TravelBizBuzz

If you’re looking to go global with your travel company, try checking out your next-door neighbors first -- there could be a hungry market in your own backyard.

Cheapflights announced April 23 that it has launched a Canada site (www.cheapflights.ca) -- and that so far, no other major travel search provider has set up camp in the country.

So why has the Canadian flight search market been left untapped for so long? Does the country not have a market for the product? The answer is quite the contrary, Cheapflights’ vice chairman and head of international, Hugo Burge told me in an interview. “Agreed—Canada isn’t the biggest market on the planet, but having said that, it is a significant market, and we believe it’s underserved.”

The potential: The original bare-bones Cheapflights holding site in Canada “already receives more than 100,000 visitors every month,” according to a press release. In addition, the U.S. Web site, Cheapflights.com, receives a significant number of Canadian visitors searching for Canadian departures.

With that in mind, Cheapflights hopes to round up the customers looking for Canada-based flights. But the company isn’t going all-out just yet, Burge says, dubbing this move a “light launch” that includes basic features such as a multi booking engine, some hand-picked deals and flight tips. “We have a lot of things to learn about the visitors in the Canadian market, and we want to develop the business relationships.”

But “so far, so good,” Burge says. The company believes a strong demand exists for cheap flights in Canada, as the country has historically seen a “very competitive market with charter flights, low-cost airlines and price discounting.” And Canada’s high penetration in internet (19 million+ users) and broadband (59 percent of the population), according to the press release, is in Cheapflights’ favor as well.

Next step: The company sees its Canada launch as another step toward going global within the next five years, Burge said.

--Lindsey Rushmore, Editor-In-Chief, Travel Distribution Report--

Posted by TDR at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

One headline that caught my eye at the end of last week was from an April 12 Portaga Inc. press release, which posed a hefty dare to the big dogs, Orbitz, Expedia and Travelocity.

The challenge: We’re dropping our booking fees for the unmanaged business traveler -- can you? Portaga boasted.

The company made this statement just a little more than a week after it unveiled TripSync, a free desktop travel-planning tool linked with Microsoft Outlook for the unmanaged business traveler.

Portaga’s message strongly suggests that this differentiating factor could create a market shift. It claims the unmanaged business travel market, which rakes in a whopping $9.2 billion per year, could realize “staggering” cost savings by eliminating the fees ranging from $5-$10 per booking.

Watch for: Although Portaga has challenged the big guys to drop their booking fees, the real challenge will be to see if unmanaged business travelers discover enough savings to make the tool worthwhile.

I checked out the tool, and I wonder if unmanaged business travelers like myself would take the extra time to download this tool simply to save their company five bucks on a flight -- especially when they could go elsewhere, like a metasearch engine, and find a lower ticket price by say, $30.

Also, if the fees will be waived “indefinitely,” does that mean they have the chance of coming back? The unmanaged business traveler would have to take that chance.

I’ll be interested to see the big online travel agencies’ reactions if Portaga’s tactic works well. Will they drop their booking fees too? Lower them, or use them as marketing leverage? Tell me what you think.

--Lindsey Rushmore, Editor-In-Chief, Travel Distribution Report--

Posted by TDR at 09:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was pleased to see that American Airlines introduced a Web site (www.AA.com/women) that reaches out to the female traveler. I did a quick acid test as a traveling female myself, and the site exceeded my expectations. It featuring lots of female-focused travel tips dealing with safety, wellness, fashionable travel and “girlfriend getaways,” etc.

After exploring, I’ve got two praises and two criticisms for the site:

Praise #1: AA was very smart to put a booking engine front and center on this site. Sure, we females love to feel like someone cares, but we’re smart with our time and are ultimately there to book travel.

Praise #2: AA is also playing smart with partnerships with this new female-friendly venture. Check out the Wyndham Hotels And Resorts ad to the right of the booking engine that offers 20 percent off a hotel stay and a discounted spa package for women that fly AA.

Criticism #1: As warm and fuzzy -- and helpful -- as this site is, I could not navigate to it from the main AA Web site. If the airline wants a lot of women to visit this new site, it should be raising awareness with a banner on its home page. Very few of us will creep to the press release page to read about it, and if there is a link elsewhere, it’s too hard to find.

Criticism #2: As time-crunched as most people today are, I ask myself if women will even have the time to hang out on a site like AA.com/women and both read and submit travel tips. And if they do, will a site like this serve more as a research tool, or will it also help bump up AA conversions?

What are your opinions about AA’s women-centric Web site? Do you think it will fly? Let me know what you think.

--Lindsey Rushmore, Editor-In-Chief, Travel Distribution Report--

Posted by TDR at 03:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Most of the news and commentary I read about travel companies entering international markets is predominantly about India -- and with good reason, as multiple experts and research indicate the country’s growing middle class and discretionary income to spend on travel. (See TDR, Vol. 14, No. 22)

But now that everybody’s aware of the Indian market (and wants a piece of the pie), what’s the next big thing?

Watch for: A couple months back, Timothy O’Neil-Dunne, managing partner for T2Impact, suggested to me in an interview that the Latin American market would start turning peoples’ heads in 2007.

Well it looks like at least one company is taking notice of this market’s potential. Just last week, Wordspan announced (March 26) that Aerolineas Mesoamericanas (a Mexican low-cost carrier, better known as Alma de Mexico) signed a multi-year, full-content agreement with Worldspan. Worldspan customers and business travelers using Worldspan Trip Manager XE, have access to all of Alma de Mexico’s published fares, Web fares and related inventory.

More: Then on April 2, Worldspan announced that GOL Transportes Aereos, a Brazil-based LCC, signed a Limited Connect distribution agreement with the GDS. GOL’s schedules, availability, low fares and booking capabilities will be available to all Worldspan travel agency, corporate and online points of sale worldwide, the GDS said.

Next step: Will other GDSs and travel companies follow? And will Worldspan continue to see promise in this market, signing on more Latin American carriers? More to come in the next issue of TDR.

--Lindsey Rushmore, Editor-In-Chief, Travel Distribution Report--

Posted by TDR at 05:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (529)