Active Hotels wins ‘Growth Strategy of the Year’ at the National Business Awards regional final

Cambridge 28 July 2005: Active Hotels, one of Europe’s leading online hotel reservations providers, has won the ‘Growth Strategy of the Year’ award in the regional heats of the National Business Awards.

Active Hotels was selected amongst hundreds of companies that entered the Midlands and East of England heats and consequently has secured a place in the national final in November. The judges of this award looked for the organisation that best demonstrated an organic growth strategy (rather than merger & acquisition activity) achieving outstanding levels of sales, profit and market share improvement.

Adrian Currie, Chief Financial Officer, Active Hotels accepted the award at a ceremony held at the Coventry Hilton. He stated: “I am delighted to accept this award on behalf of Active Hotels. Since the company’s inception in 1999, we have focused on building a successful business by providing a differentiated and global online presence for European independent and group hotels ranging from B&B through to five star. As the business goes from strength to strength, we look forward to our continued expansion across Europe.”

Active Hotels initially targeted smaller, independent hotels and B&B’s by providing an online presence free of set-up charges and only taking a commission on any guest visits generated for the hotels. In addition, hotels without the necessary technology were given it free of charge and this helped attract over 1,000 UK hotels during Active’s first year of business. Once Active became profitable in early 2003, the company expanded its offering across Europe, promoting all types of properties ranging from regional independents to luxury city-centre properties.

Active Hotels was acquired by US-based priceline.com in September 2004 in order for priceline.com to invest in the growing European travel market and develop the Active Hotels business both organically and through acquisition. Subsequent to the awards, in July 2005, priceline.com acquired Amsterdam based Bookings B.V. to complement its investment in Active Hotels. Combined, Active Hotels and Bookings have negotiated exclusive rates with almost 18,000 hotel properties, which the companies believe is more than any other European Internet hotel reservation service.

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About the National Business Awards
The UK’s prestigious National Business Awards, the first programme to engage FTSE100s and blue chip companies with SMEs and new ventures was launched to celebrate the contribution that our all too often modest businesses make to the national economy. The Awards are an independent programme judged by industry experts and funded by some of the UK’s most forward-thinking businesses through sponsorship.

Acknowledged by The Chancellor of the Exchequer as the UK’s “Business Oscars”, The National Business Awards have been established to reward and recognise the importance of both national and regional business excellence to the success of UK plc. The programme recognises exceptional business, without exception.

As part of our underlying principles of success, innovation and ethics, we extended the programme to encompass the importance that regional businesses make to the overall economy. The National Business Awards Regional Programmes recognise these businesses.

See: www.nationalbusinessawards.com/regional

About Active Hotels
Active Hotels (a priceline.com company, Nasdaq: PCLN), is one of Europe’s leading online reservation providers to the hotel industry. The company has over 11,000 hotels, which it promotes through 1,500 distribution partners, including some of the market leaders in online travel. See www.activehotels.com for more details.

Media enquiries
Mandy Zakhour, European Media Relations, Active Hotels, [email protected] tel: + 44 (0) 1223 578134