Worst decline in the history of international arrivals for the UnitedStates. From: U..S. International Trade Administration, Feburary 6, 2002The Office of Travel and Tourism Industries (OTTI) would like to sharewith you a brief analysis on the September, and January-September 2001arrivals to the United States. This data illustrates the dramatic impactthat the acts of terrorism have had on international arrivals to thiscountry. You will see that international arrivals to the United States inSeptember were down by almost 30 percent when compared to September2000. This was the largest single monthly decline in the history of theUnited States. Total international arrivals for 2001 are projected todecline by nearly 13 percent and international traveler spending willdecrease by 11 percent, for a loss of $9.2 billion in 2001.To see a detailed analysis, please go to:PROJECTIONS ON INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL TO THE US IN 2001:
The U.S. Tourism Industries projects that international travel to the US will equal 52.9 million travelers, resulting in almost $116 billion in the American economy. This increase would be a 5% increase over 2000. Top destinations visited by international travelers were California, Florida, New York, Hawaii and Nevada. The top cities visited were: New York, LA, Orlando, Miami, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Honolulu. See http://tinet.ita.gov/outreachpages/index.html.
Outbound Tourism From USA Sets Record In 2000
The International Trade Administration conducts in-flight surveys of U.S. resident travel to overseas destinations. In July 2001 the agency released findings showing that there were a record 26.9 million resident travelers going overseas, an increase of 9 percent over 1999. Top destinations for U.S. travelers were the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain. Average length of stay for U.S. travelers was 15 nights. Over 77% visited more than 1 country. The average total expenditure outside the U.S., excluding airfare, was over $1,300 per person. By contrast, overseas visitors TO the USA spent an average of $300. California and New York were the top states of origin.
U.N. Sustainable Tourism Initiative
A new tour operators initiative has been launched by the UN Environomental Program. You can learn more about this program at: http://www.toinitiative.org. Below is an article by the UNEP Director on these activities.
Our Planet, Special Issue on Tourism, The United Nations
Environment
Programme Magazine for Environmentally Sustainable Development,
Vol. 10, N.1, 1999
By: Mr. Klaus Topfer
United Nations Under-Secretary General
and Executive Director, UNEP
The tourism industry, which includes such diverse activities as transport, accommodation, recreation and catering,
serves more than 613 million people each year, some traveling internationally and many more domestically. With more than 260 million employees, and an annual investment in capital projects of over $800 billion, it ranks as a main sector of the world economy, accounting for nearly 11 per cent of global GDP. And it is growing at an average rate of 4 per cent a year. Given its scale, it is not surprising that tourism's effects on the environment, underestimated in the past, are now receiving attention. Its potential impacts are numerous and varied, and are linked to natural resource consumption, pollution and building.Tourism-generated threats are now felt in many developing countries which lack the technological or financial capacity to handle tourists' resource consumption and waste generation - often far greater than those of the
home population. For example, it has been estimated that each trekking tourist in Nepal burns about 6 kilograms of wood per day in a country already desperately short of fuel; a big hotel in Cairo uses the same amount of electricity in a year as 3,600 middle-income Egyptian households; while in the Caribbean, tourist demand for seafood is considered the prime cause of increasing pressure on the lobster and conch populations. The use of 'natural' construction materials also often puts scarce resources at risk. Around the world a number of sites, including protected areas, have already been spoiled by the development of nature-based tourism, with damaging
consequences for biodiversity.Tourist activities also generate pollution: discharge of untreated sewage into the sea or rivers, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions from transport, and solid wastes - for example it is estimated that the cruise ships
in the Caribbean alone produce more than 70,000 tonnes of waste per year. Physical development of tourist facilities and infrastructures also impacts the environment. For example, three-quarters of the sand dunes on the Mediterranean coastline between Spain and Sicily have disappeared, mainly as a result of urbanization linked to tourist development.The people who profit from tourism are not always those who have to bear its costs. Tourists can disturb
the ways of life and social structures of local communities while increasing the cost for local governments of building and maintaining the facilities, such as sewage treatment plants and roads, necessary to cater for large numbers of visitors.Putting tourism on a sustainable path is a major challenge, requiring partnership and cooperation within
the tourism industry, and between the industry, governments and tourists themselves.Individual companies can take the lead in showing how self-regulation can work by taking voluntary action to
reduce pollution, initiating and abiding by codes of practice, and by educating. Likewise, industry associations must continue to develop, promote and adopt codes of conduct and good practice, environmental management and reporting systems, and provide their members with the information necessary to implement them.The role of governments is equally important. Only they can provide the strategic planning base for tourism
which is so clearly needed. Only governments can ensure that valuable and fragile habitats are identified, that baseline studies and monitoring are carried out, and that overall infrastructure needs and implications are assessed. And only they can establish emissions standards and siting and design requirements, and ensure that they are enforced. Wherever possible environmental impact assessments should be carried out, with studies on
carrying capacity and limits of acceptable change used to define the number of tourists a site can accommodate.
