Pegasus Solutions, Inc.
(Nasdaq: PEGS) today announced it has inked a five-year deal with
Washington, D.C.-based Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) for
centralized management of travel agency commissions for Pegasus'
member agencies. Under the agreement, Marriott International's
nearly 2,400 hotels and resorts in the United States and in 64 other
countries will continue to participate in Pegasus Commission Processing, the hotel industry's leading travel agent
commission processing service. The Pegasus Commission Processing service
was created in 1992 by Dallas-based Pegasus Solutions, a leading provider
of hotel industry transaction processing and electronic commerce
services.
Marriott began working with Pegasus Commission Processing in 1997 and
represents one of Pegasus' top 10 hotel customers using Pegasus'
commission management service. Pegasus Commission Processing continues to handle the
centralized processing and consolidated payment of Pegasus member travel
agency commissions worldwide on behalf of Marriott International's properties
operating under the brands of Marriott, JW Marriott, Renaissance, Residence Inn,
Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites and
Ramada International.
According to Larraine Voll Morris, Marriott International's vice
president of global sales, service and support, travel agents continue
to be valued business partners for this global leader in hospitality,
and Marriott's long-term relationship with Pegasus helps to ensure the
travel agent community continues to be very satisfied with this hotel
giant's commission payment performance. "Pegasus provides a great
benefit to its member travel agencies by consolidating Marriott
hotel commissions with those of other participating hotels and making it
easier for agencies to process, track and manage these payments," Voll
Morris said.
Voll Morris continued, "Pegasus processes a significant portion of our
agency commissions each month and truly complements Marriott's
Centralized Travel Agency Commission (CTAC) system."
"Throughout its 75-year history, Marriott has earned a reputation in
the travel industry for paying agent commissions in a timely and
accurate manner. We are pleased to have helped solidify Marriott's
stellar position with the travel agent community," said Jeff
Bzdawka, senior vice president of Pegasus Financial Services. "We also
congratulate Marriott on its 75th anniversary!"
Extracting information from Marriott International's central
depository of hotel transactions, Pegasus collects monthly guest stay
information related to hotel bookings made by travel agencies and
travel Web sites that are members of Pegasus Commission Processing.
Pegasus consolidates Marriott's hotel information and commission
payments with similar information and payments from other Pegasus
participating hotels. Pegasus then sends detailed reports and a
consolidated commission payment in the agency's choice of currency.
Member travel agencies are located in more than 200 countries. By
participating in Pegasus Commission Processing, many member travel
agencies and travel Web sites have realized increases in commission
revenue and a reduction in expenses associated with typical manual
methods for tracking, collecting and managing hotel commissions.
Travel agencies can also elect to receive total automated commission
management through Pegasus' Electronic Reconciliation & Tracking
service, which experienced 42 percent growth in agency participation
in 2001. Pegasus also maintains highly responsive customer service
support for travel agencies, with more than 70 percent of queries
being serviced while agents are on the phone with Pegasus. With the
majority of travel agencies worldwide as subscribers and more than
32,000 hotel property members, Pegasus processes an average of $41
million in travel agent commissions per month on behalf of more than
80 hotel companies in 159 countries. |