WestCoast Hospitality Corp., of Spokane, soon will launch a new version of its Internet ticketing site that will allow customers to book hotel rooms, event tickets, and entertainment packages on line, all at once.


The site, www.ticketswest.com, will bring together in one place the services provided by WestCoasts various businessesWestCoast Hotels, WestCoast Entertainment (formerly G&B Presents, a theatrical presentation company), and TicketsWest.com (formerly G&B Select-a-Seat, an Internet ticketing service). Until now, customers had to buy tickets on one Internet site and reserve rooms on another.


Don Barbieri, president and CEO of WestCoast Hospitality, says he envisions customers going on line to book a weekend trip to Seattle, for example, that would include a hotel stay, a theater show, and a Mariners baseball game.


We view the 70-some million aging baby boomers in the U.S. and the 17 million in Canada to be prime prospects for easy consumption of leisure activities, Barbieri says of WestCoasts strategy.


To make the site, and the concept, work, WestCoast Hospitality will begin creating packages of services in markets where such synergy doesnt already exist for the company, he says. For example, WestCoast could seek to acquire hotels in cities where it already has ticketing operations or where it produces theatrical shows, or could begin presenting big-name shows in cities where it owns hotels, he says.


Were, generally speaking, going to be taking WestCoast Entertainment into the same markets that were taking WestCoast Hotels and taking our ticketing operations, he says. Barbieri says the packaging of hotels, shows, and tickets is very unique in the hospitality industry.


WestCoast Hospitality owns, operates, or manages 46 hotels in nine Western states. Cavanaughs Hospitality Corp. purchased Seattle-based WestCoast Hotels Inc. late last year, and in March renamed the company WestCoast Hospitality. TicketsWest.com operates in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Colorado, and WestCoast Entertainment presents shows in selected cities throughout the West, including the Best of Broadway series in Spokane.


In separate news, Barbieri says that WestCoast Hospitality will rename all of its Cavanaughs hotels on July 1. In Spokane, Cavanaughs Inn at the Park will become the WestCoast Grand at the Park, while Cavanaughs River Inn will be called the WestCoast River Inn.