With more companies asking for a direct interface between their corporate Intranet and a hotel�s Central Reservation System (CRS), TRUSTCorp created a direct link to all available hotel rooms and each company�s special/individual negotiated rates, providing access to a hotel�s database and availability for corporate clients for customized online hotel distributions.

�Within the next three years, hotel reservation through corporate Intranets will be booked similar to travel agencies and GDSs,� stated Dr. Peter Agel, Managing Director of TRUST International.  �Availability and rates will be maintained and modified online by the hotels so that business travellers have current data at all times.�

Information on corporate clients is stored in TRUST�s own data warehouse, providing a transparent view of all hotel transactions to the linked companies.

According to Dr. Agel, �This system allows a firm�s travel department to easily monitor employee business travel and negotiate better conditions while decreasing expenditures for communication, fees and commissions.�

TRUSTCorp also offers hotels and marketing organizations an improvement in their yield management by not masking the expense of GDSs and through the use of analysis-tools.  Maintaining data only in TRUST files guarantees transmission to all other distribution channels.

BASF is currently using the TRUSTCorp system as a pilot program in Germany.  �TRUSTCorp has enabled us to better control the reservation volume of our business travellers and helped us decrease travelling costs,� stated Hermann Spenthoff, Travel Manager with BASF AG.  �TRUSTCorp�s efficiency also saves us the time needed to research contracted hotel guides.�

Thanks to an interface for international partners TRUST will offer corporate-linked partners access to 35,000 hotels worldwide by 2000.

About TRUST

TRUST International, a joint venture of the media giant Bertelsmann and SRS- WORLDHOTELS, develops and implements a state-of-the-art central reservation system, providing tailor-made, real-time reservations and global distribution solutions for the hospitality industry.  TRUST services provide solutions that seamlessly connect hotels and bookers worldwide, including private label telephone lines, connectivity to all Airline Reservation Systems and to various web sites and Internet platforms. TRUST�s philosophy: offer four and five star hotels distinguished service commensurate with their select guests.  TRUST maintains four offices worldwide including headquarters in Frankfurt and the Americas office in Orlando, Florida.  Among TRUST�s clients are some 1,300 hotels at 685 destinations in 95 countries.