Chicago, IL (January 26, 2004) - With electronic distribution of hotel room nights approaching $21 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 third annual HSMAI/TravelCLICK E-Marketer of the Year award to Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London at tonight's dinner. Mary Ellen Desmond, regional director of sales for Mandarin Oriental, accepted the award. In addition, a hotel brand and three other individual hotel properties, each representing a region of the world, were also recognized as 2003 "E-Marketer of the Year" award winners.

The 2003 E-Marketer Award winners are:

• HSMAI/ TravelCLICK E-Marketer of the Year - Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park, London
• Brand/Chain E-Marketer of the Year - Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
• North America E-Marketer of the Year - Radisson Waikiki Prince Kuhio
• Latin America E-Marketer of the Year - Crowne Plaza Monterrey Mexico
• Asia/Pacific E-Marketer of the Year - Ritz Carlton Millenia Singapore
• Europe/Middle East/Africa E-Marketer of the Year - Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park

This year's e-marketer award winners, as in previous years, were selected based on booking performance and superior marketing strategy in electronic channels. Each 2003 e-marketer winner was the highest performer in their category in electronic bookings, either through the GDS or through their own Web site.

HSMAI/TravelCLICK E-Marketer of the Year - Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London

Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park was chosen as the Europe and Overall E-Marketer of the Year winner based on its strong performance in growing its property Web site bookings year over year, and its superior combination of e-marketing strategies. The property managed their rates strategically and utilized smart seasonal ad campaigns during need periods.

In 2003, Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park adopted an aggressive yield management strategy by introducing tactical rates that could be opened and closed easily on a daily basis. By manipulating the rates, the hotel increased ADR by 9% and GDS revenue by 14% from the previous year.

This strategy also led the hotel to outperform its competitive set, and at the same time, the property maintained rate parity with its own Web site and grew Web bookings by 50% over 2002.

"Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park believes that e-marketing allows a direct and fast response to changing business levels. It is a transparent and clean approach to direct client communication. This channel allows us to position the hotel correctly while supplying up to date information," said Spencer Yeo, director of sales and marketing for Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park. "As a luxury property, we also see e-marketing as a strategy that complements all our traditional marketing campaigns."

Brand E-Marketer of the Year - Fairmont Hotels & Resorts

Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, a 43-property luxury brand, won the Brand e Marketer of the Year award for outstanding performance in Internet distribution and for innovation with its brand Web site.

Fairmont initiated a new proprietary "revenue maximization" program that is being rolled out to all its properties. The program takes a holistic approach to revenue management with one module that focuses on maximizing revenue through all channels.

The brand takes advantage of many electronic tools. Each hotel's revenue team determines their selling strategy on a regular basis, which is then executed in conjunction with Fairmont's global reservation center.

The Fairmont Web site was redesigned in 2003 to create a better online experience, improve product placement, and facilitate up-selling. The end result was that the site's reservations process was made far more accessible for consumers coming into the site, fueling a 70% increase in Fairmont.com bookings.

North America E-Marketer of the Year - Radisson Waikiki Prince Kuhio

Owned by Stanford Hotels Corporation, The Radisson Waikiki Prince Kuhio sets the standard for e-marketing excellence in Hawaii with their refined strategies and talented team. The 620-room property consistently and aggressively utilizes rate intelligence to strategize months in advance, track competition, and monitor their own rates across the electronic channels. The Radisson Waikiki Prince Kuhio also uses the Hotelligence report to competitively benchmark their electronic marketing and continually maximize their revenue from GDS and consumer online channels. In 2003, the hotel had a ten-fold increase in room nights booked on its property web site versus the prior year.

Asia-Pacific E-Marketer of the Year - Ritz Carlton Millenia Singapore

Just because a hotel is faced with seemingly insurmountable market conditions doesn't mean that it can't use its resources wisely and continue to thrive. The Ritz Carlton Millenia Singapore proved it in 2003, as it faced considerable challenges due to the outbreak of SARS, coupled by the war in Iraq.

Despite the poor economic climate, this property continued using all the electronic tools available and triumphed with a positive year. The Ritz Carlton Millenia Singapore utilized TravelCLICK's RateVIEW rate intelligence reports to set pricing strategies, used data collected from its own Web site to target visitors, and used local portals to generate room nights during need periods. As a result of this focus, the property was the top performer in local GDS market share and increased its property Web site bookings by 45%.

Latin America E-Marketer of the Year - Crowne Plaza Monterrey Mexico

A newly renovated 403-room property, the Crowne Plaza Monterrey had a banner e-marketing year in 2003. They competitively set and marketed rates, resulting in outstanding revenue performance.

Utilizing rate and competitive intelligence, the hotel deployed a rate strategy to increase bookings through the GDS and GDS-powered Web sites, defined by periods of occupancy. The hotel established special rates and corresponding codes throughout the GDS, and then actively promoted the rates via electronic marketing. In addition, the hotel analyzed and updated their description and details on key Web sites. These strategies enabled the Crowne Plaza Monterrey to triple its room night bookings on its property Web site, and increase its revenue market share by eight percentage points.

About TravelCLICK

TravelCLICK (www.travelclick.net ) is the leading provider of solutions that help hotels and other travel industry suppliers maximize profit 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. The TravelCLICK Interactive division assists hotels with online strategies to increase consumer direct business.

Established in 1996 and headquartered in the Chicago area, TravelCLICK operates in more than 140 countries around the world. The company has over 6,000 clients, including national and international companies such as Accor, Air France, Avis, Best Western International, British Airways, Carlson Hotels Worldwide, Choice Hotels, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Grupo Posadas, Hilton Hotels Corporation, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Kempinski Hotels & Resorts, Leading Hotels of the World, Loews Hotels, Lufthansa, Marriott International, NH Hotels, The Peninsula Group, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, SAS, The Savoy Group, Shangri-La Hotels, Sol Melia, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Thistle Hotels, USAirways, Virgin Atlantic and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.