels With A Central Gateway For Distribution And Management Of Visual Content In All Channels; All myfidelio.net hotels now have access to VFM's Vscape solution to distribute and manage images in all GDS and thousands of Internet Channels / March 2008
VFM Interactive Announces Louise Meyer Joins Executive Team; Highly regarded industry veteran to help build VFM's hotel media production and distribution business / February 2008
Great Hotels Organisation Partners with VFM Interactive to Provide Rich Media Production and Distribution Services for their Member Hotels Worldwide; GHO adopts VFM's Vscape media management and distribution solution to distribute hotel photos and rich media to thousands of electronic channels / February 2008
Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants to Enhance Online Presence; Selects VFM Interactive as Rich Media Production & Distribution Provider; VFM to produce and distribute new rich media for all Kimpton properties / December 2007
VFM Interactive and Omni Hotels Complete Study on the Impact of Rich Visual Media On Hotel Bookings / October 2007
VFM Interactive's Vscape® Selected by La Quinta to Distribute Hotel Company's Photograph Images / January 2006
Galileo International to Add Still and Rich Media Image Content from VFM Interactive / November 2005
The Majority of Online Travelers Rate Hotel Visuals Among Top Influencing Factors in Selecting a Hotel Online / November 2005
Accor North America To Enhance Online Presence of Sofitel and Novotel Brands; Selects VFM Interactive as Rich Media Services Provider / November 2005
VFM Interactive�s Innovation and Expansion Delivers Strong Client and Distribution Growth Reinforcing VFM Market Leadership Position / September 2005
VFM Interactive Expands Board of Directors Amid Record Growth; Appoints 20-year Veteran Michael W. McCormick to New Seat / September 2005
Worldspan Becomes First GDS to Use VFM to Distribute Stills & Rich Media / August 2005
Le Méridien Adopts VFM's Vscape for Photo & Rich Media Distribution / July 2005
Sol Meliá Partners with VFM to Use Videos to Market Resorts Online / July 2005
Best Western Partners with VFM Interactive in Unprecedented Rich Media Strategy / June 2005
VFM Interactive Launches Vscape® � a Rich Media Distribution Solution Providing Unprecedented Control to Hotels / June 2005
After Seeing Tremendous Response to Pilot Online Videos, W Hotels Partners with VFM Interactive to Add Online Video Tours to All its Properties / March 2005
VFM Interactive releases PhotoFlicks®; Innovative Rich Media Turns Still Photographs into Audio-enhanced Slide Shows to Increase Hotel Bookings Online / November 2004
Vantis Partners with VFM Interactive to offer Hotel Clients Rich Media Solutions / October 2004
Rich Content Such as Internet Videos, Virtual Tours and Flash Presentations Significantly Impact the Buying Decision of Consumers Researching and Booking Hotels Online / December 2003
Online Rich Content Is an Important Branding Asset as Well as a Compelling Marketing Tool for Hotel Franchisees to Drive Revenues Through All Online Channels, Both Direct and Indirect / January 2004


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