|
“We are thrilled to partner with VFM Leonardo to further equip meeting planners with all the tools necessary to plan a successful event,” said David O’Donohoe, SVP, Global Supplier Sales & Operations, StarCite. “This arrangement will give hotels a great opportunity to present their properties to the world’s largest online community of corporate meeting buyers using rich media including video, virtual tours and still images, and also gives planners a complete scope of venues so they are assured that their needs are met.” Under the agreement, VFM Leonardo will manage and distribute photos, videos, virtual tours and other rich media of properties listed within StarCite’s online marketplace, where corporate buyers from hundreds of Fortune 500 companies and many others can link up with more than 93,000 hotels, destinations and meeting suppliers. In 2008, corporate meetings business representing an estimated $8 billion passed through the StarCite electronic marketplace. “We are delighted to power the hotel visual content for StarCite’s marketplace,” said Paolo Boni, President and CEO, VFM Leonardo. “By bringing comprehensive content to the fingertips of meeting planners around the world, we aim to make the difficult task of choosing a venue much easier and more streamlined. By expanding VNetwork™ to include enhanced distribution of all types of rich visual content to StarCite, we are expanding our customers’ online visibility to the meeting planner and buyer segment, and in turn providing increased revenue opportunities for hotels." In addition to providing StarCite with an easy, streamlined way to manage thousands of digital assets in one place, VScape also eliminates the manual steps hoteliers would otherwise take to get photos, videos, virtual tours and other rich media into the StarCite marketplace and keep them updated. Through VFM Leonardo’s VBrochure™ Online Merchandising System’s integration with VScape, individual hotels will have the option to enhance their presence and showcase their venues and meeting facilities in front of thousands of meeting planners using the StarCite platform. About StarCite, Inc.  StarCite,
Inc. provides a technology platform that makes meeting and event
planning,
booking and management simpler and more cost-effective for
corporations,
hotels, venues and meeting suppliers worldwide. StarCite’s solutions
deliver
visibility, cost savings, and control over meeting spending for
businesses and
enhanced revenue opportunities for suppliers. Through Web-based,
on-demand
technology, StarCite automates and supports every key element of the
meeting
planning and procurement process: planning, budgeting, buying,
attendance,
payment, and results measurement. Using StarCite’s proprietary online
marketplace, meeting buyers can connect and conduct business with over
93,000
hotels, venues, destinations and suppliers globally. StarCite is based
in Philadelphia, PA.
Its equity holders include Internet Capital Group (NASDAQ: ICGE), TPG
Ventures,
Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), and TL Ventures. For more information
about
StarCite please visit www.starcite.com.About VFM Leonardo  VFM
Leonardo is a technology leader in online visual content management and
distribution systems. VFM Leonardo’s VScape® and VBrochure™
products leverage the distribution capabilities of the VNetwork™, the
most universally accepted and largest online visual content
distribution
network for the global travel industry including all four global
distribution
systems (GDSs), Pegasus and travel-related channels including online
travel
agencies, travel research and supplier web sites, search portals and
major
travel intermediaries. VFM Leonardo offers the hotel industry the most
effective digital asset management and online merchandising systems
available
today and efficiently delivers over 1,000,000 visual images (photos,
virtual
tours and videos) to more than 30,000 travel channels and websites in
the
VNetwork including Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre, Worldspan, Pegasus,
Travelocity,
Orbitz, Priceline, Tripadvisor, Yahoo! Travel, Kayak, Google and many
more for
90,000 hotels worldwide. For more information about VFM Leonardo, visit
www.vfmleonardo.com.
Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/VFMLeonardo. |