TravelBizBuzz

Suppliers that sell directly to consumers are on the rise, but online travel agencies (OTAs) won’t go down without a fight.

In fact, lodging suppliers pose the greatest threat to agencies, according to a Sept. 29 press release from companies eVOC Insights and RelevantView, in reference to their recent study on the subject.

The report, titled “The Battle for Loyalty -- Online Travel Agencies vs. Suppliers” compared the customer experience between OTAs and suppliers (e.g., Expedia vs. Mariott) to identify what factors drive purchase preference and determine whether loyalty exists when travel sites reach price parity.

One finding was that consumers are initially more likely to prefer a direct supplier purchase than one from an OTA; however, the overall purchase intent on leading OTAs outperforms suppliers after consumers experience the sites.

In addition, the study indicated that supplier loyalty programs are a key differentiator. Loyalty members will pay more for hotel accommodations and are twice as likely to return, purchase and recommend as non-loyalty members.

Posted by TDR at 09:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Travelport, which recently spun-off from conglomerate Cendant Corp, is now further narrowing its focus.

The company announced Sept. 27 that it has split into three new divisions: Galileo, Orbitz Worldwide and Gullivers Travel Associates (GTA). The official re-organization will take effect Jan. 1, 2007.

The company also announced that Travelport will decentralize to optimize customer service. “We believe that a decentralized structure, in which operating plans are built around a global customer base, will enable decisions to be made more quickly and easily,” explained Travelport’s CEO and president, Jeff Clarke.

The company has also revamped its leadership structure to manage the Travelport GDS and wholesale travel content businesses on a worldwide basis.

In reference to its Q2 financial results, Travelport reiterated that it has targeted $75 million of run rate savings that it expects to achieve through the reorganization and other actions by the end of 2007.

Posted by TDR at 02:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The proof is in the pudding — or in the case of travel search engines, in the number of unique visitors.

A recent report, generated exclusively for TRB by market research company Compete, Inc., reveals the traffic trends (monthly unique visitor volumes among the U.S. audience) in the travel search (or "meta-search") category. Among players like Mobissimo, Yahoo!’s FareChase and AOL’s PinpointTravel.com (which is powered by Kayak.com), the big news is that “Kayak.com has taken off and left everyone — aside from SideStep — in the dust,” notes Gregory Saks, director of Travel at Compete.

Specifically, Kayak.com, which launched in early 2005, reached the one-million-unique-visitors mark in January 2006, and the two-million mark this summer. The only other site attracting more attention is six-year-old SideStep, which had more than 3.5 million visitors in July.

Plus: Also included in the report is Cheapflights.com, although that site is a bit of a different animal — describing itself as a travel search engine, comparison shopping site, deals publisher and flight aggregator all rolled into one. Nevertheless, “it’s worth noting the large audience they are attracting,” Saks says. This summer, that site racked up a high of 1.4 million unique visitors in a single month.

The report — the details of which can be found in this week's issue of Travel Distribution Report — highlights quarterly trends as well. Remember, “Q4 research activity is generally slow due to seasonal patterns,” notes Saks, which you can see in SideStep’s decline in Q4 2005. However, Kayak.com didn’t demonstrate the same seasonal downturn because “the site was in the middle of a significant surge in activity,” Saks explains.

Meanwhile, FareChase saw a surge in Q4 2005 mainly because Yahoo! was heavily promoting the engine throughout its Travel site, Saks says. “This was not natural/organic traffic, however, and it quickly dried up as soon as Yahoo! pulled back on the promotional activity,” he surmises.

For more news, trends and analysis, subscribe to TDR.

Posted by TDR at 03:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Travel agents can now book VIA Rail Canada’s inventory directly, thanks to the rail provider’s new agreement with AgentWare.

Search and booking technology provider AgentWare announced Sept. 25 that VIA’s inventory will be available through its DirectConnect program.

As part of VIA Rail’s new Web-based distribution strategy, corporate travel customers must use AgentWare’s DirectConnect channel to search and book VIA Rail content in the coming months. The DirectConnect feature will be available immediately to AgentWare customers, such as TRX-powered ResEX and Sabre Holdings’ GetThere program, AgentWare said.

Travel professionals using DirectConnect will gain access to all VIA 1 and Comfort class fares for Canada’s Quebec City to Windsor Corridor and will have the ability to use advanced sorting and filtering tools to plan trips with multiple components, including hotel reservations.

