web impact in india

8/8/2019 Web Impact in India

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Imagine if a soothsayer had predicted the future oftravel distribution in India

Twenty years ago

Sachin Pabreja 10 th january 2010

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These days running a hospitality business is tough. Guests are getting choosy. Agents are

demanding more. Markets are extremely volatile. Timelines are short. Maximizing yourrevPAR these days is all about getting an optimum mix by delicately fine-tuning your pricingand inventory allocations across various channels. In such a scenario, having specializedpartners can make the difference. Avenues South Asias largest integrated eCommercecompany and Pegasus - the worlds largest third-party hospitality marketing andreservations provider have partnered to bring you, a single window access to all the majorGDS and Internet Travel Websites (IDS). With pegasus integrated solution, you maintain asingle real time representation of your properties inventory that is accessible through allelectronic channels like the Global Distribution System (GDS), Internet Distribution System

(IDS), your branded hotel websites and your call centre operation. Global DistributionSystem (GDS) The Global Distribution System was created so travel agents worldwide couldkeep track of flight schedules, availability and price, and book travel. Today the GDS, thoughseparate from the internet, is used by travel agents and travel websites to provide travelerswith complete travel packages (travel & tours, hotels bookings to list a few). If leveragedeffectively, this marketing channels unique features can enhance your business in a big way.Our portal seamlessly connects to Sabre, Gailileo, Amadeus and Worldspan through thePegasus Switch. These GDS channels effectively reach 99% of all global travel agents.Internet Distribution System (IDS) An Internet Distribution System is a collection of onlinetravel portals or agencies that have huge member bases and specialize in internet marketingof travel and related services. These One Stop Shops have distinctive features that can beused to drive potential travelers from the world over to your hotel. ResAvenue lists yourhotel inventory on Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, WorldRes, CNN Traveller, ContinentalAirlines, Lastminute.com, Hotwire, Travelweb.com, hotels.com and 2000 other travelwebsites.

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Clarity in pricing structure.

Logical selling strategy.

Avoidance of adhoc rate decisions

Rational and fair pricing within the competitivemarket place, based upon demand

Honesty, integrity and parity of rates offered.

Set the rates that you think are honestly good rates for agiven demand level.

Have the integrity to offer this rate - instead of a higher rateif you think you can get away it

The rates must be available in every channel at parity.

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1.Single Window Interface Achieve all your marketing needs from a single interface i.e.your own branded website, GDS and Internet travel websites.

2. Worldwide Presence - There are 7 dominant third party intermediaries or internetdistribution channels (IDS) online and each of them has thousands of affiliated websites.And when you register on any of these IDS through Pegasus you get registered on theiraffiliated websites.

3. Easy Connectivity The most simple and cost effective hospitality marketing anddistribution solution in the world today.

4. Content Mapper This facility allows you to simultaneously and automatically updateyour content in all sales channels.

5. Automated Travel Agent Commission Payment Service Also automates your onlinereservation and distribution efforts through Pegasus industry leading automated travelagent commission payment service. This service also eliminates manual travel agentcommission processing. And, if you receive an automated travel agent commission claim,access your interface and it will inform you when the commission was paid.

6. Market Reach Online - Effective and easy way to market your hotel on the Internet. It isextensively used by travel agents and is also the most common booking mechanism forconsortia and negotiated corporate rates.

7. Online Distribution Strategy Opening out your inventory to new online distributionchannels is an effective method to capture new market share.

8. Little Maintenance Effort Required The information after changes gets automaticallyreflected into the GDS and IDS (Internet Travel Websites).

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Residence Special : across the chain

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India Distribution Special

Low cost carriers in India are making steady progress towards technology adoption, terming it as imperative development for their business to stay ahead of the growth curve.

Recently, Deccan (Air Deccan) signed a deal with Amadeus, which has a market share in excess of 50% with a penetration level of nearly 20,000 booking agents, to improve itsdistribution network. It has already signed up with Abacus, which marked the first GDS adoption by an airline in the India's LCC market space.

Providing an insight into these deals with GDS, Sagar Rathod, Head Distribution, Deccan said Deccan's partnership with Abacus is an important milestone in the airline's growth andfuture plans.

"We believe that the GDSs offer a certain value to Deccan and Abacus was the first to offer a solution which is designed for LCCs at an extremely competitive cost. We hope it wouldproduce great results. We are looking at this cost as opportunity cost which gives us the ability to sell across the Asia Pacific region where Abacus has a strong market presence," hesaid.

Rathod, in an interview with EyeforTravel.com's Ritesh Gupta, said that the GDS see the LCCs as a big opportunity to grow market share, as the LCC market share has grown from 0to close to 33.5% (as of December 2007) in the span of three years.

"If this trend continues, it's in the interest of the GDS to distribute LCC content. Also, there is already a sharp rise in passenger numbers which is the Deccan effect and the other LCCscapitalised on this growth opportunity. In India, Deccan leads the competition in the LCC segment has been at the forefront of innovative distribution and otherwise, going forward webelieve that if we offer the right product to the business traveler through the GDS the SBU and corporate would find it attractive to book," he said.

GDSs like Amadeus in India are strengthening its agent network every year and a key development is number of agents growing from relatively lesser-known cities. On this, he said,"We are looking at leveraging them for managing corporate traveler. In terms of travel agents and air travelers from Tier II/ III cities, that will be managed by the our directdistribution ability and route to market."

On how to reduce cost of content collection to enable effective distribution choice, Rathod said he would be selective in product offerings unless the distribution channel is open toreason and deals, one needs to get creative to manage costs.

"The airlines are fast moving their lowest fares to their own website in an effort to shift from indirect distribution to direct distribution so as to manage this ever growing distributioncost. The percentage of bargain hunters who use their credit cards to buy online are low as opposed to those who use trave l agents and willing to pay a few dollars more, plus thehuman factor a traveler always takes comfort from the fact that there is an agent who has managed is very important business trip/holiday and has an existing relationship with the

agent this is a paradox the airlines face. The traveler will eventually realise that the best deals come from airlines who know how to manage their costs best, selective product offeringcreating a customer centric product and offering this through the right channel would in time get the hybrid mix right," he said.

Talking about consumer, Rathod agrees that today's travelers are not a LCC customer or a traditional customer, but rather the modern traveler who mixes and matches based upon therequirements for that journey and their perception of the value of the product on offer.

"These are new age air travel consumer, I believe like every other aspect of the aviation business distribution also should be consumer-centric. We approach our distributionrequirement with a strategy to compliment the buying behaviors of our consumer, our distribution should be modeled around our product offering. 10 years ago the airlines had 4POS (Point of sales) which is ATO, CTO, TA (travel agents) and some airlines had call centers for reactive selling mostly for customer service. Distribution channels are overarching toour growth strategy and we consistently focus on exploring innovative and effecting distribution channels," he said.

Rathod shared that online travel agents account for around 25% share of overall LCC tickets in India and the web direct channel for LCCs has settled around similar percentage. Agentsin India contribute maximum chunk of distribution for LCCs, too.

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web impact in india

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