To: Martin E. Frankel who wrote (20506 ) 3/14/1999 11:38:00 PM From: ED S. Respond to of 44908
Did we ALL miss this NEWS! Marty, will the new TSIG.com pick this up! Mar. 9 (Tampa Tribune/KRTBN)--CLEARWATER, Fla.--Pinellas County tourism officials are nearing a deal to provide centralized reservations service over the Internet, and expect to put one of the first of those systems in the country on line within three to six months. The service will be available through a St. Petersburg/Clearwater Convention & Visitors Bureau-sponsored Web site. Yesawich Pepperdine & Brown, the visitors bureau's advertising agency, expects to choose a company within the next few weeks to set up the system, said Cedar Hames, vice president and general manager of YP&B's St. Petersburg office. Tourists increasingly are turning from the telephone to the Internet for travel information, Hames said. The Pinellas system will respond to that trend and complete a months-long withdrawal from relying on Visitors Services International Corp. of St. Petersburg for information and reservations for various hotel and entertainment packages. VSI, an affiliate of TeleServices International Group Inc., reported dwindling bookings from 15,570 room nights and $1.4 million revenue in 1997 to 6,474 room nights and $633,312 revenue in 1998. Pinellas attracts more than 4 million overnight visitors annually. VSI closed its service and filed for relief under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code on Friday. Its demise was not totally unexpected, nor will the immediate impact be severe, officials said. The county's 1-800-345-6710 tourism information number remains open. By Ted Jackovics ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Visit the Tampa Tribune on the World Wide Web attampatrib.com (c) 1999, Tampa Tribune, Fla. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. END!A$7?TM-NET-RESERVATIONS