Online Sales a 'Must-Do' for Tour Operators

[Paul Richer]

With the publication of its latest Tour Operator Technology Review, Genesys has seen several significant trends that may affect the way tour operators do business.

The travel technology consultancy has seen a growth in the number of technology suppliers providing e-commerce solutions. Paul Richer, Senior Partner, comments, "It appears that selling online has become a
'must-do' activity for every tour operator. There are no longer any excuses.
Saying that your product is too complex, too tailor-made or too expensive to
sell online simply won't wash with the consumer. If you cannot close the deal
online there and then, you run the risk of your customer booking
elsewhere."

The review highlights several technology suppliers that can get tour operators selling online at very low cost. These new entrants into the tour operator systems marketplace are using the latest development languages to
construct straightforward yet reasonably comprehensive reservation systems that
are specifically designed for online tour operator sales. Richer adds,
"Selling online need no longer be an expensive exercise. In fact, one
system supplier is offering tour operators use of its system completely free
for the first 50 bookings. There has never been a better time for smaller operators
to compete on a level playing field with their larger competitors who can more
easily afford heavy investment in technology."

Another trend that has seen significant growth is the ability for systems to connect electronically to bed banks and other third party product suppliers to offer real-time availability and booking. Richer
states, "Virtually every system supplier is offering operators the ability
to sell far more than their own stock. Systems now offer seamless connectivity
to bed banks, transfers, flights and other products." Richer warns,
though, "There is a danger that with universal connectivity to relatively
few bed banks, tour operators will all end-up selling the same stock, so
commoditising the industry. It is very important for operators to maintain
their own unique identity and remain competitive by continuing to negotiate
contracts directly with the hotels which they sell most. They should only use
third parties to supplement their own stock, so widening the range of product
on-sale but maintaining a unique core."

For the first time, the Genesys' review includes mobile solution providers, although there are just three out of the sixty suppliers in the review. Says Paul Richer, "There is tremendous hype surrounding
m-commerce - selling via mobile - yet right now there is only a trivial amount
of sales being made via this channel. Whilst the mobile juggernaut is now
gathering steam for location based services such as navigation and mapping,
locating tourist attractions and finding a local restaurant, the jury is still
out on whether mobile will be a mass-market sales channel for holidays and
other leisure travel products. A holiday is a big ticket item for most
consumers and they may well prefer the comfort of viewing hotels and destinations
on a larger screen."

Asked to consider whether mobile can simply be ignored by tour operators for now, Richer responds, "Whilst there may only be a small payback to investment in mobile technology, I think it is vitally important for
operators to view their own Web sites on mobile devices to make sure that they
are still readable. Many consumers are now using small screened devices such as
net-books and Apple's newly launched iPad. They are also surfing the web on
their even smaller screened mobiles. You need to make sure your web site is
still readable on these devices even if you do not specifically invest in
mobile technology."

The Genesys 2010/2011 Tour Operator Technology Review can be bought directly from Genesys at http://www.genesys.net/publications.htm . It costs GBP69.50 plus shipping. It
provides details of 60 tour operator technology suppliers across 170 pages.