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The Market: Online travel is the largest and most successful e-commerce category on the Web and continues to be a bright spot within an otherwise depressed travel industry. But simply tracking the growth of the online giants such as Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz, misses the true impact of the underlying technological change brought to the market by these suppliers and distributors. Online travel is causing a major restructuring for all travel market segments. The lines are blurring between online, traditional offline and corporate agencies as the online segment creates and deploys technology to capture additional market share.
Travel Tech Consulting, Inc. focuses on emerging Internet technologies that are at the heart of the continued growth and success of the online travel segment:
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Emerging Technologies:
- Personalization
Engines -The Web is all about getting what you want when you want it. Amazon.com's famed collaborative filtering and "one click" purchasing technology is a shining example of personalization used to enhance the e-commerce experience. Personalization software and techniques will continue to expand as the online travel market pushes the entire industry to develop a more "one-to-one" approach to travel marketing.
- Merchandizing
Systems -One of the most successful growth areas on the Web is the use of technology to merchandize products. This ability to "mark-up" negotiated inventory protects profit margins and allows basic packaging of travel components. Online merchandisers such as Expedia and Hotels.com are leading the industry in this new business model.
- Dynamic Packaging -The complex leisure travel market represents $70 billion plus opportunities each in North America and Europe. Dynamic packaging can be defined as the combining of different travel components, bundled and priced in real time at the point of sale in response to the requests of the consumer or booking agent. The packaging process is controlled by business rules. True dynamic packaging means that each selection made by the consumer shapes the response of the packaging system, the behavior of the component products, and the final price and component set of the package. The race is on to build a true dynamic packaging system and the online market is leading this effort.
- Web services and
Interoperability -The travel industry has always been plagued by disparate, closed systems and networks that do not communicate and share information. This lack of connectivity leads to "one-off" integration solutions that
simply upload and download information between
system in a batch
mode. The term Web services describes a standardized way of integrating Web-based applications using the XML, SOAP, WSDL and UDDI open standards over an Internet protocol backbone. Web services allow organizations to communicate data without intimate knowledge of each other's IT systems. In the U.S. the Open Travel Alliance (OTA) has published XML schemas to create and implement industry-wide, open e-business specifications. Expedia's purchase of Newtrade Technologies for hotel connectivity and Orbitz's Supplier Link technology are examples of new ways to connect trading partner systems using Web-based interoperability solutions.
- Content Management -
Unstructured content is at the root of
the problem of
accessing information over the Web. Some may think of the Internet as one huge database of information that can be captured through search tools, but in reality much of the Web is in unstructured formats that make it difficult to collect information dynamically. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is working to develop the Semantic Web, the abstract representation of data on the World Wide Web, based on the specific defined standards. The Semantic Web will be an extension of the current Web, but information will be given well-defined meaning, better enabling computers and people to work in cooperation. The European Harmonise Project
is a travel industry
initiative to bring
common meaning to travel content
enabling
interoperability between systems.
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems - Over the past few
years CRM has become a standard term within technology and travel fields, but few sites have actually implemented a comprehensive CRM
strategy. To provide a common experience at all touch points, a new framework is needed for both the online booking engine and call center agent.
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Consulting Services Focus:
- Web-based software developers
- Online travel agents
- Travel suppliers
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Travel Tech Consulting, Inc. can help you procure, design or market:
- Personalization technology
- Merchandising systems
- Dynamic packaging technologies
- Multi-source booking engines and Web
search technology
- Content management software
- Systems for connectivity and interoperability with key trading partners
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Client Profiles
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Now
Available!
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Corporate Travel Technology
Today and
Tomorrow
by
Norman L. Rose
Corporate Travel Technology: Today and Tomorrow
is a comprehensive and authoritative study
designed to educate the corporate travel buyer
and manager on current and emerging trends in
corporate travel technology. This report
describes current features and functionality of
various corporate travel applications. It will
also highlight plans for adding Travel 2.0
features,
such as user-generated content and rich Internet
UIs using technologies like AJAX.
Be prepared for the future.
Find answers to questions such as:
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What is Web 2.0/Travel 2.0 and how does it
relate to corporate travel technology?
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What are the general technology trends that
will influence future development in corporate
travel technology?
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What are the specific macro corporate travel
technology trends that are driving product
definition and differentiation?
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What are the unique and emerging trends in
corporate self-booking technology?
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What is the value and evolution of mid-office
quality control software?
-
What are the major trends in corporate travel
business intelligence?
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What are the ranges of costs associated with
corporate travel technology?
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How do you calculate ROI on your travel
management investment?
You’ll benefit from this intelligence.
Corporate Travel Technology: Today and Tomorrow
will help industry executives and other
key decision makers in all segments of the
travel, tourism and hospitality industries to
make informed, strategic business decisions.
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Reduce risk for strategic decisions,
investments and partnerships.
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Gain understanding of key technologies for
better forecasting.
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Benefit from being an early adopter of new
technologies
*Reserve your copy today at the
pre-publication price and save. Tentative publication date is mid-August
2007. This offer expires August 31,
2007.
If you
attended the recent NBTA conference you can
receive an additional $200 discount if you
purchase by August 31st 2007. Contact
norm@traveltechnology.com
for additional information
Pre-Publication Price: US$499.00
Table
of Contents
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