HONG KONG, May 29 - Priceline, the Name Your Own Price Internet service for quality air tickets and hotel rooms, opened for business in Singapore today.

The launch of priceline.com.sg follows the successful debut of priceline.com.hk in Hong Kong last month - the company's first market entry in Asia. Priceline said that its Hong Kong customers are saving up to 20%-30% off typical travel market prices.

"Hundreds of travellers have bought from Priceline in Hong Kong and the feedback has been very positive," said Alfredo Gangotena, the CEO of Hutchison-Priceline. "This has encouraged us to move ahead into Singapore."

Travellers from all over Asia can name their price for Priceline's 8,000 hotels in the Asia-Pacific region and North America. Hotels in Europe, the Caribbean and Mexico will be added soon. Priceline also has as many as 25 Asian and international airline partners which fly all around the world. Air travellers must have a Hong Kong or Singapore address to permit secure delivery of their air tickets.

"All travelers in Asia can enjoy Priceline's hotel room services as it only requires a booking number to check in and Priceline provides all the necessary details within one hour," Mr Gangotena said.

He added that Singapore is the ideal place to launch Priceline's Name Your Own Price service to Southeast Asia. Government statistics show that Singaporeans are among Asia's most prolific travellers, with overseas travel growing by an average of 11% per year for the past decade. Over the same period, the population grew by an average of only 2%.

In addition, about 2.3 million Singaporeans now visit the Internet regularly, with 60% of households accessing the Internet from home, according to Nielsen//NetRatings.

"The Singapore Government is extremely supportive of both the IT industry and new business for Singapore," Mr Gangotena said. "We're all about technical innovation, making travel more affordable and, at the same time, expanding the Asian travel market, so the fit couldn't be better."

The English-language transactional website in Singapore complements the company's innovative multi-language, multi-currency adaptations of the Priceline model for Asia. Hong Kong has a bilingual site in Chinese and English.

Priceline's call centre gives travellers three saving options

Priceline recommends that travellers research their specific travel itineraries, then come to priceline.com.hk and name a reasonable price 20%-30% below typical market rates. The price should be low enough to get great savings but high enough to have an offer accepted on the first request. If the initial offer is not accepted by Priceline's world-class airline or hotel partners, travellers must change some aspect of their offer before trying again. There is no cost if an offer is unsuccessful.

Travellers can make an offer through the Internet, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. During the same hours, they can use a combination of the Internet and Priceline's call centre (852-3163-0808) if they want to provide their credit card details over the automated phone system. Lastly, they can make a complete booking by phone if they call any day between 8am and midnight.

Priceline has sold more than 21 million travel products to more than 13 million customers since it launched in the United States in April 1998. It was named the best travel deal on the Internet for 2002 by Yahoo! magazine Internet Life.

Hutchison-Priceline is a licensed travel agent in both Hong Kong and Singapore and has been accredited by the International Air Transport Association.

About Hutchison-Priceline

Hutchison-Priceline (Travel) Ltd was formed with investments from Hutchison Whampoa Ltd (65%) in Hong Kong and priceline.com Inc (35%) in the United States. Hutchison brings to the alliance its unparalleled brand, huge customer pool, vast management experience and deep knowledge of Asia. Priceline.com also boasts an extremely strong brand. It adds unique technology to the mix, plus outstanding e-commerce experience. Hutchison-Priceline leases its back-end technology, which is patented in the U.S., from priceline.com.

Priceline® is the unique Name Your Own Price^TM Internet travel service for airline tickets and hotel rooms. It offers great savings for flexible travellers. For airline tickets customers choose their destination, dates of travel and desired price, then agree to fly on a major airline at the times when the airline has empty seats. For hotel rooms customers specify their dates, the star rating, the area of a city and, of course, the price. Priceline then picks an international-brand or boutique hotel.

Hutchison-Priceline works with one of the travel industry's largest collections of travel suppliers. These include 25 Asian and international airlines and 8,000 hotel properties around the world.