State park guests will soon be able to reserve resort guest rooms and cottages online, Parks Commissioner George Ward announced today.

     The Finance and Administration Cabinet has awarded a one-year, renewable contract to VIP International Inc. of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. to take room reservations through a website linked to the state parks home page, http://parks.ky.gov. VIP is an industry leader in web-based reservations services.

     “When I became commissioner in February, I was shocked to see that Kentucky Parks had done nothing to provide online reservations,”  Ward said. “If we are to compete in the travel marketplace, we have to provide the same services that any hotel chain provides.”

     The value of the service goes beyond the individual traveler being able to book a room from a computer. VIP’s service includes listing its parks room inventory on the major global distribution systems such as Sabre and Worldspan that all travel agents use to book rooms, Ward noted. Until now, Kentucky parks were “invisible” to travel agents.

     VIP will be paid $5 for each reservation originated from the Department of Parks web site. There will be no cost to the park guest.

    “We’re confident that this service will generate significant new revenue for our park system,” Ward said.