ACCOR, FORTE AND HILTON INTERNATIONAL WEB VENTURE FOR HOTEL DISTRIBUTION COMES TO LIFE

London, Paris, 26 October 2000 - Following an announcement earlier this year, Accor, The Forte Hotel Group and Hilton International are launching a European Internet joint venture. Following the necessary regulatory clearance, the new company will be incorporated in the UK and located in London and Paris. The company will develop a key electronic distribution channel for the hotel industry, and further partners will be announced soon.

A first website, andbook.com, is to be launched by January 2001.

The venture will create a best-in-class Web-based hotel and travel reservation system and provide an integrated travel booking solution for businesses. It will be designed to provide rich, reliable hotel information and will initially focus on room reservations, potentially expanding to include conference and meetings facilities and other travel services.

Oakton, the hospitality solutions, project and consultancy firm has been retained to provide Project Management Services for the creation and launch of the site. Services are provided by Oakton's Travel and Internet practice.