HotelClub's Tenth Anniversary Celebrated With One Million Australian Members

    /24-7PressRelease/ - SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, July 25, 2008 - On the eve of its tenth anniversary online booking agent HotelClub.com notches up one million members in Australia. The burgeoning demand for the best deals at the best prices has proved a boon for Australian's looking for real rewards.

HotelClub.com's Managing Director, Ms Chloe Lim, credits good timing, consistently good deals and an enthusiastic customer pool for the organisation's leading position in the travel business.

"HotelClub.com has been among the pioneers of the booming online trade. We've proven to be genuine stayers in the market place because we offer customers an extraordinary breadth of global choice and pricing," said Ms Lim.

"Australian people love to travel, they love to know that they're getting some of the best deals on the planet and they are extraordinarily receptive to web based innovation.

"After just ten years of operation here we have penetrated the market to such an extent that one in every 20 Aussies is a member."

She pointed to a rewards strategy unencumbered by the common swathe of red tape for the organisation's swift march to the million marker.

"Our members appreciate the fact that they're rewarded in US dollars," said Ms Lim. "It's very simple, unambiguous, and they can spend as many of their reward dollars on any of our 45,000 listed hotels in 120 countries. Wherever they book - a dollar means a dollar."

Ms Lim said that HotelClub.com's dollar model stood up strongly when compared to loyalty points programs, "The value of points in other loyalty schemes can readily change, they can also be prescriptive, confusing, and can be difficult to redeem points for what you want, when you want.

"Prominent airline frequent flyer programs have recently devalued the worth of some customer loyalty programs whereas we're focused on giving members a redeemable dollar program, free of red tape, which delivers a quantifiably good deal."

Ms Lim said the recent launch of HotelClub.com's "DreamClub" offered increased levels of service and value. "With the deployment of DreamClub not only do we continue to offer real dollar value but we give members who book multiple stays the chance to earn dollars at an accelerated rate."

Internationally HotelClub.com, part of Orbitz Worldwide, now has six million members. The online adoption of HotelClub.com in Australia is comparatively far higher than the other nine country-specific sites which between them account for five million members.

FACT FILE - HotelClub.com's tenth anniversary is July 2008.

HotelClub.com started out life in 1995 as a traditional travel agent called Flairview Travel operating from in Australia with two branches in Russia and Australia.

As the online boom rapidly gathered momentum in the mid to late 90s Flairview Travel realised that this presented consumers and travel agents alike with an extraordinary opportunity. Leveraging the power of the internet and its ability simplify the whole travel planning process Flairview Travel launched HotelClub.com in 1998.

Business grew quickly with simple to use functionality and wide range of accommodation choice. From the start HotelClub was operating globally offering customers the opportunity to book from anywhere in the world.

The growth continued its rapid trajectory into foreign language sites starting with the launch of Chinese, French, and German in 2002 and Japanese, Spanish and Italian in 2003. 2002 also saw the launch of HotelClub.com's renowned and unique membership program, the program provides customers with rewards for every booking that are redeemable for their next stay quickly and simply. HotelClub now has six million members world wide enjoying it's benefits and rewards.

HotelClub.com offers users the choice of over 45,000 hotels - at savings of up to 60% - in 120 countries worldwide. HotelClub is available in thirteen languages - Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Thai and Russian having been launched in July 2008 with more than 500 hotels in Europe incorporated into the first phase. HotelClub.com is a truly global website offering its customers access through country specific sites in 10 countries including HotelClub.com.au, HotelClub.com, HotelClub.de, HotelClub.fr, HotelClub.it, HotelClub.ie, HotelClub.es and HotelClub.co.uk. HotelClub.com is operated by HotelClub and is part of Orbitz Worldwide.

About HotelClub

HotelClub, a wholly owned subsidiary of Orbitz Worldwide Inc, is a world leading global accommodation e-wholesaler and specialist distributor of hotel room inventory over the Internet. HotelClub was established in 1996 and has since held the position of Asia Pacific's leading online accommodation provider. The company operates three websites - HotelClub.com (www.HotelClub.com), RatesToGo.com (www.RatesToGo.com) and asia-hotels.com (www.asia-hotels.com). HotelClub is recognised as one of the few highly successful and profitable e-commerce businesses with a worldwide network of offices. Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW) is a leading global online travel company that uses innovative technology to enable leisure and business travellers to research, plan and book a broad range of travel products.

# # #