GetThere First To Make Online Meeting Planning a Standard Feature In Corporate Online Booking Solution

Builds in Solution For Planning Corporate Meetings and Links to
Large Event Planning Technology from seeUthere and StarCite

SOUTHLAKE, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Aug. 2, 2004–

Recognizing the trends discussed in a new National Business Travel
Association white paper, GetThere(R) today announced that it is making
online meeting planning a standard feature of its industry-leading
corporate online travel solution. GetThere also announced that it has
signed agreements and is already integrating with solutions from
seeUthere Technologies and StarCite to enable companies to book travel
on GetThere for larger events planned through those offerings.

“The NBTA committee pointed to a clear need for Strategic Meetings
Management, which focuses on aligning corporate travel and meeting
planning to gain much more efficiency for both,” said Kari Kesler,
National Business Travel Association Groups & Meetings Committee.
“Making meeting planning a standard element of online travel
demonstrates GetThere’s leadership in helping companies capitalize on
this important new cost reduction opportunity immediately.”

In corporations, there are two distinct types of meetings — 1)
those that require the services and expertise of a professional
meeting planner, and 2) those that are more ‘ad hoc’, or informal, in
nature and are planned by administrative assistants or
non-professional meeting planners and represent 80 percent of a
company’s meeting spend, according to data released by PhoCusWright.
While each type of meeting has unique technological needs, the common
denominator is that companies are looking to give planners and
attendees self-service tools that result in greater satisfaction and
lower costs for the company.

“In working with the world’s leading companies and this NBTA
committee, it became very clear that one of the next frontiers in
self-service and cost savings in corporations is automation of meeting
planning and booking the travel to those meetings online,” said Mike
Malinchok, director of meeting planning solutions at GetThere. “We are
making online planning and attendee travel a standard feature of the
GetThere booking system for what is considered to be the majority of a
corporation’s meetings — the smaller, ad hoc events planned by
non-professional meeting arrangers.”

“Additionally, we are integrating with two of the leading
solutions for professional meeting planners, seeUthere and StarCite,
to ensure travel to meetings planned in either of those tools can be
easily booked through our online booking system, which is the most
widely used in Fortune 500 companies,” added Malinchok.

Standard Features for Planning Ad Hoc Meetings

To address the large volume of ad hoc meetings, GetThere is
integrating tools designed for the non-professional meeting planner,
and directing its future development to making those tools even more
simple-to-use, requiring little to no training. The functionality will
be included, and the only cost is a small premium on a group-related
travel booking through the GetThere tool — a process similar to, but
at a much lower cost than the way group travel bookings are made over
the phone today.

seeUthere and StarCite Integration to Help the Professional
Meeting Planner

In its white paper, NBTA made a clear distinction between the
needs of the professional planner and those employees planning ad hoc
meetings. The document points to distinct technology and process
requirements that a travel manager needs to embrace to gain the
support of the professional planners for a Strategic Meetings
Management Program.

GetThere has responded to this by forging alliances with StarCite
and seeUthere, allowing for greater flexibility in choosing the
meeting planning tool(s) that best fit the needs of the company as
well as the needs and preferences of the professional meeting planners
— while still driving travelers into GetThere’s online travel
environment. The integration is expected to be complete in the third
quarter of 2004.

About GetThere

GetThere is the world’s leading online corporate travel
reservation technology, and is one of the key solutions offered to the
corporate marketplace by Sabre Holdings. GetThere enables global
corporations and government agencies to provide a convenient way for
employees to book travel and plan meetings while significantly
reducing costs. GetThere’s advanced technology works with all major
global distribution systems (GDS) and all travel management companies.
More than 3,000 corporations, including 65 percent share of the
Fortune 200, use GetThere. More information is available at
www.getthere.com.

Sabre Holdings Corporation (NYSE:TSG) is a world leader in travel
commerce, retailing travel products and providing distribution and
technology solutions for the travel industry. More information about
Sabre Holdings is available at http://www.sabre-holdings.com.


    CONTACT: GetThere
             Media Contact:
             Dan Toporek, 415-932-1163
             dtoporek@GetThere.com
             or
             Vollmer Public Relations, Dallas
             Mary Kate Smither, 972-488-4790
             marykate@vollmerpr.com
             or
             Chintan Talati, 972-488-4790
             chintan@vollmerpr.com

    SOURCE: GetThere