Marriott International, Inc. announced today that it has signed a contract with Passkey International, Inc. to offer their online group reservations management system at U.S. Marriott and Renaissance convention hotels and resorts.

Effective Jan. 2004, meeting planners can access Passkey's online housing and meeting management tool for 24-hour real-time visibility of room blocks as the event date approaches, minimizing attrition risk. In addition, Marriott will deploy Passkey RegLinkSM, enabling planners to link their preferred event registration system with housing to create a seamless booking process for their meeting attendees and significantly reduce "book-arounds."

"Passkey's meeting management tool allows us to address important concerns of meeting planners like attrition and book-arounds," said Joel Pyser, vice president, field sales, Marriott International, Inc. "We're excited about our relationship and what it means to the customer."

Passkey offers meeting planners the ability to create a secure, customized web page that allows attendees to book rooms, request special services and make last-minute changes. All attendee information, including updates and changes, is maintained in a centralized database accessible only to the hotel and the meeting planner. Information is provided in real time, enhancing room block accuracy.

"Marriott clearly understands the issues that face meeting planners today," said Greg Pesik, president and CEO, Passkey International, Inc. "We are naturally excited to be delivering the technology and services to Marriott that address the critical group management needs of both hotels and planners alike."

There are more than 450 Marriott and Renaissance hotels and resorts to choose from in North America. In addition to offering state-of-the-art meeting and banquet facilities, Marriott and Renaissance continue to be preferred brands among meeting planners. For more information, meeting planners can visit www.marriott.com and click on Events and Meetings.