Media magnate Rupert Murdoch and nine hotel...

Media magnate Rupert Murdoch and nine hotel chains have formed a venture to develop and run a new computerized hotel reservations system. The new system, called UltraSwitch, will provide a central electronic source of hotel room information for the participating hotels and for travel agents. Currently, only a small fraction of hotel rooms are booked electronically, using the computer systems provided by major airlines to travel agents. Most hotel bookings are made through toll-free numbers or directly with hotels, methods that are more expensive for the hotels.