Pegasus Solutions Powers Internet Hotel Bookings For Mobil Travel Guide’s New MobilCompanion Service

Dallas-based Pegasus Solutions is a leading global provider of hotel reservations-related services and technology. Since 1958, Mobil Travel Guide has served as the driving traveler’s advocate with its printed guidebooks and star rating system.

Now Powered by Pegasusä, www.mobiltravelguide.com offers hotel booking capability to consumers highlighting the Mobil Star Rating of the hotel. Additionally, www.mobilcompanion.com offers hotel booking as an integral part of a complete travel planning service for drive travelers. The MobilCompanion travel planner suggests things to do and places to stay and dine, all based upon the traveler’s preferences for the trip.

Pegasus is powering hotel reservations on the Mobil Travel Guide’s site, allowing visitors to view property information, room rates and availability, and to book secure, real-time reservations at tens of thousands of hotels in North America. According to Paul Mercurio, senior vice president and chief information officer for Mobil Travel Guide, “We’re building on this 45-year-old brand by giving drive travelers today’s technology to meet all their travel planning needs. We selected Pegasus for this project because it offers efficient connectivity to more hotels and because it supports the discount programs we offer to travelers.”

Mercurio continued, “An increasing number of travelers are driving to their destinations, and visitors to our Web site now want the same variety of hotel options they are accustomed to seeing on more established, airline-focused travel Web sites. Pegasus’ participation in Mobil Travel Guide’s Web site is critical to our goal of serving travelers who drive the roads of North America.”

Gideon Dean, senior vice president of sales for Pegasus Solutions, said, “We’re proud to be part of this new phase for the Mobil Travel Guide Web site. Its respected brand is trusted by travelers across North America, and its deployment of our online hotel booking technology will make it easy for travelers to shop for and book rooms as they plan their trips.”

The MobilCompanion travel planner is an integral part of the MobilCompanion program which also offers 24/7 toll-free access to travel advisors who can help the traveler if lost, recommend a good place to dine or stay the night, or help with unexpected changes to the traveler’s plans. These initiatives are part of a full-service travel business from Mobil Travel Guide focused on leisure travelers who drive rather than fly. According to the Travel Industry Association of America, of more than one billion domestic “person trips” taken, 74 percent were taken by motor vehicle[i] and this number has continued to rise over the last two years.

With the implementation by Mobil Travel Guide, Pegasus offers hotels another distribution channel for property information and reservations. Mobil Travel Guide now has an XML interface to Pegasus, providing direct access to the central reservations systems (CRSs) of more than 175 hotel chains in North America. Its Web site visitors now have instant access to hotel room availability and rates, including special discount programs through MobilCompanion, and receive real-time Internet reservations directly from hotels’ CRSs.

Mobil Travel Guide’s site accesses Pegasus’ Online Distribution Database of more than 45,000 hotels worldwide. The database feeds more than 75,000 images and detailed property information to the thousands of Web sites in Pegasus’ Online Distribution Network, which includes sites such as Expedia.com, Lastminute.com, Orbitz and Travelweb.com.


Company Information

Mobil Travel Guide (www.mobiltravelguide.com) is the originator of the authoritative and highly respected Star Rating Program for hotels and restaurants. Mobil Travel Guide has been committed to identifying and celebrating travel/hospitality excellence in North America since 1958.


Dallas-based Pegasus Solutions, Inc. (www.pegs.com) is a leading global provider of hotel reservations-related services and technology. Its services include central reservations systems; electronic distribution services that connect more than 45,000 hotels to the Internet and to the global distribution systems (GDS); travel agent commission processing and payment services; the Utell marketing and reservation representation service (www.Utell.com); and PegasusCentral™, a Web-based enterprise solution with property management applications. Pegasus’ customers comprise the majority of travel agencies around the world, including the top 10 largest U.S.-based travel agencies[ii]; more than 48,000 hotel properties around the globe, including all of the 50 largest hotel brands in the world based on total number of guest rooms[iii]; and thousands of Web sites/services have their hotel reservations Powered by Pegasus™. In addition to its corporate headquarters in Dallas, Pegasus has 18 offices in 11 countries, including regional hubs in Phoenix, London and Singapore. The company’s stock is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol PEGS.

[i] Travel Industry Association of America and Travelscope®, 2001 Domestic Research: Travel Volumes and Trends

[ii] Travel Weekly, June 24, 2002, “Top 50 Travel Agencies”

[iii] Hotel Business, February 7, 2002, “The Top Hotel Brands” – ranked by total number of rooms (2001)

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