THE ENGLISH Tourism Council is piloting a UK Internet service as part of its plans to increase the number of domestic bookings made by the trade.
The Internet site allows members of the public to search through a list of suppliers, then send an e-mail for more information or to request a booking. The consumer’s details are then sent to one of 26 travel agents taking part in the pilot scheme, who will service the booking and receive 10% commission.
The service also allows travel agents to access information over a secure intranet which they can get into using a password.
The pilot is being led by ABTA, which, along with the ETC and other UK tourist organisations, has set up the National Tourist Boards Task Force to improve sales of British holidays. A training programme for the trade and a consumer-awareness campaign are also planned.
Currently, the Internet service lists only products in the Yorkshire region. The pilot service will be monitored over the next year, and if successful, will be expanded to cover the rest of the UK.
Spicer World Travel joint owner John Spicer is one of the agents taking part in the pilot.”UK agents do not take enoughbookings for domestic products. There is a good market in the UKwhich is untapped by the trade. This is the start of something which could work very well,” he said.