StarCite, Inc., the leading provider of Web-based solutions to strategically manage corporate meetings and events, announced an extended partnership with VFM Leonardo Inc., the leader in online visual content distribution for hotels worldwide. Through the partnership, StarCite will showcase hotel properties to meeting buyers using compelling visual media powered by VFM Leonardo's industry-leading VScape Digital Asset Management System.

“We are thrilled to partner with VFM Leonardo to further equip meeting planners with all the tools necessary to plan a successful event,” said Dave O’Donohoe, SVP, Global Supplier Sales & Operations, StarCite. “This arrangement will give hotels a great opportunity to present their properties to the world’s largest online community of corporate meeting buyers using rich media including video, virtual tours and still images, and also gives planners a complete scope of venues so they are assured that their needs are met.”

Under the agreement, VFM Leonardo will manage and distribute photos, videos, virtual tours and other rich media of properties listed within StarCite's online marketplace, where corporate buyers from hundreds of Fortune 500 companies and many others can link up with more than 93,000 hotels, destinations and meeting suppliers. In 2008, corporate meetings business representing an estimated $8 billion passed through the StarCite electronic marketplace.

“We are delighted to power the hotel visual content for StarCite’s marketplace,” said Paolo Boni, President and CEO, VFM Leonardo. “By bringing comprehensive content to the fingertips of meeting planners around the world, we aim to make the difficult task of choosing a venue much easier and more streamlined. By expanding VNetwork™ to include enhanced distribution of all types of rich visual content to StarCite, we are expanding our customers’ online visibility to the meeting planner and buyer segment, and in turn providing increased revenue opportunities for hotels."

In addition to providing StarCite with an easy, streamlined way to manage thousands of digital assets in one place, VScape also eliminates the manual steps hoteliers would otherwise take to get photos, videos, virtual tours and other rich media into the StarCite marketplace and keep them updated. Through VFM Leonardo's VBrochure™ Online Merchandising System's integration with VScape, individual hotels will have the option to enhance their presence and showcase their venues and meeting facilities in front of thousands of meeting planners using the StarCite platform.