Paul Bamber Birmingham College of Food, Tourism and Creative Studies

Seligo – An example of a successful e-mediary?

Work in Progress

Background Consultancy work for Seligo, 2005\2006 Conversations with Chief Executive of

Seligo David Cockerton Independent tour operator continuing to

be being transformed by the development of online travel sales

Seligo

Supplying inventory for infomediaries www.travelsupermarket.com www.teletext.co.uk

Servicing requests from the leading Uk tour operator

Turnover of over £25 million (Seligo, 2006)

Massive shift to internet booking since 2005

Aims and Objectives To examine Seligo as a case study for

the changing online travel market To critically examine drivers for the growth

in online travel business Can the development of Seligo help to

clarify \ develop the idea of e-mediaries \ online intemediaries ?

Methodology

Preliminary informal discussion David Cockerton, Chief Executive, Seligo Peter Barnsley, Information Systems

Manager, Seligo Undertaking literature review of key

academic and trade sources Semi-structured interviews planned

Definitions of E-mediaries

virtual travel agencies electronic booking systems (usually

web-based) fulfilling the traditional intermediary role of travel agents

online intemediairies (Frew and Daniele (2004)

organizations offering services via a network of virtual channels to stakeholders (Dale, 2003)

Types of e-mediaries

Traditional full service tour operator

Established - Online tour operator

Sites relying on consumer imput eg. Trip advisor

Infomediaries

www.travelsupermarket

Destination DMS

Eg tiscover

Niche site

Eg. Responsible

travel.com

Other collaborative sites eg. Canadianaffair.com

Types of e-mediary

Drivers in accelerating the growth in online bookings - Technological Development

Growth in broadband 73% of UK households

connected now use broadband

14.3 million households (60%) are connected

60% of Uk households now connected

ONS (2006), taken from www.bbc.co.uk

Growth of dynamic packaging capabilities

 Assembling components into a single user generated content

Seemless connection to multiple sources of supply PhoCosWright (2007)

Drivers of growth

Legal ruling, November 2006 – Court of Appeal reaffirmed that components of a trip sold separately but billed together do not necessarily constitute a “package”

Still debate dynamic packaging does need ATOL protection

Increased offerings from leading brands Niche and specialist sites

Blogging and experience sharing

Evidence of a growing consumer confidence

Concluding thoughts

Development of e-mediary networks continuing

On the one hand traditional tour operators fight back

… on the other hand responsive and dynamic companies like Seligo continue to develop and grow in importance

Seligo is an excellent case study Ultimate aim is to suggest a more developed

definition of e-mediary using Seligo as an example