And tourists themselves must become more aware of the environmental implications of their holidays. Many non-governmental organizations have already made significant steps in modifying consumers' preferences and behavior through awareness and education programmes, but more remains to be done.
To catalyze appropriate action UNEP, jointly with other international organizations, and in particular
the World Tourism Organization and UNESCO, is promoting the definition and development of sustainable tourism through the publication of guidelines and handbooks, the exchange of successful experiences and the support of demonstration projects. UNEP has also put forward principles for the implementation
of sustainable tourism, designed to provide a coherent framework for the various conventions governing the industry and to assist all stakeholders to apply sustainable practices.
No-one can question the need for tourism - its benefits to individuals as well as to national and regional
economies are clear. Nor would anyone in government or the industry question the need to protect the environmental systems which support it. The challenge, however, is to develop tourism
while protecting the environment
1998 U.S. RESIDENT OVERSEAS TRAVEL STATISTICS (11/17/99)
The U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration (ITA) has released the 1998 In-Flight Survey data on U.S. Resident Travel to Overseas Destinations (National report). This report will provide the travel and tourism marketer and planner with in-depth profiles of the U.S. outbound traveler. Information is available for top states, cities, world regions and key other traveler characteristics. There are a total of 48 different banner headings available with 32 tables containing the responses of U.S. travelers. If the hard copy National report does not meet your needs, data for custom reports are also available.
Highlights from the 1998 survey data of U.S. Outbound travelers include:
In 1998, there were 23.1 million U.S. resident travelers going to overseas destinations, averaging 3.3 trips in the past twelve months. By market share, the top overseas countries visited in 1998 were: 1. United Kingdom (16%); 2. France (10%); 3. Germany (8%); 4. Italy (8%); 5. Jamaica (7%). From the report, national tourism offices, airlines and consultants can learn what states and cities generated visitors to over 60 countries around the world.
The top cities of origin (or the residence) for U.S. travelers to overseas destinations in 1998 were: 1. New York City (10%); 2. Washington, DC (5%); 3. Los Angeles (5%); 4. Miami (4%); 5. Chicago (3%); 6. San Francisco (3%); and 7. Boston (3%). From the report, travel agents, national tourism offices and airlines can also learn how these travelers plan their trips, what they do, where they go, how much they spend, and other key traveler characteristics.
If you review the differences between the cities of residence and airports used by U.S. residents, you will see the drawing power (or catchment areas) of the international hubs in the United States. As a port authority, learn more about the U.S. citizens using your airport. In 1998, the top ports-of-re-entry for U.S. outbound travel to overseas destinations were: 1. New York City (20%); 2. Miami (11%); 3. Los Angeles (10%); 4. San Francisco (9%); 5. Chicago (8%); 6. Washington Dulles (6%); 7. Boston (4%); and 8. Atlanta (4%).
