TOUR operator technology supplier Wickets is planning to add a range of new applications to its present system, On-Screen Tour, over the next few months.
Additions will include On-Screen Flight for flight consolidators; On-Screen Retail, for clients with both tour operating and travel agency arms; On-Screen Finance, an accounting system; and On-Screen Web, for publishing and distributing products over the Internet.
Wickets is also developing the technology to launch its clients onto interactive digital TV should they be interested in this new method of distribution.
Director Mike Stump said:”We see it as a major growth area. Direct retail is likely to shift on to digital TV. When we have a client who wants to move that way we will be able to move with them.”
Stump claimed that On-Screen Tour, a Windows-based system, had been designed to cope with very complex demands by tour operators. It is a client server, which combines a huge database capability with a user friendly front end.
“We tested all possible variations of prices, discounts and services,” he said.
One of the company’s clients, which operates holidays to Lapland, had used the system to sell holiday accessories to customers, he said.
Wickets currently has five undisclosed tour operator clients which have customer bases ranging from 3,000 to 60,000 a year. The number of staff users it accommodates ranges from one to 30. However, Stump claims that it is accessible to a maximum of 250 users.
Wickets has approximately four staff based at Byfleet in Surrey. It also has a technology partner, Qubits International, which employs a further 15 staff.