Destination Hotels & Resorts Launches New Web Site Where Travelers Can Choose a Vacation Experience

Englewood, Colo. – September 22, 2009 – Destination Hotels & Resorts recently re-launched its company vacation and travel Web site – www.destinationhotels.com - to engage with travelers through social media and Web 2.0 technologies. The site also offers a new design that visually leads users through the discovery of the rich destination experiences provided by the portfolio. New navigation and a dynamic blog on every page along with collection micro-sites that highlight destination vacation experiences provide users with more robust and visual content to make travel decisions. The destination travel Web site also incorporates a variety of content and media syndication technologies that make it easy to share content on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Technorati as well as between Web sites in the portfolio.

“Web technology has changed exponentially since the company’s last design of the site in 2005,” said Isaac Gerstenzang, corporate director of e-commerce for Destination Hotels & Resorts. “In addition to the technology changes, travelers’ online booking habits have evolved and we wanted the site to address how today’s business and leisure travelers are booking their trips. We wanted to make a Web site that was more user-friendly with an emotional pull by creating an online “experience” through the use of blogs and social media, an experience finder and a new design that reads like an online magazine.”

The vacation travel Web site was designed to provide travelers with a convenient way to navigate and discover the company’s more than 30 hotels and resorts. It not only gives detailed information on each property, but destination information to help travelers make the most out of their business stays or leisure time. Additional enhancements include:
• New micro-sites such as the Destination Culinary Collection, Destination Spa Collection and Destination meeting solutions were added to provide more detail on these specific travel experiences.
• New social media tags were added throughout the site to allow travelers to share information on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites, as well as follow the company via RSS or through e-mail communication.
• Blog content was added dynamically to every page of the Web site including the culinary and spa collections, as well as destination information from each property so guests can read the most current news and travel recommendations as well as stories from other guests and “green” tips to tie in with Destination Earth, the company’s environmental sustainability program.
• Promotions and special offers are incorporated in the left navigation bar and are filtered and sorted dynamically based on the content displayed on the page.
• New navigation was added to make it easier to find content throughout the site. Users are given three ways to search for content on each page: by property, by location or by experience with only one click.
• Flash technology was incorporated into the homepage to feature the signature images of each of the properties in the collection.
• A video gallery also aggregates all property videos into one library for all guests to view.

Destination Hotels & Resorts also recently launched new mobile Web sites for its more than 30 properties in its collection making it easier for guests to quickly access important information while on the go. To access these new sites, consumers simply type in the property’s Web address. The Web sites then instantly detect the use of a mobile device and automatically redirects to the mobile version. A complete list of properties in the collection is available at www.destinationhotels.com, which can be viewed online or via a mobile device.
As the use of smart phones and PDAs continues to grow, Destination decided to implement this new strategy to ensure its sites load quickly and are user-friendly on these mobile devices. It is critical to ensure guests can easily find what they want, when they need it.

The mobile sites provide convenient information that guests may need while away from their computers such as general information on each property, location, directions, details on accommodations and reservation contact numbers as well as a single click on the address or phone number for a direct link to a map or auto dial.

For more information on the properties in the Destination Hotels & Resorts collection, please visit www.destinationhotels.com.

E-marketing partner E-site Marketing created Destination’s new Web site. E-site Marketing, a Sabre Holdings company, located in Bethesda, MD, specializes in creating E-business solutions exclusively for the hospitality industry. The company's unique approach to building successful online marketing programs combines hospitality expertise, innovative Internet Marketing techniques and an emphasis on return on investment. For more information on E-site Marketing and its products and services, call (301) 634-8103; email info@esitemarketing.com; or visit the Web site at http://www.esitemarketing.com/.

Destination Hotels & Resorts is the seventh largest independent hospitality management company in the country with more than 30 luxury and upscale hotels, resorts and conference centers. To protect and preserve the unique communities in which the company operates, Destination launched Destination Earth, an environmental sustainability program in 2008. New for 2009 is the 582-room Terranea Resort situated on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in southern California. The 102-acre ocean front resort will feature a 25,000-square-foot destination spa, three swimming pools, three restaurants and a Todd Eckenrode-designed par three golf course. In addition to Terranea in the greater Los Angeles area, Destination operates properties in key metropolitan areas and resort markets including Washington, D.C., Denver, San Diego, Santa Fe, Aspen, Palm Springs, Houston and Lake Tahoe. Destination is a subsidiary of Los Angeles-based investment, development and management firm Lowe Enterprises. For more information on the properties in the Destination Hotels & Resorts collection, please visit www.destinationhotels.com.

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For high resolution, downloadable pictures of properties in the Destination Hotels & Resorts collection, please visit www.leonardo.com.

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