NEW YORK Orbitz, an on-line travel distributor owned by five major U.S. airlines, named the first hotel chains that have agreed to list their lowest prices on Orbitz.
Orbitz Chief Executive Jeff Katz said that Marriott International, Hyatt International Corp., and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts are the first hotel chains to join Orbitz as charter associates (meaning they have agreed to list their best publicly available prices on the site in exchange for a lower cost of selling through Orbitz).
Orbitz is currently in a testing phase prior to its planned full-scale launch in June. Within a few years, Katz said, Orbitz could achieve a sizable market share by garnering customers new to on-line travel shopping. Right now less than 10% of the travel market is buying online, but that is expected to grow rapidly. (4/17/01)
SOURCE: Reuters