Park Place switched to Utell in order to take advantage of Utell's advanced distribution technology. Utell is providing Park Place with a strong presence in the global marketplace and with the enhanced ability to facilitate hotel reservations through travel agents, whether it be through voice, global distribution systems (GDS) connectivity or Internet. Utell will also provide Park Place with local account management, revenue and yield management, and marketing services.
"We chose Utell not only because they have all the services we were seeking, but they also provide both local account management and top notch technical staff," said Michael Gasta, vice president of sales and marketing for Park Place Entertainment. "We're pleased that Utell's solution was operational in less than 45 days from the day we made the final decision to switch providers."
Under the agreement, Utell has developed a package of reservation services providing Park Place with the capabilities to accept travel agent reservations via the four major global distribution systems and with global voice call centers. Additionally, Utell is enhancing Park Place Entertainment's existing Internet distribution with over 1,000 Web sites affiliated with Pegasus Solutions' Online Distribution Network. Utell is also providing Park Place with the ability to have a two-way interface between their central reservations system (CRS) and their property management system (PMS), which enables real time access for travel agents to all available inventory.
According to Graham Richards, senior vice president - Americas Division of Utell, "travel agents that use Utell now have a vast selection of hundreds of properties through a variety of market segments, room types and locations in the gaming community of the Las Vegas Valley. It brings Utell's total portfolio to more than 21,000 rooms in the Las Vegas market."
Through its worldwide network of call centers, Utell is now taking voice reservations on behalf of Park Place in 39 countries. As a result of Utell's GDS representation, Park Place can now accept electronic reservations from travel agents around the world via access code 'UI'. Park Place will also receive additional Internet distribution from Utell's proprietary bookable Web site, www.utell.com, as well as through Pegasus' Online Distribution Network, which includes more than a thousand sites including Expedia.com, Hotwire.com, and GL Network's HotelWeb.co.kr.
As a result of this announcement and previous agreements with The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino, the Aladdin Resort & Casino and Station Casinos, Utell is one of the major providers of reservation, representation and marketing services in the gaming community, offering a large variety of properties, rooms, and locations.
Editor's note: Photo available upon request.
Company Information
Park Place Entertainment is the world's largest gaming company and owns, manages or has an interest in 28 gaming properties operating under the Bally's, Caesars, Paris, Flamingo, Grand and Hilton brand names with a total of approximately 2 million square feet of gaming space, over 28,000 hotel rooms and approximately 57,000 employees worldwide. Additional information on Park Place Entertainment can be accessed through the Company's 24-hour investor relations service. Individuals may call toll-free 877-PPE-NYSE (877-773-6973) or visit www.parkplace.com to obtain the latest Company news and stock price information, or to request information by email, fax or postal mail delivery.
With approximately 6,400 member hotels in more than 150 countries, Utell, a Pegasus Solutions Company, is the hotel industry's largest third-party marketing and reservations provider(1). Member properties range from budget to deluxe, city center to resort, and include major international brands, as well as independent hotels. For more information, or to make reservations with a Utell-represented property, visit Utell's Web sites at www.hotelbook.com or www.utell.com, or access the UI code on the global distribution systems.
Dallas-based Pegasus Solutions, Inc. (www.pegs.com) is a leading provider of end-to-end reservation distribution solutions to the hotel industry worldwide. Its services include central reservations systems; third-party marketing and reservation representation services, including Utell and Golden Tulip Worldwide; electronic distribution services that connect more than 40,000 hotels to the Internet and to the global distribution systems (GDS); commission processing and payment services; the consumer travel Web site TravelWeb.com (www.travelweb.com); data warehousing and database marketing and consulting services; and soon, a Web-based property management system. Pegasus' customers comprise more than 100,000 travel agencies around the world, including nine of the 10 largest U.S.-based travel agencies(2); more than 40,000 hotel properties around the globe, including 18 of the 20 largest hotel companies in the world based on revenues and total number of guest rooms(3); and more than 1,000 Web sites/services have their hotel reservations Powered by Pegasus(TM). In addition to its corporate headquarters in Dallas, Pegasus has 35 offices in 22 countries, including regional hubs in Phoenix, London and Singapore. The company's stock is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol PEGS.
This statement contains references to future events and projected results, including anticipated transactions involving the Company and its service offerings. There can be no assurance that the referenced future events or projected results will actually occur or that the future financial performance of the Company will be as projected. Actual occurrences, results and performance may differ substantially and materially from those projected as a result of risks and uncertainties mentioned in this statement or detailed in the Company's periodic reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999, and its Form S-4 (File No. 333-92683) that was declared effective March 31, 2000.
1 Hotels magazine, "Hotels Consortia 25," July 2000
2 Travel Weekly, June 26, 2000, "Top 50 Travel Agencies"
3 Business Travel News, May 29, 2000, "The Top Hotel Companies"