AgentWare specializes in providing travel agents with access to non-GDS product suppliers, such as low-cost airlines, hotels and passenger rail services, as well as enabling the integration of agents’ non-GDS booking technology and back-office functionality with the major GDS systems.

Posted by TDR at 05:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With the fall season comes a surge in group travel, and hotels.com is ready to take full advantage.

The online hotel booking site has added a new “Groups” tab to its homepage to direct groups of travelers to the right spot from the start, according to a Sept. 21 press release.

“Trying to find the right property that will meet the various needs of travelers within a group can be a stressful process, particularly if you are not a frequent traveler and trying to research in your spare time,” said Jack Richards, senior VP of product marketing for hotels.com.

But now customers can work directly with hotel specialists whose sole focus is group travel. For example, specialists are prepared to assist with the requirements ofsports teams and fans, brides and grooms, families, friends and couples, noted Richards.

The system works as such: Travelers interested in reserving nine or more hotel rooms complete an online form. A hotels.com group travel specialist then researches the request and contacts individual hotel properties. Within 24 hours, the group travel specialist will negotiate rates and contact the customer by e-mail or phone to make property recommendations and confirm the reservation.

Posted by TDR at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The luxury travel segment is ripe for online attention, and Forbes.com is seizing the opportunity.

ForbesTraveler.com officially launched yesterday as a standalone luxury travel site, designed “exclusively for the affluent, discerning traveler,” that allows users to plan and book “the world’s most distinctive travel experience,” according to a release.

The site features luxury hotels and resorts only; dining, shopping and other destination activity suggestions from top concierges; trip advice from travel agents, travel writers and CEOs; destination guides; and travel tools, such as Flight Tracker, Frequent Flyer Distance Calculator and Mileage Manager.

ForbesTraveler.com’s booking engine is powered by SideStep.

Forbes.com is optimistic about its venture into luxury travel, a segment that is booming online, the company pointed out: A recent trend report from Guideline Research found that amongst $100,000+ income households, 52 percent of travel spending is done online. Plus, MRI research has found that households that spent $3,000 or more on travel within the last year are more likely to use the Web than any other media (including newspapers, television or magazines).

Posted by TDR at 04:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (317)

Companies that want to incorporate SideStep’s travel search engine into their own Web sites now have new customization options.

As of today, SideStep has made available a new syndication platform, according to a press release.

The platform is “the first of its kind from a travel search engine,” which provides premier partners with customization options that “go far beyond traditionally limited banner changes,” SideStep boasts. The platform incorporates colors, navigation, page configuration and the ability to customize page elements, such as SmartSort defaults and advertising units.

ForbesTraveler.com, a new site also announced today, is the first partner to deploy SideStep’s syndication platform.

Posted by TDR at 05:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Online travel companies with an eye on the European market have the right idea, experts say.

Travel research and strategy firm PhoCusWright, Inc. conducted a study that revealed almost 40 percent of all types of travel purchased in Europe will be booked online by the end of 2008, according to a Sept. 19 press release.

The transaction volume “will more than double the proportion of 2005,” according to preliminary findings, and over the next three years, online corporate bookings will grow at twice the rate of online leisure and unmanaged business travel.

Further, by 2008, one out of every five euros spent on corporate travel will be transacted online, up from one out of every 20 in 2005. Nevertheless, the percentage of leisure and unmanaged business travel booked online will continue to be significantly greater than that of managed corporate travel, PhoCusWright said.

Posted by TDR at 01:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Online travel company Viator just expanded its audience of customers, thanks to a new partnership with Commission Juction.

Pay-for-performance marketing company Commission Junction provides Viator -- distributor of travel add-on products -- access to a global network of online publishers in a variety of retail categories, according to a Sept. 18 press release.

Viator’s new distribution partners include Commission Junction publishers iFly.com, MrRebates.com and Upromise.com.

For example, iFly helps travelers with their overall airport experience. “We felt a partnership with Viator would give our visitors even more utility from their iFly experience, by offering the ability to book items like airport shuttles online,” explained iFly President Anthony Hanseder.

How the partnerships work: Commission Junction publishers apply to the Viator program through the CJ Marketplace, and after Viator reviews publishers’ proposed marketing models, authorized publishers are encouraged to post Viator-produced marketing (banners, text-links, product catalogs, and content links) on their sites.

The revenue stream: If a publisher site’s visitor clicks through to Viator’s Web site and ultimately completes a purchase, the participating Commission Junction publisher earns a commission.

