Hotel Online  Special Report
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GenaRes Offers Enhanced Hotel Reservations Channel Management through
System Integration with Ez Yield; New York City�s Flatotel is GenaRes�
First Hotel Customer to Benefit 
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Dallas, TX & Orlando, FL � April 12, 2006 � GenaRes Worldwide Reservation ServicesSM Ltd., the global hotel industry�s newest representation and reservations company, announced that it is the first central reservations system (CRS) to be fully integrated with the Ez Yield.com V2 system.  The Ez Yield V2 platform provides a way for hoteliers to easily and automatically update and manage their rates and availability on the Internet wholesaler sites, also known as �merchant model� sites, such as Travelocity, Hotels.com and VirginHolidays.com. 

GenaRes customer Flatotel, a 271-room contemporary hotel in Midtown Manhattan, was the first to use the integrated system.  With most of its weekend business generated through wholesale and merchant sites, Flatotel experienced immediate benefits.  �Previously, managing Flatotel�s rates on all of the various distribution channels was a nightmare.  Although the GenaRes CRS enabled us to easily manage our rate plans on the global distribution systems (GDS) and the retail and opaque Internet booking sites, we had to individually deal with each online wholesaler, manually updating each site one at a time,�  said Flatotel Reservations Manager Clayton Channing. 

�Occasionally we would load a discounted rate on one of the merchant sites we�ve contracted with, and then inadvertently neglect to load that same discounted rate in the GDSs.  Unfortunately, this would cause our corporate travel agency clients to book our rooms via the wholesaler instead of the via the GDS, costing us more in commissions, not to mention extra work for the travel agency.  Now, with Ez Yield.com and the GenaRes CRS integrated, we can ensure �rate parity� across all channels, easily and in �real time�,� Channing said. 

The third-party wholesaler sites that Flatotel manages using the GenaRes/Ez Yield channel management tool include Virginholidays.com, Quickbook.com, HotelBeds.com, and ExpressReservations.com.

"The combination of these systems truly does put all the power into the hotel revenue manager�s hands,� Flatotel�s Channing continued.  �GenaRes is one of the few CRSs where the hotelier can update the GDS inventory themselves at any time, which is a tremendous benefit.  With our previous reservations company, we would have to wait several days before our rates were updated in the GDSs.  This would create a major problem with our corporate clients when they could not find our discounted rates on their GDS.  With the GenaRes/Ez Yield interface, from one screen, I can update all of my rate plans across all channels in real time, and ensure there are no errors or discrepancies.  For a hotel revenue manager, that�s heaven!� 

GenaRes and Ez Yield completed the integration last month.  Ez Yield charges participating hotels a small monthly fee, and has nearly 1,000 hotels worldwide participating. 

�We are always seeking added-value services to provide to our CRS customers, and Ez Yield was a natural fit,� GenaRes President Eugene Harris said. �Although we�ve always provided our hotel customers with the tools to easily manage their rates and availability on the GDSs and retail Web sites that we access via the Pegasus Solutions Online Distribution Network (NASDAQ: PEGS), the merchant model and wholesale sites have always provided a challenge for our hoteliers.   Integrating the Ez Yield technology into our CRS will make managing those sites so much easier for our customers.� Merchant model sites have become increasingly important for hotels as bookings through these channels continue to grow.  According to industry estimates, bookings through merchant Web sites such as Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity channels in 2005 were up 34 percent over 2004, representing 9 percent of total online hotel bookings worldwide

Ez Yield.com President and Co-Founder Edward St. Onge commented, �While we�ve established marketing alliances with several CR S companies, GenaRes is the first that we�ve integrated our system with.  When we made it clear to the industry that we were ready to integrate the Ez Yield.com platform with one of the CRSs, GenaRes moved the fastest to participate.  And, we�re glad they did � the integration was an incredibly smooth process.�

GenaRes� system is the one of the few CRSs to be developed since 1999.  Built from the ground up by experienced industry veterans, the system uses the latest technology and incorporates functionality that is most vital for hoteliers of today, including next generation seamless connectivity (Seamless 2), true sales distribution channel management, advanced yield management capabilities, and customized reporting.  For hotels or hotel companies that do not need their own chain code, GenaRes provides its chain code of GZ.

GenaRes (http://www.genares.com) was formed last year by hotel industry veterans Michael G. Wilkins, Ricky A. Wilkins and Eugene Harris, who were founders of the Dallas-based hotel representation and reservations company Lexington Services Corp.  In addition to originally founding Lexington Services, the GenaRes founders together have more than 30 years experience running a hotel company: Lexington Hotel Suites and Inns, which at one point had 50 hotels in its portfolio.  �GenaRes is probably the only third party representation service that was truly created by hoteliers for hoteliers,� Harris said.  �As former hoteliers, we understand the day-to-day challenges that hotel operators face.�   GenaRes� customers include Americas Best Value Inn, Korman Communities, Italy�s Hotel Marketing Solutions (HMS),  and hundreds of independent properties.

About Ez Yield.com Inc. 
EZ Yield (www.ezyield.com) is the inventor of online travel site extranet automation (channel management). The EZ Yield.com S.P.I.D.E.R. yielding platform updates major inventory options for its affiliate partners and provides both the hotelier and their �contracted� wholesaler Web sites with a powerful, time-saving solution. EZ Yield.com provides multiple encrypted yielding methods that allow hoteliers to update rates, availability, allotments, cut-off dates, blackout dates, and minimum night stays simultaneously across the spectrum of their contracted Internet wholesalers. For more information on EZ Yield.com V2, contact [email protected].

About GenaRes Worldwide Reservation Services, Ltd
Launched in 2004 by former Lexington Services Corp. founders and executives, Dallas-based GenaRes Worldwide Reservation ServicesSM Ltd (http:/www.genares.com) is the hotel industry�s newest hotel reservations and representation company.  As the first new central reservation system (CRS) to come to market since 1999, GenaRes� GenaRaterSM Web-based CRS and related services are provided on an ASP basis and are designed for properties ranging from small independents to large chain hotels worldwide.  Laying its claim as the lodging industry�s only privately held reservations technology provider that was created by hoteliers for hoteliers, GenaRes� services include: seamless GDS and Internet connectivity, a private-label Internet booking engine, a Web-based CRS with two-way XML property management system interfaces, and private-label voice reservations/call center services.  GenaRes is headquartered in the Dallas/Fort Worth suburb of Grapevine, Texas, and has sales representation worldwide, with offices in Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Switzerland and India.

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Contact:

Karin Wacaser
Public Relations for GenaRes
214 215 8605
[email protected]
 

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Also See: Italy-Based Hotel Marketing Solutions Selects GenaRes as its New Provider for CRS, GDS, and Internet Reservation Processing; GenaRes to Power Reservations on HMS� BookItalyHotels.com Consumer Web Site / October 005
Americas Best Value Inn�s 475 Properties Switch to Newly Launched GenaRes for CRS, GDS, Internet and Voice Reservations Processing / April 2005


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