Leonardo and Florida-based ICE Portal have come together for creation of what is being termed as the travel industry&#39

Leonardo and Florida-based ICE Portal have come together for creation of what is being termed as the travel industry's foremost Internet content distribution service.

Published: 05 Oct 2005

Leonardo and Florida-based ICE Portal have come together for creation of what is being termed as the travel industry's foremost Internet content distribution service.

ICE Portal specialises in production, management and delivery of moving
content, such as virtual tours, streaming videos and flash, in multiple
languages.

The new partnership now allows travel suppliers and hoteliers seamless
distribution of Internet sales content to over 20,000 leading travel
websites including the four GDS-Global Distribution Systems, according
to an official statement. Now, from a central database, the combined
companies offer 24/7 delivery of static and moving images from 50,000
hotels -- 25,000 with animated images, 4,500 videos, plus more than
10,000 virtual tours.

ICE president Henry Woodman said that the companies partnering with
Leonardo and ICE Portal now have a single point of access to manage all
their visual content.

"Because there's no global standard for how various websites receive
rich media we've created a standardising interface," said Woodman. "We
take a client's multimedia presentation, for example, and deliver it to
every distribution site in the required format. As more hotel rooms and
travel are researched and sold over the Internet," Woodman added, "the
ability to effectively show a product online becomes vital. Current
research indicates rich media, like virtual tours, generate 46 percent
more bookings than still images."

Leonardo chief executive officer David Elton said, "Our two companies
now provide a single point of entry for content, hosting, management,
formatting, branding and delivery. And the value for both supplier and
distributor has increased significantly. Now, for the first time,
there's an industry content standard available from a single source.
Also suppliers may now manage their content in their own environment if
they choose, and 'push' content to Leonardo-ICE Portal with an XML
interface for formatting and distribution."

Elton added that the alliance will also simplify the challenge of
maintaining image and brand consistency across distribution channels.

The new Leonardo-ICE Portal alliance now provides travel suppliers and
distributors with a simple, comprehensive, one-stop shop to satisfy all
content needs. Consumers will now find Internet researching and buying
much easier with fresh, rich, visual media. Small hotel groups and
independent hotels also can now host and easily manage all their visual
assets one central database, and be assured their content will be
delivered accurately worldwide, said an official release.

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