Pegasus and Worktopia Boost Small Meetings Market
Universal Meeting Solution Integrates with UltraDirect to Further Automate $175 Bil U.S. Meeting Sp
DALLAS, TX / WHITE PLAINS, NY, October 7, 2008. Pegasus Solutions, Inc. has reached an agreement with New York-based Worktopia to provide its UltraDirect distribution technology to users of Worktopia's Universal Meeting SolutionTM (UMS). As a result, UMS, a completely automated platform for booking meeting space and group accommodations, will directly link real-time to the central reservation systems (CRS) of the more than 86,000 hotel properties accessed via UltraDirect.
Meetings and events represent a sizable portion of business travel spend annually, reaching $175 billion this year in the U.S. alone. Until now, the segment has not reaped the benefits of global distribution and reservations technology. By pioneering automated solutions like UMS for "simple meetings" of fewer than 100 attendees, and expanding reach and responsiveness via UltraDirect, Worktopia and Pegasus are helping remove the limitations faced by corporate buyers and meeting planners, according to John Arenas, founder and CEO of Worktopia.
"As the final frontier to 'modernize' bookings, the meetings and events market is poised to realize incredible gains from the union of Worktopia's automation and Pegasus' leading distribution and reservations technology," said Arenas. "The corporate buyers and meeting planners who have been relegated to phone, fax and email for planning meetings and events will enjoy new cost controls, improved productivity and ensured compliance."
UltraDirect will allow UMS users to obtain real-time access to information on rates, availability and reservations from hotels worldwide, while retaining UMS' capability to search, compare and book space for small meetings, catering, AV equipment and overnight guest rooms. Additionally, UltraDirect will further UMS' automation in allowing online and immediate bookings, which will help elevate the popularity of online meeting booking to the level of individual travel today, according to Tore Wick, vice president of business development for Pegasus distribution services.
"Our goal at Pegasus is to help customers breakthrough," said Wick. "But this contract with Worktopia represents a breakthrough for the entire industry in addressing the changing distribution landscape by finally bringing meetings bookings online. The hotels we serve require new and innovative demand partners, which Pegasus continually delivers by providing the technology necessary to bring them to the table. From here, we're looking forward to developing next generation capabilities for UltraDirect with Worktopia to continue taking this segment where it deserves to go."
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