For airlines trying to determine why travelers choose a particular airline, TI has asked the traveler to provide us with their top three factors for airline choice. They were: 1. Convenient Schedule (42%); 2. Airfare (37%); 3. Mile Bonus/Frequent Flier Program (32%); 4. Non-Stop Flight (31%); 5. Previous Good Experience (26%). When asked to list their main reason, airfare ranked number one (24%). Obviously, business/convention travelers responses for their main factor (Convenient schedule - 25%) would vary from the replies of those taking a "vacation/visit friends and relatives" trip (airfare - 29%).
21 Issues & Trends That Will Shape Travel and Tourism
In the 21st Century
Presented By: William Hastings, Pacific Asia Travel Association
Presented To: Hospitality Management Symposium, San Francisco State University,
March 10, 1999
The travel and tourism buzzword of the 21st century will be the search for balance. The identification, maintenance and management of this threshold of balance will be the single most important requirement for the tourism industry of the 21st century. Those companies,
institutions and destinations that perform the balancing act well will attain that elusive goal of sustainable development. Those that don't, or won't, will be trapped forever in vicious boom and bust cycles.
This balancing act will manifest itself strongly as the following 21 critical issues and trends play out throughout the travel and tourism industry in the 21st century. The 21 items were identified in research conducted at the November 1998 World Travel Market in London and are being reproduced here for the benefit of PATA members:
Economic impact and leakage from tourism:
Set to become probably the most significant hot-potato issue in the early 21st century.
Asian governments will be seeking to maximize that economic impact by first keeping more
earnings at home and after that, within the region. That will run up against the increased advances of global multinational groups which will be sending more and more money out in the form of franchise, distribution, management fees and various other forms of earnings.
Expect universities, local research think tanks and regional groupings like the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for the Asia and the Pacific to focus intensively on this subject.
Extension of U.S. influence throughout the travel and tourism industry:
The most visible signs of U.S. presence are movies, fast-food chains, hotels,
airlines, theme-parks, credit card companies, media and Internet distribution technology. Over the next two years, these prominent signs of U.S. presence will grow throughout the Pacific Asia through equity deals, management and franchise contracts. As tourism is a high-profile industry, the response from local communities could well be unpredictable, especially in places where such images are not popular.
Impact of globalization:
Related to the above but impacting on other issues like environmental and consumer protection regulations, changes in currency (such as the recent implementation of the Euro) and aviation policies. While liberalization of bureaucratic trade practices will continue, PATA region NTOs will be under pressure to show that they are not being dictated to by outside powers nor giving more than they are getting. Greater liberalization of visas, border control formalities and investment opportunities. Several major regional caucuses like the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation and ASEAN have this triumvirate of issues on their agendas in view of the recognition that they are major impediments to flow of people and goods. Step by step, these barriers will fall as countries adjust to the new realities. However, it is critically important to ensure that the countries are encouraged, not pushed, to make the changes.
Taxation:
Countries, states and even cities that give tax breaks to the tourism industry are advertising it as a promotional tool. In many countries, there is a tendency to do the opposite, i.e. to tax travel
and tourism because visitors don't vote. That is a fallacy; visitors vote with their feet. They go elsewhere. Monitoring mechanisms like the WTTC's Tax Barometer are keeping a watch on these tax increases in the form of a performance score-card. In the latest barometer,
released at WTM, Asian destinations hit by currency evaluations did not fare well, mainly because they had to adjust various airport taxes in line with the extent of the devaluation.
Social issues:
The hardest work for the industry lies in convincing its constituents that it is not an industry by the rich for the rich. In many parts of Asia, luxury hotels are still an incongruous embarrassment in the midst of surrounding poverty. Either ostentation will have to be replaced by modesty or the industry will have to work harder at explaining why it is paying housekeepers as much as it charges guests for 20 cups of coffee. Non-governmental organizations still blaming travel and tourism for abetting the problem of child prostitution, even though the industry is working very hard to combat it.
