VANCOUVER, April 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — VRX Worldwide Inc. (TSX-V: VRW) announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, VRX Studios Inc. (VRX) has unveiled an innovative rich media content distribution model, named “Athena”, that combines value-based pricing with unprecedented flexibility and coverage of hotels, destinations and cruise ships. Athena enables hotels, online travel agencies, tour operators and global distribution systems to cost-effectively differentiate themselves while meeting the various content needs of their customers.
“Since the birth of online content distribution, there has been a significant disconnect between the suppliers of content and those who use it,” commented David MacLaren, president and CEO of VRX. “Consumers want to see high quality, up-to-date and accurate images of hotels to help them make confident booking decisions. Hotels want to showcase the key aspects of their properties to differentiate themselves online from their competitors and online travel agencies, tour operators and global distribution systems (collectively “Intermediaries”) want images that appeal to the specific customer segments that they target. Today’s one-size-fits-all, fixed price content distribution model doesn’t work for hotels, let alone the rest of the travel industry - it never has and never will.”
“There is no doubt that rich media content increases bookings, however, the effectiveness and return of investment of such content varies dramatically by destination, category of hotel and Intermediary,” continued David MacLaren. “Athena allows hotels and Intermediaries to make content choices based on their specific needs and the value of the content to them.”
Red Roof was the first hotel brand to embrace Athena. “VRX’s extensive experience working with every category of hotel and intermediary is clearly evident in their innovative solution to the travel industry’s content distribution challenges,” stated Aaron Stenhoff, Director, Marketing and E-Commerce for Red Roof. “Athena addresses not only all of our content needs but also those of our distribution partners. A fully flexible, value based, content distribution model provided by the world’s leading rich media production studio, is exactly the end-to-end solution that we have been waiting for.”
Under the Athena model, hotels have the option of using the full portfolio of rich media content on their websites (averaging over fifty virtual tours, still images and interactive maps) and deciding how many images that they want to make available, royalty-free to Intermediaries. Intermediaries then have the choice of using only the content made available to them royalty-free, or licensing additional content of each hotel. Athena enables each Intermediary to choose a unique package of rich media content to customize their website to appeal to their specific target markets.
“Travelocity is excited about this solution,” said Jeff Varhol, Director of Global Content at Travelocity. “Rich media content is a critical component of the online sales process but the economics have always been a challenge. Athena provides the flexibility to differentiate our rich media offerings and makes it financially feasible for both us and our hotel partners. It’s a win-win solution for hotels, Travelocity - and consumers.”
The industry can expect more innovative solutions like Athena to be unveiled by VRX in the near future as the world’s leading rich media production studio broadens its offerings.
About VRX
VRX Studios Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of VRX Worldwide Inc. (TSX-V: VRW) (), is the world leader in producing, distributing and licensing high quality, rich media content that educates, inspires, and compels online travel consumers. Leading travel brands such as Harrah’s, Hyatt, Fairmont, Travelocity, Lastminute and Orbitz rely on VRX’s stunning hotel, cruise and destination content to attract and engage millions of consumers each month. VRX is recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in Canada by Profit magazine (June 2007) and Business in Vancouver (September 2007). To find out more about VRX Studios, its products and services, visit ww.vrxstudios.com.
VRX Worldwide Inc.

per “David MacLaren”

David MacLaren, President and CEO

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CONTACT: VRX Worldwide Inc.: Investor & Public Relations, (888) 605-0059,
VRX Worldwide Inc.