(EMAILWIRE.COM, March 04, 2009 ) Orillia, Ontario – Increasingly potential customers looking for vacations and accommodations are shopping online. Gone are the days when consumers had to rely on tourist and resort brochures along with the advice of the local travel agent when planning a holiday. With the internet in virtually every home, people have access to more travel information than they could ever use. Many vacation prospects want to avoid the telephone calls and the human element and cut to the chase. In a nutshell, they want to see what is available, establish the cost and then, book and confirm online with their credit card. Services that are ahead of the curve, that provide consumer choice and offer a variety of resort and vacation options with quality assurance, online availability and settlement, are preferred by web savvy travellers.
One good example of online vacation one-stop shopping is the new reservation service offered by Resorts of Ontario (http://www.resortsofontario.com), OntarioÂ’s largest association of resort owners and operators. It will provide association-wide online availability and settlement capability that will allow customers to book reservations and pay for them directly from the association web site. This service was launched on January 20th, 2009. As well, the new online service ranks resort members by priority based on customer keyword searches such as "ski resort within 2 hours of Toronto". Resort packages or vacation experiences will then appear along with links to resort profiles and images. The reservations portion will be phased in through 2009.
Quality assurance at all Resorts of Ontario member properties is achieved through Canada Select or CAA inspections. All member properties maintain very high standards as measured by one of these independent nation-wide accommodation rating programs.
Resorts of Ontario Executive Director Grace Sammut, a long time professional involved in Ontario's tourism industry, says “People want assurances when they are booking a vacation online. I know I do. Making it easier for travelers to research and book a Canadian resort vacation and teaming up with Canada Select and the CAA are good moves for Resorts of Ontario and our resort partners. It's our way of telling customers wherever they are that our member resorts are committed to giving them a quality Ontario-Canada travel experience.”
About Resorts of Ontario: Resorts of Ontario was established in 1942. Its lodges, country inns, American Plan resort hotels and housekeeping cottage resorts offer four-season vacations that symbolize the Resorts of Ontario hallmark for Quality, Service and Dependability. For more information about the Resorts of Ontario visit the web site: http://www.resortsofontario.com or call toll-free 1-800-363-7227.
Contact Information:
Grace Sammut – Managing Director
Resorts of Ontario
29 Albert Street
Orillia ON L3V 5J9
1 (800) 363-7227
(705) 325-9115 ext 207
grace@resortsofontario.com http://www.resortsofontario.com
