Online Travel Service to Provide Leading Low Cost Airline With Best-in-Class
Cruise Products, Great Deals
SOUTHLAKE, Texas, March 30 /PRNewswire/ — Travelocity(R) today announced an agreement with Dallas-based Southwest Airlines making Travelocity the exclusive supplier of cruises for Southwest Airlines. Beginning today, Travelocity will provide cruise content to Southwest Airlines via its Web site, www.southwest.com . This move broadens Travelocity’s distribution for its cruise suppliers and, for the first time, provides Southwest Airlines a best-in-class cruise product for its customers.
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The addition of Southwest Airlines to the TRAVELOCITY PARTNER NETWORK(SM), the company’s private label booking service, continues the expansion of Travelocity’s distribution reach. Travelocity already has distribution agreements in place with several leading online retailers, including America Online and Yahoo! Furthermore, Travelocity continues to leverage sister company Site59’s experience as an ASP for a number of travel-related Web sites.
“This partnership with Southwest Airlines through our private label booking service is a monumental move both for us and for our cruise suppliers,” said Richard Harris, vice president of strategy and business development for Travelocity. “Our cruise partners will see the benefit of connecting with this leading airline, while Southwest Airlines customers will have access to some of the best cruise offers available — along with a terrific shopping experience.”
Travelocity will provide a comprehensive suite of its product offerings to Southwest Airlines and its customers, including Intelli-Deck(TM), which displays views of specific ship features; clickable deck plans and cruise reviews by fellow travelers.
“We continue to bring our customers the best products, the best service and the best values, which is why we chose to partner with Travelocity and their rich offering of the leading cruise brands,” said Kevin Krone, Southwest Airlines vice president of interactive marketing. “We look forward to fostering a significant cruise relationship with them — one that is mutually beneficial for each company as well as our mutual partners in the cruise industry.”
About Travelocity
Travelocity(R), with 41 million registered users, booked nearly $4 billion of travel in 2003. Every day Travelocity negotiates thousands of great travel deals with the world’s most reputable airlines, hotels, car rental companies, cruise lines, ground transportation providers, and popular destination attractions such as theme parks, ski resorts and theaters. Additionally, Travelocity offers access to special rates for weekend getaways and dynamic packages through its Last Minute Deals and TotalTrip(SM) shopping engines, and provides customer service support over the phone 24 hours a day. Travelocity’s industry-leading technology and wealth of straight-talking, honest information allows travelers to make informed decisions and have more rewarding travel experiences. Through Travelocity Business(SM), companies can better manage business travel, lowering costs and expanding options for travelers, while the Travelocity Partner Network(SM) further distributes Travelocity’s products through an array of channels.
Based in Southlake, Texas, Travelocity also powers international travel Web sites in seven languages and has been recognized worldwide for its consumer advocacy and global leadership in online travel. More information about Travelocity is available at www.travelocity.com . Travelocity is owned by Sabre Holdings Corporation (NYSE: TSG), a world leader in travel commerce. More information about Sabre Holdings is available at www.sabre-holdings.com .
About Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) is the nation’s largest carrier in terms of scheduled domestic departures. The airline currently serves 59 airports in 58 cities in 30 states. Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates 2,800 flights a day and has 34,000 employees systemwide. The carrier will begin service to Philadelphia on May 9, 2004.
CONTACT:
Judy Haveson (judy@vollmerpr.com)
212/554-7425
Amanda Borichevsky (amanda@vollmerpr.com)
972/488-4790
SOURCE Travelocity
-0- 03/30/2004
/CONTACT: Judy Haveson, +1-212-554-7425, or judy@vollmerpr.com , or
Amanda Borichevsky, +1-972-488-4790, or amanda@vollmerpr.com , both for
Travelocity/
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/Web site: http://www.travelocity.com
http://www.southwest.com
http://www.sabre-holdings.com /
(TSG LUV)
CO: Travelocity; Southwest Airlines; Sabre Holdings Corporation
ST: Texas
IN: TRA LEI CPR MLM AIR
SU: PDT
JS-AP
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