PRESS RELEASE #22 - Interaction Accommodation Bookings Break Records

GLASGOW, Tuesday 14 September 2004

Interaction launches accommodation service live in Boston - record breaking response as members plan their trips to Glasgow - £300,000 of accommodation booked in first two weeks.

In the space of less than two weeks, over 1000 people have booked their accommodation for Interaction, the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention ("Worldcon"), which takes place in Glasgow next August. Despite the event being almost a year away, a quarter of those expected to attend, representing over £300,000 worth of room bookings, have begun enthusiastically planning their trip to Scotland.

The online booking service was officially launched on September 2nd 2004 during Noreascon 4, the 62nd World Science Fiction Convention, which took place in Boston. Representatives of Interaction, the Glasgow Tourist Board, and Infotel, the convention's accommodation partner, were all on hand to support the launch and to answer questions. Interaction and Infotel benefited from a significant investment in pre-launch testing as the service opened without a hitch. Indeed, Worldcon records were rapidly broken as Infotel accepted 400 bookings before the end of the Boston event and well over 650 in the first two weeks.

As expected, member demand has been particularly high for those properties located close to the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC), Moat House Hotel, and Hilton Hotel, which will host the main convention events. Interaction and Infotel are already working to secure additional space from the providers in these areas. In the meantime, the convention continues to retain a limited number of rooms at these hotels for the use of members with impaired mobility or other special requirements.

ENDS

Contacts

General: info@interaction.worldcon.org.uk
Press/Media: Paul Treadaway - press@interaction.worldcon.org.uk

The 2005 World Science Fiction Convention, known as Interaction, will take place in Glasgow, UK from 4-8 August 2005. More information about Interaction, including current membership rates, is available from its web site (http://www.interaction.worldcon.org.uk/) or by writing to info@interaction.worldcon.org.uk.

Specific press contacts, or requests to be removed from the Interaction press release mailing list should be directed to press@interaction.worldcon.org.uk.

"WSFS", "Worldcon", "World Science Fiction Convention" and "Hugo Award" are registered service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society.

Release Date 14^th September 2004