Online Reservations Coming to Kentucky Parks

June 4, 2004

Beginning as early as next week, Kentucky state park guests will now be able to reserve resort guest rooms and cottages online, Parks Commissioner George Ward announced today.

The Finance and Administration Cabinet has awarded a one-year, renewable contract to VIP International Inc. of Calgary, Alberta, Canada to take room reservations through a Web site linked to the state parks home page at http://parks.ky.gov. VIP is an industry leader in web-based reservations services.

“When I became commissioner in February, I was shocked to see that Kentucky Parks had done nothing to provide online reservations,” Ward said. “If we are to compete in the travel marketplace, we have to provide the same services that any hotel chain provides.”

The value of the service goes beyond the individual traveler being able to book a room from a computer. VIP’s service includes listing its parks room inventory on the major global distribution systems such as Sabre and Worldspan that all travel agents use to book rooms, Ward noted. Until now, Kentucky parks were “invisible” to travel agents.

VIP will be paid $5 for each reservation originated from the Department of Parks Web site. There will be no cost to the park guest.

“We’re confident that this service will generate significant new revenue for our park system,” Ward said.

The Kentucky State Park System is composed of 51 state parks plus an interstate park shared with Virginia. The Department of Parks, an agency of the Commerce Cabinet, operates 17 resort parks with lodges -- more than any other state. Each year, Kentucky parks draw 7 million visitors and contribute $230 million to the economy.

For more information, visit the Kentucky State Parks online at:
http://parks.ky.gov

Contact:
Jim Caroll
Kentucky State Parks

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