Five Big Hotel Chains Launch Online Venture

Five of the country’s major hotel chains said they would work together to launch a new business to sell hotel rooms over the Internet.

The venture, called Hotel Distribution System, would offer rooms on several Web sites.

The company was formed by Hilton Hotels Corp., Hyatt Corp., Marriott International, Six Continents Hotels Inc. and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., along with Pegasus Solutions Inc., which will provide the Internet technology to run the system.