FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 11, 2005

ACCOR North America Upgrades Its Meetings and Conference Business by Implementing Passkey

Online Meeting Management Tool Is Implemented at Sofitel and Novotel Properties in North America

(Dallas, TX / Quincy, MA) | ACCOR North America announced that it has entered into an agreement to implement Passkey, the leading online group reservations management solution, in 17 of its key group properties in North America and Canada. Properties that will offer the new online meeting management tool include Sofitel Chicago Water Tower, Sofitel Los Angeles, Sofitel Montreal, Sofitel Miami, Novotel Toronto and Novotel New York, among others.

“We pride ourselves in always being innovative and in anticipating our customers’ needs ahead of time,” explained Scott Wiseman, Vice President of Marketing, ACCOR North America, Business & Leisure Division. “We are very planner-focused and strive to increase their satisfaction, as well as in what we offer our customers. With Passkey we know that we found the right solution to help streamline their event management process even more.”

ACCOR, recognized for being progressive in the meetings and conventions industry, will benefit from the installation of Passkey in the following manner:

• Streamline the overall group reservations management process for meeting planners, and significantly increase group online bookings, eliminating time consuming and error-prone manual data entry;
• Automate the entire rooming list management process, from viewing the rooming lists as they are built and not waiting until cut-off, to managing all changes online;
• Drive incremental revenues from up-selling of room types and hotel facilities and attractions by effective target marketing to event attendees prior to arrival;
• Reduce wash by 20% by viewing group pickup prior to cutoff, enforcing strict cancellation policies, and allowing groups to remain open past cutoff.

“We are very excited about our partnership with ACCOR North America,” stated Greg Pesik, President and CEO, Passkey International Inc. “ACCOR hotels are not large in size. However, they are exceptionally dedicated to pleasing their meeting planners and maximizing their profitability. Passkey is very pleased with this milestone rollout, and we continue to deliver solutions that enable our customers, large and small, to stay competitive.”

Recently named by MeetingNews magazine as one of the top hotel brands for meetings in the Upper-Upscale category, ACCOR continues to strive to host world-class events.

About ACCOR North America

Accor North America has a balanced portfolio of more than 1,200 hotels in the United States, Canada and Mexico, representing more than 130,000 rooms. In key gateway cities and suburban locales, you see our brands everyday: Sofitel, Novotel, Ibis, Red Roof Inns, Motel 6 and Studio 6. Whether attending a business seminar or planning a family vacation, Accor North America offers today's traveler quality brands they can trust.
www.accor-na.com

About Passkey

Passkey, the internet-based booking engine and event management solution, is the meeting and convention industry's standard for group reservations management and distribution. The Quincy, Mass.-based provider empowers organizers of single-property meetings and city-wide events with access to a web-based application that provides all parties with 24/7 shared access to critical event information and real-time reports. The Passkey-enabledSM global network consists of Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVBs), hotels, association and corporate meeting planners, meeting management companies, professional congress organizers (PCOs), travel agencies, and registration vendors. Passkey investors include: Lazard Technology Partners; Galileo (NYSE: GLC) (www.galileo.com); Worldspan (www.worldspan.com); and TravelCLICK (www.travelclick.net).