PARSIPPANY, NJ May 30, 2000 - Cendant Internet
Group, a unit of Cendant Corporation (NYSE: CD), today announced that the
Company�s subsidiary, WizCom International, Ltd. (�WizCom�) has signed
a letter of intent to build an interface to GetThere.com, Inc.�s (Nasdaq:
GTHR) newly created GetThere Marketplace to link its hotel company customers
directly to buyers in a business-to-business Internet travel marketplace.
WizCom will be part of the GetThere Supplier Network, which connects leading
air, hotel and car rental suppliers with a direct connection to major corporations
which combined spend nearly $10 billion in annual travel.
�We
decided to become a part of the GetThere Marketplace in order to provide
WizCom�s customers with greater access to the corporate travel sector and
increase their distribution reach,� said WizCom President Flo Lugli.
�GetThere�s model is perfectly aligned with WizCom as both companies look
for innovative ways of reducing distribution costs while increasing value
for our customers.�
The GetThere Marketplace is a framework that connects major buyers of
corporate travel services such as Chevron, Cisco, Lucent and Nike, with
the world�s leading airline, hotel, retail and car rental suppliers.
The agreement with WizCom will allow GetThere.com�s corporate travel customers
to have access to WizCom�s customers, which include more than 90 hotel
chains worldwide. Companies will be able to streamline and reduce
their travel costs by tapping into WizCom�s direct connectivity to the
hotel�s central reservation system. The GetThere Marketplace also
provides value-added services for the corporate traveler, such as wireless
access, online ground transportation and restaurant reservations.
�Having WizCom as a partner will provide our corporate customers with
a greater variety of travel booking options and high quality customer service,�
said GetThere.com CEO and President Gadi Maier.
WizCom International, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Cendant Corporation
(NYSE: CD), is a leading global provider of electronic reservations processing
and information management systems for the travel industry. WizCom
provides its hotel, car rental, and tour / leisure travel customers with
innovative, flexible and cost-effective electronic distribution and e-commerce
solutions for the Internet, GDS and / or other travel reservation systems.
Established in 1987, WizCom has an extensive customer base with more than
90 hotel companies and over 25 car rental firms operating in more than
forty countries worldwide.
GetThere (Nasdaq: GTHR) operates the world�s largest Internet marketplace
focused on business-to-business travel services. GetThere�s systems
are used to provide online travel procurement to employees at leading corporations
such as Boeing, Chevron, Cisco, Cox Communications, Lucent, MetLife, Nike
and Xerox. GetThere also powers online travel sites for leading airlines,
including Alitalia, All Nippon Airways, America West, British Airways,
Northwest Airlines, TWA and United Airlines. GetThere can be found
on the Web at www.getthere.com.
Cendant Internet Group is aggressively pursuing Internet, broadband
and wireless related convergence opportunities for Cendant with the objective
of leveraging its businesses in the areas of travel, real estate and direct
marketing, as well as its proven core competencies in the areas of franchising,
outsourcing, cross-selling and preferred alliance programs. Cendant Internet
Group will achieve this goal by incubating or developing new initiatives
and/or by working with leading Internet businesses through marketing alliances,
strategic investments and M&A activity. |