WEH Westcoast Hosp Cp

Unique New Features Enhance Service to Both Consumers and Clients SPOKANE, Wash., Aug. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TicketsWest, a division of WestCoast Hospitality Corporation (NYSE:WEH), announced today it has launched a new website. TicketsWest engages in event ticket distribution throughout the United States and promotes and arranges presentations of a variety of entertainment productions, including a six week engagement this fall of Disney's The Lion King in Spokane, Washington. Its new website (http://www.ticketswest.com/) is designed to take advantage of new technologies that provide an exceptional user experience and deliver reliability during periods of demand. TicketsWest contracted with MRM Partners, a unit of McCann Worldgroup, which is owned by Interpublic Group of Companies, to develop the new website. Taking a "customer first" approach in designing the site, extensive research was conducted to determine what clients and customers thought were the most important features when making ticket purchases on the internet. Ease of use, ability to zero in on a specific event quickly, intelligent browsing, and most importantly, reliability and accuracy were some of the key factors mentioned during initial focus group meetings. The homepage now includes a quick search feature that allows a customer to specify a particular artist, venue, location, or date, all with the ease of one click. The site is also user configurable and allows specific interests or geographical preferences to either be associated with a customer's profile or modified on a single use basis. An advanced notification system allows customers to receive updates on their specific interests as new events are introduced in the system. The new ticketswest.com site delivers an industry leading user experience that allows for access to deep and broad content and makes it easier then ever for customers of the new website. "TicketsWest is focusing on the end user and providing better options for clients in the way they distribute tickets online," said Jack Lucas, Vice President, TicketsWest. "Our new website and its underlying technology represent a bold step forward for the industry in terms of distribution options available," continued Lucas. As an example of the new website's flexibility, third party partner websites can now interact directly with the ticketswest.com ticketing engine eliminating the need to refer customers off of the host site or install proprietary code to fulfill a web based event transaction. This is especially important as more customers seek sites that provide an integrated "one stop" shopping experience. Additional flexibility is delivered through new tools that easily allow clients to manage editorial, informational and graphical data through a comprehensive content management system that eliminates redundant data entry. The new TicketsWest site is built around a sophisticated booking engine and throttling platform that ensures severe spikes in volume are managed effectively for maximum site reliability. Another strong feature of the new website is a flexible application programming interface which was developed for ticketswest.com that provides a multitude of options for third party partners to distribute their event inventories. These options include: delivering turn-key private label solutions, deep-linking in to exclusive content areas of ticketswest.com and servicing transactions via the application programming interface through direct integration within a third party website. Lucas also noted, "When we began this project a year ago, our objective wasn't just to improve upon our current site -- we wanted to build a 21st century online event fulfillment solution that leveraged the growing importance of the internet for on-line ticket sales. We believe this new website positions us to be even more competitive and will help improve our already strong brand recognition throughout the United States." About TicketsWest TicketsWest engages in event ticket distribution throughout the United States and promotes and arranges presentations of a variety of entertainment productions, including a six week engagement this fall of Disney's The Lion King in Spokane, Washington. About WestCoast Hospitality Corporation WestCoast Hospitality Corporation is a hospitality and leisure company primarily engaged in the ownership, management, development and franchising of upper mid-scale, full service hotels under its Red Lion(R) and WestCoast(R) brands. G&B Real Estate Services, its real estate division, engages in traditional real estate-related services, including developing, managing and brokering sales and leases of commercial and multi-unit residential properties. Contact: Jack Lucas Title: Vice President, TicketsWest Phone: 509-777-6322 Internet: http://www.ticketswest.com/ DATASOURCE: WestCoast Hospitality Corporation CONTACT: Jack Lucas, Vice President of TicketsWest, +1-509-777-6322 Web site: http://www.westcoasthotels.com/ http://www.ticketswest.com/

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