Outrigger was the first major Hawaii hotel to develop a presence on the Internet and its web site, outrigger.com, currently is receiving about four million �hits� per week.  �More importantly, the web site has seen more than 600,000 user sessions and more than three million page views so far this year,� Sthay says.  �This means that each person who uses our web site looks at an average of five pages per session.�  A user session is the time a user spends on one particular site.  

The web site was launched in 1994, and on-line booking became possible beginning in 1996.  On-line bookings increased by 58 percent from 1997 to 1998 from $500,000 to $1.2 million.  �The increase is a result of the overall increase in Internet users combined with Outrigger�s emphasis on its web site,� Sthay says.  Outrigger is targeting $11 million in on-line bookings for 2000.

Travel agents find the web site offers something for them, as well.  The site dedicates a whole section to keeping travel agents updated on specials and packages available at Outrigger and Ohana brand hotels, and offers rewards to agents for realized bookings.  �We also have our brochure available on our web site so travel agents can print out for their customers and attach it to the customers� itineraries,� Sthay says.  �Travel agents also can send their customers e-mails with links to our site for informational purposes.�

According to the Travel Industry Association of America, of the 52.2 million travelers who used the Internet to plan their travel in 1999, 16.5 million actually made their reservations on line, up 146 percent from the previous year.

Outrigger Hotels & Resorts is a division of Hawaii-based Outrigger Enterprises, Inc., the largest lodging company in Hawaii and one of the fastest growing lodging companies in the Pacific. Outrigger currently operates or has under development 39 hotels and resort condominiums throughout the Pacific region, representing more than 10,000 hotel rooms and condominium units in Hawaii, Micronesia, Australia and the South Pacific. 

Outrigger�s affiliate, Outrigger Lodging Services, manages nearly two dozen hotels and resorts throughout the U.S. mainland.