Under the agreements, those Web sites will prominently display rates of participating Super 8®, Days Inn®, Ramada®, Travelodge®, Howard Johnson®, Knights Inn®, Villager, Wingate Inn® and AmeriHost Inn® hotels.

The agreements ensure that Cendant-franchised hotels are prominently displayed on third-party sites when consumers search for rates and availability, according to Peter Strebel, senior vice president of sales & marketing for Cendant�s Hotel Group.

�While Cendant�s brand Web sites continue to contribute the single greatest number of room nights from the Internet, these agreements ensure our hotels are represented wherever consumers choose to shop,� he said.

Cendant has integrated bookings captured by the third-party sites into its central reservations system, allowing delivery directly to hotels.  Cendant franchisees thus may manage rates and inventory for those sites within their property management systems, without the need to use time-consuming manual methods.

�The integration of third-party rates and inventories into our central reservations system will save our franchisees significant time and labor expense while capturing this important segment of business,� Strebel said.  Citing another advantage to franchisees, he emphasized that third-party Web agreements are �very flexible� because they allow franchisees the ability to change rates and inventory levels based on their needs.

Strebel noted that Cendant is �continually educating our franchisee network on the changing landscape of distribution� and is glad to see the large participation in the program as a result of that effort.

Cendant Corporation�s Hotel Group, based in Parsippany, N.J., is the world�s largest lodging franchisor with 6,467 open hotels representing 527,858 rooms on five continents.  Cendant�s franchised hotels sell one out of every four economy and midpriced room-nights in the United States, and Cendant franchises 11.8 percent of the entire U.S. hotel room supply, according to Smith Travel Research.  All hotels are individually owned and operated under franchise agreements with Cendant subsidiaries.