New Technology Delivers Tailored, Best-Fare Itineraries in One Click, Making Online Vacation Shopping Easier than Ever

June 9, 2003 - Redwood Shores, California: Fourth Dimension Software (FDS), a leading software development and services company for the leisure travel industry, has announced the release of VacationFinderT, innovative dynamic packaging technology that simplifies the process of booking complex vacations online to just a single mouse click. VacationFinder enables tour operators, online travel agencies, and travel suppliers and retailers to serve up tailored vacation options with the lowest pricing via the Web in just one click, making searching and selecting a multi-component vacation package online as easy as buying a plane ticket or reserving a hotel room.

With the growth of online travel and leisure travelers' increasing demand for customized itineraries, tour operators and other travel providers have faced a challenging e-commerce conundrum: how to incorporate the many product options of a complex, multi-component vacation in a simple, intuitive online booking process. VacationFinder tackles this very issue. An online booking enhancement to the rich dynamic packaging functionality of FDS' CONTOUR® leisure travel management platform, VacationFinder simplifies the search process without sacrificing the many product variables and booking options of a vacation package or tour.

Travel providers may customize VacationFinder to the products and options of their product lines, enabling online customers to select from some or all of the following: number of travellers and children, origin and destination, travel dates, lodging type including number of rooms and hotel features (beach, pool, spa, etc.), rental car type and pick-up location, etc. With just one click VacationFinder will return customized itineraries offering the best deal for the entire vacation with the option to select alternatives for various components. VacationFinder builds the package options from the tour operator-defined business rules of the underlying CONTOUR system, ensuring each package option delivers the lowest possible price while maximizing inventory utilization and margins for the tour operator.

"The experience of searching for and booking a vacation online has been less than ideal for most online travellers. They demand a simple, intuitive process that is as easy as booking an air ticket yet flexible enough to offer a high degree of customization," said Anatoly Volkhover, Vice President of NT Development at FDS. "VacationFinder enables online travelers to tailor their itinerary and view the lowest-price options with the ease and simplicity of booking a single hotel room night. This is the level of functionality that will drive online user adoption and vacation sales for our customers."

Click here for more information on the VacationFinder (PDF).

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About Fourth Dimension Software Founded in 1981, Fourth Dimension Software (FDS) is a software development and services company for the global travel industry. Its travel management and distribution solutions support the full range of travel providers, including tour operators, large retailers, wholesalers, Internet outlets, and independent travel vendors. With FDS technology, travel providers can offer reservations and inventory management of complex travel products, dynamic and flexible packaging, call center and online travel distribution, and comprehensive business automation. Each year several million reservations are booked using FDS products. For more information, visit www.4ds.com.

Media Contacts
Douglas Quinby
Director, Marketing & Communications
Fourth Dimension Software
Tel: 1 404 760 9182
Email: dquinby@4ds.com