Steve Endacott is to be applauded for taking the initiative on waking up the industry to the enormouscost-saving potential of e-mail (Travel Weekly November 29).
I would go further and say it is time for us to collectively decide how we harnesse-commerce to revolutionise our trading relationships.
Granted, some operators, agents and providers are successfully beginning to distribute live inventory direct to the consumer.
But we still have to answer a much bigger question: how should we harness the Internet for industry sales, between agents and operators?
I believe the number of Web sites offering a private industry intranet with commissionable bookings can still be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Yet we all know that the Internet, without its rich content and greater functionality, will undoubtedly be the force to consign viewdata to the industry’s electronic recycle bin.
All we need is a consensus among the leading vertically integrated groups on how to switch to the Web or for one of them to go it alone (Thomson is to be admired for its TOP2 project).
Many operators impressed with Endacott’s advice will now be looking to see how they can use e-mail to reduce costs. But plenty will be frustrated as many tour operator systems don’t offer integral e-mail functionality. At best, e-mail is merely an unconnected add-on.
At TraveLink, we anticipated the way the Internet would change the industry and based our tour operator system on Windows. We have e-mail fully integrated into the bookings process.
This means our customers can create seamless – and much more profitable – trading relationships with agents and providers.
Now we’re taking our system to its natural zenith with the creation of an Internet bookings front-end allowing agents to make commissionable bookings.
E-mail is delivering immediate benefits for companies prepared to invest in modern systems. For those that are stuck with old technology, the longer you leave it, the harder it will be.
To keep pace with other industries, the travel trade must get wise to thee-revolution.
The time to start is now.
David Jones,
managing director,
TraveLink,
Cardiff