Employment:
As the industry gains greater respectability and recognition, it will attract more than its fair share of qualified young people seeking to see the world and enjoy the sights and sounds they are exposed to over the Internet. Mobility will increase as Internet web sites allow people to
find work in different parts of the world. There will be great demand for people with language skills and ability to work in different cultures. Safety concerns, crime and political problems, including
terrorism, will dominate agendas. In 1998, many PATA destinations suffered from such problems, leading to a marked increase in visitor arrivals in places free of them. Some countries, including a few within the PATA region, capitalized on the woes of their competitors to stress their political and economic safety in an attempt to regain market share. The struggle to come up with effective crisis management scenarios for the tourism industry continues.
Influence of organized crime:
There is growing evidence that the cash-rich status of the industry is a convenient channel for global money- laundering rackets, especially through casinos, real estate deals and purchases of luxury items. This is attracting the interest of law enforcement officers and will be the subject of many a media scandal as prominent investors are identified as potential suspects.
Technology:
It is now all but accepted that travel agents are going to become just a regular part of
the distribution equation and will have to earn their keep based on their productivity for a supplier. New multi-channel strategies being announced by airlines, and soon to be followed by hotels, will involve distributing their products through the Internet, direct sales, frequent flyer databases, corporate suppliers and agents. As one European airline said in announcing the new strategy, "In a world where 100 percent of our frequent travelers have a cellular telephone, 85 percent have a PC and over 50 percent are surfing the Internet a number of times each week, we must adapt our distribution to these new conditions." Expect to see more Internet auctions of everything from hotel rooms to advertising. Microsoft Expedia has now expanded to Europe. Asia will be next.
Environmental issues:
The travel industry has clearly got the message that a strong environmental ethic is at the heart of its survival. Hotel chains, airlines and tour operators are responding energetically to calls for the industry to protect the long-term viability of its lifeline. Travel and tourism's main problem will be the environmental impact of other polluting industries in the neighborhood.
Airlines and aviation:
The global power of the airline alliances will begin to manifest itself, parlaying into code-sharing, joint purchasing, database marketing and more alliances of the smaller airlines of Asia.
While traffic will take time to recover, capacity has also been reduced due to the huge number of deferred aircraft orders. Airlines are in a heavier cost-cutting mood than ever before. The best that the industry can hope for is that those airlines which cut routes in 1997/98 will reinstate them this year. No new destinations are expected to be added. Privatization of both airports and airlines will continue. Across-the-board alliances between the public and private sectors, as well as amongst them. As access to databases becomes critical, and direct marketing becomes the rage, these alliances will drive the industry as all participants in it seek to attain the highest common denominator.
Links between tourism and supportive industries:
One interesting trend is the growing link between tourism and its associate/supportive industries such as agriculture, textiles, gems and jewelry, retailing and even arts/culture. Expect to see greater realization that a product sold to a tourist is as good as a product exported.
Hotels:
Asian hotels can brace for major take-overs and expansion efforts by the brand-name U.S.-owned chains, especially franchise operators whose offers will be difficult to resist or refuse. As branding gains strength, the unbranded may find themselves increasingly isolated. Branded hotels will receive the backing of marketing and networking power. In the U.S., some branded hotels are also receiving low-interest or no-interest loans to help them with renovations. But terms and conditions are strict.
Cruise and marine tourism:
Will take off in a big way throughout the rivers, seas and oceans of Asia. But major
upgrading of standards and improved facilitation will be necessary if Asia is to compete against Europe and the Caribbean and Hawaii. In the U.K., British Waterways conducted research on how people escape from stress and found that over a quarter of a million people will take a
canal boat holiday in the U.K. in 1998 and that canal boating is twice as popular as a day at an amusement park and just as attractive as a weekend at the seaside. Said one executive, "Certainly one of the fastest ways of slowing down."
