TECHNOLOGY company PhoneLink is offering travel agents the technology to have their own bookable Web site featuring the retailer’s negotiated fares.
The company claims it is licensing its Ticket Window software to agents at a fraction of the price it would cost them to have a site designed containing the same content. The start-up price is £4,000 a year.
The booking engine behind each travel agents’ site will use the global distribution system Galileo but PhoneLink hopes to use all the major GDS suppliers within a year.
PhoneLink head of strategy Ian Sinderson said: “What we are offering is different from that of our competitors because our technology will allow travel agents’ sites to be very specific to them. You can’t put the fares you have negotiated or your own content on Travelocity or deckchair.com or Galileo’s Web Traveller and you certainly don’t get your branding on there. You have to set up your own site to do this which may cost many thousands more.”
Ticket Window also provides travel agents with the facility to build a database of travellers’ profiles both within corporations and for independent travellers. The system will provide users with prices in various currencies, making sites more attractive internationally.
The company said the Internet solution will also provide efficiency savings in reservation administration as bookings are processed in under 2mins and the agency can accept reservations 24hrs a day
Ticket Window can be licensed for a three-year minimum period or can be leased on a monthly basis.