<B> Web Cites: Sites Worth Bookmarking</B>
By Mary Ann McNulty, Technology Editor
<B>Restaurant Rights On Zagat Site</B>
Tired of poor restaurant service and lousy food? Then join fellow diners in commenting and voting on a working draft of a "Diners' Bill of Rights" on the Zagat Survey's just-launched homepage, www.zagat.com. The Bill of Rights hopefully will spur restaurants to focus on improving customer satisfaction, said Tim Zagat, who along with his wife, Nina, co-publishes the restaurant surveys. The Zagats this summer will sponsor a summit with leading restaurateurs to discuss service issues. The final bill is expected in the fall.
After years of licensing their content to other sites, the Zagats decided to launch their own to allow diners to file reviews and order print- outs. The multifunction power search allows users to simultaneously search for restaurants by rating, cost, cuisine, location and special features. Visitors can click for detailed city maps and driving instructions, and also can learn the food, decor, service ratings and quick-fix review for a particular restaurant. The site is free at least through this summer, and covers more than 17,000 restaurants in 20 cities, with information on 25 more to appear soon.
<a name="2"><B>Air Charter Takes Off On Web</B>
The enhanced version of the year-old Skyjet.com unveiled last month allows corporations to indicate preferred charter operators in a personal profile stored on the site, still showing all available aircraft within its database that match a charter request, but highlighting preferred operators, said Trevor Cornwell, managing director of the venture. Corporations can distribute their user names and passwords to those who book charters to take advantage of the one profile. Funded by venture capitalists, Skyjet.com is a nationwide, real-time air charter reservation and business travel planning service. Cornwell has developed technology to link his database of airplane statistics and operator pricing with the existing Air Charter Online database of charter aircraft availability. The result is a real-time database of more than 500 jets from more than 60 operators. Cornwell is offering free Boston Coach ground transportation and Kiehl skincare products on charter bookings. Soon, he'll launch a service that links Four Seasons Hotels with the offering. As with most online travel sites, Skyjet.com currently is experiencing a high look-to-book ratio, Cornwell said. But the company is processing bookings, for which it receives a commission.
<a name="3"><B>Hilton.com Gets Personalized</B>
A new feature on Hilton Hotels' Web site, www.hilton.com, allows users to customize the site for return visits to see specials at hotels, destinations they'd like to visit, weather conditions or a variety of other options. Adopting the personalization technology used by various search engines, myHilton.com is aimed at Hilton's frequent guests. However, the application also could be customized for travelers of a specific company, said Bruce Rosenberg, Hilton vice president of marketing distribution in Beverly Hills.
<a name="4"><B>Luggage Manufacturers Link Up</B>
Combine former luggage manufacturer executives with Internet technology and venture capitalists and you end up one of the largest selections of bags for business, sports and travel in www.ebags.com. The new site is trying to capitalize on the $15 billion bag market by offering full descriptions of all products, a special icon for all bags that meet the new airline size rules, up to five photos of every product and even customer testimonials of good bags. Computer, duffle and even diaper bags are among the types available from a variety of manufacturers. The site was founded by four former Samsonite executives, headed by Jon Nordmark, CEO and president.
<a name="5"><B>Airline Catalogs Build Web Distribution</B>
Trying to capitalize on the brand name it has built up through its catalog distribution in airline seat pockets of more than 68 percent of all passengers, SkyMall Inc. next month will launch a new Web site, www.skymall.com, that targets the 57 million heavy frequent travelers estimated to be a $24 billion travel market segment. The intent is to create a travel portal that offers booking; frequent flyer program tracking capabilities; free, private and secure family Web sites that offer the ability for travelers to stay in touch while they're on the road; and maps and current events in various destinations. The site has signed partnerships with Randy Petersen's Frequent Flyer Services Inc. for its MileageManager tool, myfamily.com, Trip.com for booking, MapQuest and ontheroad.com, with others to come soon.