Trade shows:
The clutter of international trade shows will continue but break up into smaller niche-market shows focusing on both countries and product category. This will open up opportunities for buyers to specialize in various segments but also run the risk of putting their eggs in one basket. In 1999, Hong Kong will host a new Asia-wide trade show backed by the organizers of ITB Berlin. Reed Travel Exhibitions, organizers of the PATA Travel Mart and the World Travel Market, will organize the first global golf show Greater focus on regional promotions: To stretch their promotional dollars, groupings such as the South Pacific and Indian Ocean islands, Mekong region countries, African states and others will be stepping up pooling of resources to undertake joint marketing and research efforts. At the WTM, groupings like Caribbean Tourism had a prominent profile, especially as they were seeking to regain market share of the devastating hurricanes of the previous September and November. Other banners are also emerging, such as the Silk Road.
Emergence of the Middle East:
Likely to start running out of oil over the next 20 to 30 years, and with no other resources to sell, many Middle East countries are gradually turning to tourism, capitalizing on their historic cultures and Islamic traditions. One major U.K. tour operator announced the start of the first tours to Saudi Arabia. Dubai is as usual at the forefront and will play a prominent role in guiding the tourism destinies of other Gulf countries. Growth in religious tourism: The publicity and promotion of the Bethlehem 2000 project to commemorate the birth of Christ is expected to be the major catalyst for a revival in religious tourism globally. Areas such as the Buddhist circuit in India and major religious icons like Angkor Wat are only some of the thousands of significant religious spots throughout the Pacific Asia region that could benefit. Holiday patterns, too, are heading in that direction. Holidays were once purely recreational but in the last 10 years have moved into physical and mental rejuvenation. Spiritual rejuvenation is quite likely to be next.
Holiday trends:
A recent study undertaken by the World Tourism Organization on the impact of global economic changes on employment and holiday-taking patterns concluded that there would be a trend towards more and shorter holidays against fewer and longer holidays, mainly due to time constraints and job insecurities. Though labor laws and working conditions in many countries are moving towards giving more free time, corporate downsizing is leading many executives to work overtime anyway, mostly at home. Emergence of secondary cities, both as source markets and destinations. So far, most of the world's tourists have originated in the major cities and
headed for the major cities, usually as an initial stopping off point en route to somewhere else. However, worldwide, there are hundreds of state and provincial capitals with sizeable populations, all seeking to get a piece of the action. As these cities emerge from the
backwaters, increasing airline and transportation links will help them become inbound/outbound markets in their own right.
Boom and Bust
Certain sectors of the travel and tourism industry are acutely subject to a phenomenon often referred to as the "boom and bust" cycle. The accommodation sector in particular is very susceptible to this condition, which holds that once demand (for, say, rooms in this instance) begins to approach saturation of existing stock, new accommodations will be constructed and opened in an effort to satisfy that demand. This release of additional stock onto the market is
almost always well in excess of immediate demand requirements and the short-term effect is for each accommodation provider to experience a loss in occupancy rates (and sometimes revenues as the battle for market share intensifies). It is simply a condition of supply and demand. Given demand for a product/service and limited supply, the price (and hence yield and profitability) increases. When supply exceeds demand however, the reverse holds true and the suppliers of
those products/services begin to feel the effects of reduced prices and profitability. Overall growth can certainly continue but in a cyclical manner - the boom and bust wave.
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TIA Report Says Online Travel Revenue Triples in 1997,
Sales To Increase 440% To $4.7 Billion In Year 2000
WASHINGTON -- Travel products booked over the Internet will grow enormously over the next five years as competition in the market heats up and millions of new consumers discover the joys of booking travel online, says a new report released by the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA).