Posted by TDR at 05:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Agents and travelers worldwide now have full access to all of United Airlines’ published fares, schedules and inventory through Expedia.

Expedia announced a five-year strategic partnership with United on Sept. 15 in which United’s content will be available though Expedia.com and its affiliate sites, according to a press release.

United will benefit from Expedia’s online travel expertise, broad reach and targeted merchandising opportunities, and Expedia travelers will have greater access to United’s fares, schedules and inventory.

“This renewed agreement with Expedia enables us to effectively meet our customers travel needs while allowing both of us to achieve our economic goals,” said Jeff Foland, vice president of North America Sales, United Airlines.

Posted by TDR at 03:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ITA Software will be helping Air Canada revamp its reservation management system to be more customer-friendly.

The airline signed an agreement with ITA Software on Sept. 13 to develop a new reservation management system that will upgrade reservations functionality, inventory control with seat availability, and check-in and airport operations modules, said Air Canada.

The complete solution will be deployed in late 2007 across the entire Air Canada network, including reservation call centers and airport locations worldwide. The reservation system presents itself as an application hosted by ITA Software and will simultaneously support the airline’s ongoing participation in the Star Alliance.

“This next generation reservation system will mark an end to airlines’ reliance on legacy systems and processes and the merchandising limitations that result from these archaic technologies,” said Jeremy Wertheimer, ITA Software’s President and CEO.

Posted by TDR at 02:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (40)

Two tech companies have combined their resources to make travel searches more user friendly for their consumers.

As of Sept. 13, personal start page service Netvibes will feature Mobissimo Inc’s travel search engine -- the first travel search engine for Netvibes, according to a press release.

The Mobissimo Netvibes Module allows travelers to search hundreds of different global travel suppliers directly on their Netvibes personal start pages. In addition, Mobissimo will soon give Netvibes users the ability to create personal real-time fare indices of historical and future prices for travel to their favorite destinations.

“Netvibes and Mobissimo audiences are very complementary. Our global users are looking for an easy way to find information quickly,” commented Beatrice Tarka, Mobissimo’s CEO.

The Mobissimo Netvibes Module is currently accessible directly from the Netvibes ecosystem. A link to Netvibes is also available on all Mobissimo’s global Web sites, and users can easily add the Mobissimo module to their Netvibes page.

Posted by TDR at 02:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What are travelers are most looking for? Travel shoppers continue to demonstrate their price consciousness, points out Matt Tatham, media relations manager at competitive intelligence firm Hitwise. His comment is informed by Hitwise data from this summer which reveals that “cheap” shows up at number 6, 11, 14, 18, 19, 22, 23 and 29 out of consumers’ top 30 Internet search phrases.

To take a look at those facts -- and more -- see the latest issue of Travel Distribution Report, which comes out electronically today. Find out the most popular terms typed into a search engine over a four week period that resulted in traffic to travel-related Web sites.

Here's a sneeak peak: Over the four weeks ending Aug. 12, 2006, the most popular search term was “travelocity,” representing 2.79 percent of all search terms that delivered users to Web sites in the “Travel: Agencies” category.

Not a TDR subscriber? You can be. Just click to read a sample issue and join our growing list of loyal readers.

Posted by TDR at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Travel agents that subscribe to Worldspan, L.P, now have a set of new desktop booking tools the GDS promises will be big timesavers.

Worldspan unveiled its Worldspan Go! Car and Hotel Booking products -- described as feature-rich, browser-based and interactive -- Sept 11 at THETRADESHOW.

The Go! Car Booking tool gives agents the option to quickly ‘direct sell’ a car -- or to book and sell car rentals by first shopping availability and information. The program simplifies shopping off-airport car rental locations through a new feature that searches locations by zip code.

The new Go! Hotel Booking tool helps travel agents who are unfamiliar with traditional GDS formats, which are eliminated from the agent’s buying experience and replaced by point-and-click access to Worldspan’s global hotel content and booking functionality, Worldspan explained. The new tool interfaces with the Worldspan global reservations system, ensuring agents receive real-time availability and rate information from hotel suppliers.

Posted by TDR at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (363)

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has taken one step closer to expanding its European operations buy purchasing its first wholly-owned European brand.

In an agreement announced Aug. 31, Royal Caribbean inked a deal to purchase Madrid-based cruise and tour operator, Pullmantur. Royal Caribbean expects the acquisition to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2006, according to a press release.

Pullmantur is the largest cruise operator in Spain with five ships that operate in Europe and Latin America. Its other primary business interest is tour operations, in which the company sells travel packages, including hotel and flight components, primarily to Caribbean resorts and to Europe.

