Sabre Travel Network and Travelocity have recently selected VFM Interactive Inc. to provide a complete solution for the sourcing, management and distribution of hotel photos, videos, virtual tours and other hotel rich media. (11/12/2007)
As part of the of the multi-year agreement, Sabre has also partnered with VFM to offer Sabre partner hotels VFM´s Vscape Lite digital still image management and distribution solution at no cost to them.
The web-based tool will allow participating hotels to upload and distribute up to 10 digital still images per property to Sabre connected agency customers worldwide, including Travelocity, and the option to also distribute to thousands of other VFM distribution partners, including major travel websites and travel intermediaries.
Vscape is like the "switch" for hotel visual content. It simplifies and shortens the process of ensuring that a hotel´s photos and other rich media are distributed and kept up-to-date on thousands of electronic channels by providing hotels with a single point of entry for their visual content, thereby reducing the need to upload that content to multiple channels. Features of Vscape include automated image de-duping and replacement and deletion of outdated images on connected distribution channels, ensuring consistency and freshness of a hotel´s image display across the Internet.
"Having hotel imagery is no longer a `nice-to-have option´ -- travelers, both leisure and corporate, now expect to be able to view their accommodations and more and more are making choices based on the visual representation of the hotel properties," said Stephen Fitzgerald, VP -car and hotel distribution for Sabre Travel Network. "FM is a fantastic way to make this process easy for hoteliers and it provides them a way to differentiate their offerings through the ready-made marketing network of more than 50,000 travel agency locations that Sabre Travel Network reaches."
"Photos and rich media such as videos and virtual tours are one of the key influencers of consumer hotel booking decisions, yet getting a hotel´s visual content distributed and kept up-to-date on the thousands of channels where hotels are featured has been a daunting and often impossible task for hotels," said Noreen Henry, VP - hotels and packages for Travelocity. "By providing our hotel partners with free use of Vscape Lite for the distribution of their images, we are providing them with a solution that will significantly streamline their image management and distribution, and could ultimately result in increased bookings. Importantly, it will also help ensure that Sabre Travel Network and Travelocity users will have access to the most up to date hotel visual content to assist them in making their booking decisions."
