PRESS RELEASES

09.08.02

No Accidental Tourists with WorldBy.Com

Florence, Italy - Booking vacation accommodation online is never easy, especially when you are choosing a foreign destination. How can you really be sure that what you see on your screen IS what you get when you arrive - if there is something to see on your screen except a booking form and some meaningless icons? After he reserved the 'hotel from hell' online, Stefano Galastri, CEO and founder of WorldBy.Com, set up a company to make sure none of his customers would have the same experience.

Two years on the leading European online travel specialist, WorldBy.Com, offers nine regional web sites with the richest content in the world, both on and offline, for over 1200 selected European properties.

"I came up with the idea for the company when I booked a New York hotel online through www.HotelDiscount.com", says Mr. Galastri, "It seemed perfectly acceptable on their web site, but when I got to New York it was very, very dirty, sub-standard and bore no relation at all to what I had seen online."

Philosophy - 'Content, Customer Care and Direct Contact with the Properties'

At WorldBy.Com the focus is on quality - of the properties that are featured on the sites, and on the level of customer care that is provided to users of the sites.

"Our philosophy is to give people who are planning a trip the maximum level of honest information about the properties they are considering. This means 30 to 40 photos of each property - even the bathrooms - and detailed descriptions of facilities and location. Our sites allow people to 'visit' the property before they get their credit card out.

"Unlike the larger online tour operators like Expedia.com or Orbitz.com we put our customers directly in contact with the reservations manager at the property they inquire about," explains Mr. Galastri. "This ensures that our customers get the best price the property can offer and a high level of customer care direct from the property. This is not something you get from the larger operators."

WorldBy.Com selects properties for the clients with the utmost care. Mr. Galastri says,"We put a lot of effort into assessing the properties for our online publications. We personally visit and assess every property on the web site so we know exactly how the property is. If the quality or the service is substandard then we don't list it."

Results

And the figures speak for themselves. 45,000 travelers will stay in the properties listed on WorldBy.Com's sites this year as a result of reservations made through the sites - a 100% increase on last year's figures. "This represents more than 100% increase in business for us," says Mr. Galastri. "The last year has been difficult right across the travel industry but our figures don't reflect this overall decline."

It's a formula that works. WorldBy.Com continues to grow. Nine publications have been published to date, and with the recent additions of Amsterdam and the French Riviera this makes an average of one every two months.

Notes for editors:

1. WorldBy.Com S.p.A. is an authorised Tour Operator in accordance with Italian and European law. [S.p.A is equivalent to a British Plc]

2. Through 19 online publications WorldBy.Com offers a complete service for secure online booking for holiday and business accommodation at selected properties in Europe.

3. Top line figures:
- more than 7 million page views a month
- expected gross bookings for 2006: 35 million Dollars
- 100,000 unique reservations a year
- more than 5,000 Hotels & Resorts All on direct contracts
- Average of 34 large size photos and 10 webpages of descriptions per Hotel (180,000 photographs online, Sept. 2006 figures)
- Yearly growth: 1,500 new affiliated Properties every year
- Financial debts and passive interests: ZERO every year, since the incorporation

4. Partner Enquires contact the Business Development Team
Email: partners@worldby.com
Tel: +39 0571 537024
Fax: +39 02 700 510 425

5. Press Enquiries contact:
Lorella Martini
Email: media@worldby.com
Tel: +39 0571 537024
Fax: +39 02 700 510 425

6. WorldBy.Com Publications:
www.Tuscany.Net
www.FlorenceBy.Com
www.VeniceBy.Com
www.RomeBy.Com
www.ItalyBy.Com
www.ParisBy.Com
www.LondonBy.Com
www.AmsterdamBy.Com
www.RivieraBy.Com
www.ScotlandBy.Com
www.IrelandBy.Com
www.BarcelonaBy.Com
www.FranceBy.Com
www.SpainBy.Com
www.PragueBy.Com
www.ViennaBy.Com
www.BudapestBy.Com
www.AlpsBy.Com
www.EuropeBy.Com