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 tosell online simply won't
wash with the consumer. If you cannot close the dealonline there and then, you
run the risk of your customer bookingelsewhere."

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 toconstruct
straightforward yet reasonably comprehensive reservation systems thatare
specifically designed for online tour operator sales. Richer adds,"Selling
online need no longer be an expensive exercise. In fact, onesystem supplier is
offering tour operators use of its system completely freefor the first 50
bookings. There has never been a better time for smaller operatorsto compete on
a level playing field with their larger competitors who can moreeasily 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. Richerstates, "Virtually every system
supplier is offering operators the abilityto sell far more than their own
stock. Systems now offer seamless connectivityto bed banks, transfers, flights
and other products." Richer warns,though, "There is a danger that
with universal connectivity to relativelyfew bed banks, tour operators will all
end-up selling the same stock, socommoditising the industry. It is very
important for operators to maintaintheir own unique identity and remain
competitive by continuing to negotiatecontracts directly with the hotels which
they sell most. They should only usethird parties to supplement their own stock,
so widening the range of producton-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 surroundingm-commerce - selling via
mobile - yet right now there is only a trivial amountof sales being made via
this channel. Whilst the mobile juggernaut is nowgathering steam for location
based services such as navigation and mapping,locating tourist attractions and
finding a local restaurant, the jury is stillout on whether mobile will be a
mass-market sales channel for holidays andother leisure travel products. A
holiday is a big ticket item for mostconsumers and they may well prefer the
comfort of viewing hotels and destinationson 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 foroperators to view
their own Web sites on mobile devices to make sure that theyare still readable.
Many consumers are now using small screened devices such asnet-books and
Apple's newly launched iPad. They are also surfing the web ontheir even smaller
screened mobiles. You need to make sure your web site isstill readable on these
devices even if you do not specifically invest inmobile 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.

[Tony Humphrey]

Online sales are certainly a 'must do' but IMO a must do at a 'net price' as third-party sellers are not involved.

We have responded to this need by developing our TopTravelVoucher program at TheTopTravelClub.com ..FYthis is our invitation to any travel business anywhere in the world......and we never charge any travel business for any of our services...100% of savings goes back to our members.

Good-day to ALL travel business operators anywhere in the world,

We are expanding some of our travel categories and invite you to review this opportunity to target direct bookings for your own travel sales.

TheTopTravelClub.com has over 400 independent travel businesses cumulatively offering 10's of 1000's of direct booking discounts for travel in over 80 countries to our members and visitors.

We would like to offer your travel products and any other services to our members and visitors. We never charge any travel business for any of our services.

You have total control of the offer and can add, change or delete at any time ....just notify us of any link or contact changes.

Simply offer direct booking discounts ( the commissions/fees that you would normally pay to a middleman) or special offers that are only available to our members and they will 'go direct' to you for all bookings, information and payments using the Destination and Travel Category links on our site. You deal directly with them and have the opportunity to offer other products and services.

You can use our own unique TopTravelVouchers or you can create a unique page on your own website only available to our members.

For your due diligence, please go to our website at www.TheTopTravelClub.com

1...Take a look around.
2...Scroll to the bottom of our front page for a randomly selected list of all of our travel trade clients or select by destination or category.
3...You can then decide on how many links you want to have by destination or activity category (no limit).
4...Find the link 'add your site' at the top of our front page to complete our online application form.
5...You can offer a '%' or a 'Value' amount.

Now you can see that we have a very simple but very cost-effective way of getting more direct bookings for you. And you do not pay us anything!

Our income is 100% membership dues. We do not earn any income from affliliates or non-client ads (google etc) that may detract from your links.

As a bonus for joining us, we will offer you a free family membership ($99usd) for your own family travel savings.

We operate out of Vancouver, BC and Carlsbad, Cal.

Sincerely,
Tony Humphrey, FCA
[e-mail]
skype available