The report, Travel & Interactive Technology: A Five Year Outlook, is based on research conducted for TIA by Jupiter Communications, a New York-based new media research firm. Jupiter found that Internet users booked $276
million in travel on-line in 1996 including air travel, hotel rooms, car rentals, packaged vacations and other travel products. In 1997, there sales tripled to $827 million, and by the year 2000 the size of the online travel
industry will top $4.7 billion and it will reach $8.9 billion in the year 2002 (see chart) .
"Clearly the web is revolutionizing the way that consumers plan and buy their travel," said William S. Norman, TIA president and CEO. "This medium can supply consumers with unprecedented amounts of travel information and
images, while simultaneously serving as a electronic storefront. We expect that the web will become an exciting new marketing and distribution medium for the entire spectrum of the travel industry, from major airlines and
hotels, to restaurants, tour companies and emerging businesses that are just entering our industry."
Use of the Internet has been primarily a U.S. phenomenon. According to report, there are now approximately 28.7 million U.S. households were on-line. Nevertheless, the number of online households in certain European
and Asia/Pacific Rim markets will grow faster relative to the U.S. market. By the year 2000, North America will continue to lead with 60.4 million online-households. Europe is projected to have 36.6 million and Asia/Pacific
Rim 16.6 million households on-line.
The report, which is based on proprietary research models and in-depth interviews with companies and organizations in all segments of the travel industry, says on-line travel booking will fulfill its promise of explosive
revenue growth as credit card transactions made over the Internet become more secure. Internet travel will also benefit as consumers become comfortable purchasing over the Internet and begin using new electronic
payment systems, such as smart cards.
In addition, increasing competition among online travel sites will increase awareness and draw more consumers to the market. While traditional travel agents will feel the pinch from online competition, the report said that a
large segment of travelers will continue to seek out the human interaction that comes from purchasing through an agent.
The report, which only covers leisure travel and unmanaged business travel, found that Internet travel is currently dominated by six mega-travel websites that account for 40 percent of the travel-related sites, but
generate 75 percent of the Internet revenue in the travel industry. This situation is likely to change slightly as new sites come on line and existing sites redouble their marketing efforts, but the bulk of revenues
will continue to be dominated by a handful of sites.
DETAILS OF THE REPORT
* Online is emerging as a unique marketing environment in which traditional advertising and direct marketing merge. These two activities will generate $7.7 billion and $1.3 billion in revenue in the U.S., respectively, by 2002.
* Travel is the number one spending segment for the online consumer market. This is driven by a combination of a high price point and relative frequency of purchases. Travel purchases will continue to grow dramatically in the next few years, making this product segment likely to remain the number one category in online consumer spending through
the year 2002.
* A wide range of travel sites are now generating online revenues. A few of these fall into the emergent category Jupiter refers to as "full-service mega sites". These sites provide a booking engine to one or more computer reservation systems that allow booking of air, lodging and car rental, and travel-content from one or more sources. These sites have become high-profile destination sites in their own right and are now responsible for most of the revenue being produced.
* The migration of traditional travel agencies online is a major shift in the travel industry. It will more quickly affect corporate business travel as larger agencies are paying more attention to these customers in their traditional channels as well.
* Airline tickets accounted for nearly 90 percent of all online travel sales, generating $243 million in revenue in 1996, but by the year 2002, the proportion of airline tickets purchased online is expected to drop to 73 percent of all online travel sales, accounting for $6.5 billion.
* Non-airline sales, mostly hotel and car rental bookings, are expected to grow from $31 million in 1996, to $2.2 billion in the year 2002. Online advertising on travel websites is expected to grow from $2 million in 1996, to $282 million in 2002, and will be the third leading source of revenue for travel-related websites.
* In addition, the report also found that airlines, hotels and other travel-related businesses, will see a significant increase in the volume of direct bookings made by online users. Direct sales by suppliers will grow from 22 percent in 1997 to 30 percent of total online sales in 2002. The leading incentive for suppliers to develop websites is to have a direct link to consumers and avoid the commissions paid to travel agents.
