This fall, consumers will have free access to the world's most comprehensive online travel database - the same database that was previously available only to travel professionals on a fee basis. ProfessionalTravelGuide.com will offer users more content and information than any other travel website to date, with a database featuring more than 159,000 hotels and 7,000 destinations worldwide. The website draws its content from publications and directories such as Travel Weekly, TravelAge West, Meetings & Conventions, Hotel & Travel Index (HTI), Star Service,Weissmann Professional Destination Reports, and Official Meeting Facilities Guide (OMFG).
"Professional Travel Guide is designed in response to the increasing demands of the discerning traveler who needs a comprehensive, trustworthy online travel resource," said Peter Nicas, the Company's CEO and Editor-in-Chief. "As opposed to other travel websites, Professional Travel Guide does not contain any user-generated content. All our reviews are written by over 200 professional journalists located throughout the world with the experience and knowledge necessary for uncovering the special insider knowledge that make one's travel experiences more enjoyable and fulfilling. Professional Travel Guide's business model is not transaction-based: we want leisure and business travelers to book their flights and hotels directly through vendors or travel agencies. We believe that Professional Travel Guide will be a magnet for discerning travelers, and a strategic target for advertisers looking to reach that demographic."
Legendary hotelier Horst Schulze, formerly President of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and current CEO of the revolutionary Capella and Solis Hotels and Resorts, said: "We are very impressed with the extensiveness and quality of Professional Travel Guide's content and believe that the website will become an indispensable resource for leisure and business travelers everywhere. The high-end hospitality industry now has an essential platform for promoting our properties and services."
Before heading up Professional Travel Guide, Mr. Nicas was Executive Vice President of Worldwide Corporate Development for Placeware, a web-conferencing start-up. His chief responsibilities included the repositioning of PlaceWare's worldwide business partnerships. In 2003, Microsoft purchased the company for more than $300 million, and renamed it Microsoft Live Meeting.
Mr. Nicas also served as an Executive Vice President of Strategy and Business Development of Flycast Communications, a pioneering Internet advertising network. He was instrumental in taking the company public in 1999 and its purchase by CMGI for $2.8 billion in 2000.
About Professional Travel Guide
Professional Travel Guide will be the most comprehensive, unbiased travel resource on the Internet. Designed for leisure and business travelers who value credible and objective travel information above all else, the website comprises the most extensive collection of professional hotel reviews, breaking travel news, images, videos, and destination guides ever assembled on the Internet. The site will feature the world's largest travel database including more than 159,000 hotels, 7,000+ destination travel guides; 10,000+ professional hotel reviews; 250,000+ associated high resolution images; streaming videos; real-time health and travel security alerts; international business etiquette; and personalized eGuideBooks. Professional Travel Guide, written by professional travel journalists, has a heritage that dates back to 1939 and includes such publications and directories as Travel Weekly, TravelAge West, Meetings & Conventions, Hotel & Travel Index (HTI), Star Service, Weissmann Professional Destination Reports, and Official Meeting Facilities Guide (OMFG).
