05 September 2005

Multimap, one of the world's leading online mapping companies, today announced that Australia's popular apartment hotel chain, Medina Apartment Hotels, has joined its rapidly expanding pool of Australasia-based clients. Thanks to the deal, visitors to www.medinaapartments.com.au can now view visually-appealing, content-rich maps, pinpointing the exact location of an apartment hotel of interest. The implementation is expected to increase customers' confidence to proceed to make a booking by providing them with useful location information in just a few easy steps.

Visitors to www.medinaapartments.com.au click on the 'Locations' link at the top of the home page to access a drop-down list of cities in which the apartment hotels are found. They select a city, followed by a particular apartment block, and the 'Location' link that subsequently appears. Basic location information, e.g., full address, proximity to the city center and local airport, and local points of interest, is provided as text, and customers click on the highlighted map link to access an easy-to-read map pinpointing the hotel's exact location with a red circle. All maps delivered have zoom in/out and pan N,S,E,W functionality, and include icons representing local points of interest such as museums and galleries, post offices, hospitals and restaurants.

Commenting on the recent deployment, Kim McKay, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Toga Hospitality, said, "Multimap offers exceptional coverage of Australia and the maps represent a major value-add for our customers, many of whom need to be 100% sure of a hotel's proximity to a temporary workplace in an unfamiliar area before making a booking online. The fact that the maps are easy–to read and delivered at sub-second speed makes our customers' experience of the site even more positive and useful again. We are delighted to be working with Multimap to provide this service."

Chris Warrick, managing director of Multimap, Australasia, commented, "A substantial number of our 800 global business clients are from the travel and tourism sector, and we are delighted to welcome such a high-profile Australian brand as Medina aboard. The implementation is a good example of how our location-based services empower online customers to make an informed decision about a destination in just a few steps."

About Multimap

Multimap is Europe's leading provider of mapping and location-based services. The company delivers more online maps, point-to-point driving directions and geo-spatial ("where's my nearest?") searches to more companies than any other supplier in Europe. All services are offered on mobile, PDA, kiosk, and interactive TV platforms and in multiple languages.

The public website, www.multimap.com, provides a range of free, useful services to assist with everyday life. Key features include street-level maps of Europe, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia; road maps of the world; door-to-door travel directions; aerial photographs; links to location information; and services such as hotel, restaurant and entertainment booking. The public site attracts over 8.6 million unique users, registers more than 160 million page impressions every month, and is one of the top 10 most visited websites in the UK. Multimap recently featured in The Sunday Times Fast Track 100 league table of fastest-growing unquoted UK companies across all sectors.

About Toga Hospitality

Toga Hospitality currently operates thirty-three strategically located Hotels and Apartment Hotels in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra. This currently comprises of Medina Apartment Hotels (19 locations), Vibe Hotels Australia (5 locations) and Travelodge Hotels (9 locations).

Medina Apartment Hotels offer Apartment Space, Hotel Service and the renowned Medina Style. The difference Medina offers is lifestyle - your own private apartment, a place to entertain or simply a great place to relax.

Vibe Hotels are "hotels with personality" and each hotel is an original expression of the city village in which it is located. Loved for their character, charm and central location each hotel is a real part of it's local environment, allowing the traveller to experience and absorb the essence of the destination.

Travelodge Hotels offer accommodation for value conscious travellers looking for central locations, quality guest rooms and friendly service.