Company Expects $50 Million in Sales From
Internet Site in 2002
NEW YORK Feb. 12, 2002 - Chalk it up to instant luxury gratification...boomer
demand for convenience...or perhaps a greater comfort with e-commerce transactions.
No matter how you characterize it, The Leading
Hotels of the World, Ltd. is seeing phenomenal growth in online bookings
at rates that are a minimum of $10 higher than through traditional booking
sources (toll-free voice reservations or travel agency GDS bookings). To
date, the www.lhw.com site receives approximately 2,000 bookings and four
million page views monthly.
"We believe Leading is the pre-eminent online resource for luxury travel,"
notes Paul M. McManus, President & Chief Executive Officer of The Leading
Hotels of the World, Ltd. "Our site includes 80% of the major luxury hotels
in the world as well as golf and spa properties."
One key factor in the substantial growth of transactional business on
the lhw.com site could be as a result of Leading Interactive Reservations,
a joint venture company which The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. formed
in February 2001 which has jump-started e-commerce innovations for Leading.
One such strategy was to transactionally link member hotel websites to
The Leading Hotels of the World booking engine.
With an average of $850 per booking for a 2.3 day stay, The Leading
Hotels of the World's website has become |
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Paul M. McManus, President and CEO, The Leading
Hotels of the World, Ltd.
Appointed to the position in January of 1998, Mr. McManus
has been successfully re-engineering the transformation of The Leading
Hotels of the World, Ltd. from the typical hotel representation model into
the prestigious luxury marketing organization which represents over 360
of the finest five-star hotels and resorts in the world. Additionally,
under Mr. McManus’ direction, the company has been building upon the strength
of its brand name through the launch of four new joint venture companies:
Leading Marketing Services, Leading Group Sales, Leading Quality Assurance,
and Leading Financial Services.
Mr. McManus joined The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd.
in 1992 as Vice President of Marketing. He was promoted in 1993 to the
position of Executive Vice President, at which time he assumed a number
of duties of the President’s office, while continuing his responsibility
for the company’s worldwide marketing efforts.
Prior to The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd., Mr. McManus
was President and managing partner of Reservation Systems, Inc., a company
with 150 hotel accounts. During his hotel career, Mr. McManus has held
sales and marketing positions with Regent International Hotels, Rockresorts
and
Princess Hotels International, in addition to on-property
positions at The St. Regis and The Waldorf-Astoria Hotels, all located
in New York City. |
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the luxury hospitality industry's major online luxury travel purveyor.
Year over year growth since 2000 has been in excess of 140%, with average
daily room rates at more than $300 per night.
Online bookings have more than doubled from 7,017 in 2000 to 17,121
in 2001 with sales increasing from $5.9 million in 2000 to $12.8 million
in 2001 (115% increase). Month over month bookings are dramatically increasing
as well, with November 2001 posting a 267% growth rate over November 2000
(representing 6% of total reservations), up from 2% during the same period
in 2000.
December 2001 room sales increased to 9% of total room sales from 2%
in December 2000 (268% growth).
The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. is the prestigious luxury marketing
organization representing 395 of the world's finest hotels. |