Pullmantur also has a small air business that operates three aircraft.

Royal Caribbean has signed an agreement with the shareholders of Pullmantur to buy all of the capital stock of the company for 430 million euro, plus Pullmantur’s net debt of approximately 270 million euro. As part of the transaction, Pullmantur will be withdrawing from all Cuba-related activities prior to closing.

Posted by TDR at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (52)

KDS, an online business travel management solutions provider now has further global access to independent and chain hotels.

To make this happen, KDS signed an agreement with Pegaus Solutions Inc. to use its UltraDirect electronic distribution service, according to a Sept. 6 press release.

Now KDS users have direct access to more than 60,000 independent and chain hotels worldwide, with instant venue information, such as rates, availability, reservations and inventory. UltraDirect will give KDS customers complete control of the booking experience, making it easy to integrate other business traveler services, such as car, flight and train reservations.

Because UltraDirect works compatibly with virtually any programming language and Web infrastructure, KDS may also customize the program’s front-end interface to meet its customers’ travel needs.

Posted by TDR at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For the first time, travelers have a tool to look up any and all combinations of flights and find flight durations and benchmark ticket prices without having to select dates and times.

That’s the claim of new search engine flightconsultant.com, which is designed to complement online travel agencies and airline sites. “Booking flights is now easier as you know all the routes possible for your flight, how much you should pay in any of four major currencies and how long the journey will take. We have removed the ‘not knowing whether you've chosen the best flight options’ situation,” explained Stuart Kimpton, founder of the site, on its Sept. 5 launch.

Pull-down menus allow users to select their flight itinerary without selecting a specific airport. From the results shown users then narrow down the search by selecting their preferred rewards clubs, airports or airlines.

Site users will first run a search on flightconsultant.com to view all the possible flight combinations and to get an indication of the distance and suggested benchmark ticket cost. They then will follow the links to go to their preferred booking agent or airline to purchase the trip.

Posted by TDR at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BookingBuilder Technologies’ agents now have full access to search and book with G2 Switchwork’s airline partners.

BookingBuilder announced Sept. 1 its full release of G2Agent content within BookingBuilder Desktop.

The Desktop integrates non-GDS content at the travel agent point-of-sale and adds airline content from nine additional carriers including AirTran Airways, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways (and America West Airlines), BookingBuilder explained.

BookingBuilder and GDS alternative G2 SwitchWorks have been testing integration since August.

Travel Planners, Inc, a beta test agency, has had success with the upgrade. “The partnership between BookingBuilder and G2 provides an efficient and easy way for our agents to get access to this content. These are two great products that have come together to help our agents and reduce our operational costs,” said Garet Roberson of Travel Planners.

Posted by TDR at 01:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Amidst the intense drama between the airlines and GDSs this year, American Airlines and Sabre Holdings have inked a five-year deal.

Neither company disclosed the terms, but the new distribution agreement establishes Sabre Travel Network’s Efficient Access Solution (EAS) as a competitive distribution channel for American Airlines ticket sales, according to a Sept. 1 press release.

With American as a Sabre EAS carrier, travel agencies who participate in Sabre’s program can now shop, price and book travel on American Airlines without facing a booking source premium charge.

Likewise, the agreement provides for full American Airlines content in the Sabre GDS's EAS program with no booking source premium for agencies participating in the program, American Airlines said.

Posted by TDR at 03:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Travel Meta Search Pte Ltd (TMS) has received €8 million ($10.2 million) in financing from France’s Sofinnova Partners and Walden International to jumpstart its new site.

TMS is a new generation metasearch engine geared toward the European and Asian populations to help them find price-competitive airline tickets, hotel rooms, car rentals, holiday packages, cruises and vacation rentals on one Web site.

TMS will allow users to search major airlines, online travel agencies, travel wholesalers and low-cost airlines to compare all the market fares in Asia and Europe.

“Vertical search and the immediate move to Asia with a strong technology platform developed both in France and Singapore make this investment in TMS a unique opportunity to establish an exciting, fast-growing venture,” said Olivier Protard, managing partner at Sofinnova Partners, which initiated the financing project. “The addition of Walden International, a strong Asian venture capital fund, to the syndicate reinforces our belief that we can make TMS the world’s leading travel search engine.”

The merger of Singapore’s Fare.net and France’s Coelis spurred the formation of this new search engine.

Posted by TDR at 02:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)