* In 1996, less than one percent of all airline ticket revenue came from on-line source By the year 2000, this percentage is expected to reach 5.1 percent and will climb to 8.2 percent in 2002. Airline tickets will
continue to be the leading travel-related product purchased over the Internet.
TIA is the national, non-profit organization representing all components of the $473 billion travel industry. TIA's mission is to represent the whole of the U.S. travel industry to promote and facilitate increased travel to and within the United States.
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Travel Industry Association of America
1100 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 450, Washington, DC 20005-3934
202-408-8422, Fax 202-408-1255
2/21/98
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United States Travel Agent Registry Contact: Bruce Bishins, CTC
511 Avenue of the Americas Tel: 212-255-3100
New York, NY 10011-8436 USA Fax: 212-645-7374
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3/2/98
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*** USTAR Applauds Continental Airlines' Plan to Implement CRS Bypass
Options ***
** Increased Agent Commissions Validate GENESIS' CRS Alternative **
New York, 28 February 1998: USTAR vigorously applauded today the
announcement by Continental Airlines to develop and implement system
options to completely bypass the legacy Computer Reservation Systems (CRS) environment and
to reward
travel agents for using these new booking alternatives.
"Continental's decision affirms what we've been saying for over two years:
CRS arrogance and greed will sooner or later drive a wedge between
themselves and both their users: travel agents and airlines. It was only a
matter of time that CRSs would cross the line and gouge just a bit too
much", said USTAR President and CEO Bruce Bishins, referring to
Continental's move to withdraw e-ticketing from Apollo users. The
withdrawal from Apollo follows Galileo's announcement to charge carriers
extra fees for e-ticket transactions generated via the CRS. Shortly
thereafter, US Airways also announced e-ticketing withdrawal from Apollo
effective 25 May 1998.
According to Steve Cossette, Continental's Vice President of Distribution
Planning, the move by Apollo to levy additional fees was the "straw that
broke the camel's back", and in addition to withdrawing its e-ticketing
functionality, moved the carrier to plan an array of CRS-bypass systems for
travel agents.
Cossette indicated that Continental's CRS costs were substantially over
$100 million annually and that the carrier was close to paying more in CRS
fees than in travel agent commissions. The carrier also announced that it
will reward travel agents by significantly increasing their commissions,
paying 50% of any CRS fee savings, if agents support the alternative
booking options.
"This is absolute and unequivocal validation of the GENESIS strategy. We
have repeatedly told travel agents that carrier fee savings via CRS
alternatives like GENESIS' not-for-profit platform would eventually be
shared with agents through increased commissions. We applaud Mr. Cossette
for 'telling it like it really is' and being the first airline executive to
make good on the industry's promise to take visible and meaningful measures
to challenge CRS gluttony", said Bishins.
Bishins went on to say that some of Continental's options include
settlement outside of ARC. He noted that Cossette's positive comments that
these transactions "would bypass ARC" is a very encouraging sign that
airlines are beginning to recognize the importance of data privacy to
travel agencies. GENESIS has, among its prime components, a complete array
of data privacy functions, allowing travel agency subscribers the ability
to determine what if any aggregate sales data will be transmitted to
suppliers.
USTAR will step-up its ongoing talks with carriers in light of
Continental's announcement. USTAR wants to assure that carriers have a
complete and full understanding as to how the GENESIS CRS alternative will
provide carriers with the savings they clearly want, and why carrier
support for GENESIS will guarantee that they get them.
GENESIS is a comprehensive alternative to the legacy CRS environment and
centers around a travel agency initiated, not-for-profit point-of-sale
system incorporating reservations, ticketing, and supplier settlement. The
GENESIS platform is being implemented by USTAR and CSTAR (Canadian Standard
Travel Agent Registry) and has the full support of ASTA (American Society
of Travel Agents) and ARTA (Association of Retail Travel Agents).