Hospitality Industry Benefits from Satellite Mapping Systems

Arlington, VA (Vocus) March 30, 2007 -- Corporate executives in search of the perfect place to stay while away on business already know BridgeStreet Worldwide is comfortable, business friendly, and offers the best customer service in the industry, but now that service is extended providing customers with 3-D mapping of accommodations in relation to office or airport locations.

Providing a real-time visual of BridgeStreet Worldwide locations with an interactive map for indicating places of interest such as parks, schools, museums, restaurants, and the client's workplace, helps traveling executives get a better sense of the neighborhood before they even arrive.

BridgeStreet Worldwide is able to put all of that information at traveler's fingertips with the Microsoft Virtual Earth mapping software. This software offers high-resolution satellite imagery with aerial views of apartment communities and an interactive mapping solution for points of interest nearby.

"It's important for our Web site to provide an efficient, easy-to-use online experience -- including our mapping solution. In the travel business today, this is a must," says Jon Wohlfert, Sr. VP of Marketing & Sales for BridgeStreet Worldwide. "We receive feedback from customers asking for information and 'pushes' to e-mail and wireless devices. This is where we will take our Virtual Earth implementation next."

In addition to providing customers with interactive accommodations mapping, BridgeStreet's implementation of Microsoft Virtual Earth has been laced throughout its systems via web services allowing for real-time modeling of building vacancy in relation to customer travel patterns. Comparing geographic information with customer travel behavior helps to minimize vacancy losses.

"Instead of our development team struggling with an inferior geographic application programming interface (API) we needed to invest in an efficient way to visualize our business data so we can better anticipate where to provide the specific locations and services our clients seek," says Wohlfert.

The Microsoft Virtual Earth software is active and incorporated publicly on the BridgeStreet Worldwide Web site, http://www.BridgeStreet.com. To find out more about this software and how it is helping BridgeStreet Worldwide provide even better customer service to its clients, please contact Kelly Murphy at (813) (909-2445).

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