Consumers visiting any of the family of Accor Web sites will be able to locate the nearest hotel to their destination location. Vicinity already has done the same for Marriott Corp., British Airways, Bass Hotels, Starwood Hotels, Promus Hotel Corp., Hilton, Choice Hotels, Rand McNally, Alamo Rent-A-Car, Sigma (Alitalia group) and fodors.com.

Accor's director of e-commerce Jean-Christophe Defline says he chose Vicinity for the speed and efficiency of its technology as well as the ability to integrate more capabilities at a later date. Vicinity's president and CEO Emerick Woods says companies are looking for this service in general because "local marketing has become crucial (now that) consumers are now able to access hospitality providers, as well as merchants and service providers, in their own backyards."

Vicinity's "Business Finder" software helps these companies integrate a private-label, Web-based locator into their Web sites to provide users with multiple search capabilities for finding Accor locations worldwide. Rapid adoption of this technology -- by not only hospitality clients but also the likes of McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Taco Time, Toyota and Levi Strauss & Co. -- turned Vicinity Corp. into the No. 1 business-to-business site based on primary category rankings for June and July 2000 according to Media Metrix.