DALLAS -- Pegasus said it will introduce Shopping Engine, a product
to ease the strain on hotel central reservations systems, in the
first quarter, with Marriott, Six Continents and Carlson
Hospitality Worldwide among the first hotel companies to deploy it.
John F. Davis, Pegasus chief executive, said it's common for
Internet sites--in a frenzy of "availability bursting"--to dash off
200 to 300 availability requests per booking.
Pegasus, which plans to offer the product to online agencies as
well, said it will enable Web sites to consolidate multiple
availability requests into a streamlined transaction. That means
those requests will contain the minimum amount of data required for
processing.
Meanwhile, TravelWeb, of which Pegasus has a piece, added
OneTravel.com as an affiliate. Owned as well by five hotel chains,
TravelWeb distributes net-rate inventory to Continental.com, Orbitz
and PleasantHolidays.com.