Press release

HRS milestones

1 May 1972 HRS is established
HRS is founded by Robert Ragge on 1 May 1972. The first office with one employee and two telephone lines opens in the small Im Sionstal street in the Südstadt area of Cologne. Its business: finding hotel rooms for business travellers and industrials.

1985 HRS develops own computer reservation system
HRS develops its own computer reservation system. HRS staff can now instantly see which hotels still have vacancies, and can book rooms without contacting the hotel first.

1986 First HRS hotel directory with fixed prices
HRS produces its first 400-page international hotel directory, which lists not "from-to", but guaranteed fixed prices for single and double rooms. Bookings at these special HRS prices are confirmed immediately.

1989 HRS is first online hotel reservation system on BTX
HRS becomes the first online hotel reservation system on BTX, Deutsche Telekom's new teletext service. Users can enter all the details of their booking on screen and receive immediate confirmation of their booking on screen.

1990 Special catalogue includes hotels in eastern Germany
Following reunification, two editions of a special catalogue are published that include hotels in Germany's eastern states. Twelve HRS staff travel around Germany for several weeks tracking down appropriate accommodation for HRS customers and photographing hotels for the catalogue.

1992 Start of collaboration with D2 Mannesmann Mobilfunk
HRS begins cooperating with D2 Mannesmann Mobilfunk (now Vodafone) on bookings with immediate confirmation by mobile phone. The online hotel reservation system is developed further under the name "Hotel World Online" to meet the particular needs of industry.

1996 HRS on the Web
The first version of the HRS global online hotel reservation system, www.hrs.de, is presented at the International Tourism Exchange (ITB) in Berlin.

1999 First WAP version developed for mobile phones
The first WAP version of the system is presented at the IFA World of Consumer Electronics Fair in Berlin.

2000 Print catalogue shelved
Fifteen years after it was first introduced, the hotel catalogue is discontinued. The print medium is no longer adequate to reflect daily fluctuations in price. At the request of its customers, a CD-ROM is produced. HRS now employs 89 people.

2000 Shanghai office opened in January
The Asian offices of HRS open in Shanghai's business and financial district in the People's Republic of China.

2001 First corporate application for intranets
The first HRS hotel reservation application is developed specially for corporate intranets

2002 HRS celebrates its 30th anniversary
The number of employees climbs to 132. The immediacy of the Internet becomes the determining factor. No more CD-ROMs are produced.

2005 New HRS Web site is launched
HRS's redesigned Web cite goes online on 18 April 2005.

2006 London office opens in January
The new London office opens on 2 January 2006. Address: 1 Northumberland Avenue, Trafalgar Square

2006 Paris office opens in February
The HRS office in Paris opens its doors at 27 Avenue de l'Opera in February 2006. The worldwide workforce rises to 200.

2007 Globally unique online direct conference booking tool presented at ITB
In March 2007, HRS presents its global novelty at the International Tourism Exchange (ITB) in Berlin. The online direct conference booking tool enables 10 to 20 rooms and a conference hall to be booked directly online at the daily best-buy rate. There's therefore no need for time-consuming demands for offers. Complete conference facilities can be booked in three easy steps.

1 May 2007 HRS celebrates its 35th anniversary
On 1 May 2007, HRS celebrates its 35th anniversary. Two hundred and fifty employees around the globe will join in the celebrations.

Further information can be found at www.HRS.de

Press contact

HOTEL RESERVATION SERVICE (HRS)
Markus Nierhaus
Head, Corporate Communication
Blaubach 32

50676 Cologne, Germany

Tel.: +49 (0)221 2077 536