Huella
Give a brief description of travel industry and the business model adopted by the industry
Around the world, particularly in the Asia Pacific regions, the travel industry was booming. Despite the dampening effects of events such as 9/11 and SATS on global tourism, the industry enjoyed a spectacular rebound in 2004 and had been growing ever since.
In the late 1950s, airlines began to build an Airline Reservation System (ARS) that connected their branch offices and travel agents for obtaining real-time flight data and for booking purpose. The various ARSs soon evolved into a single system – the Computer Reservation System (CRS) – that connected them together and which was made available to all travel agents. The key difference between the two systems was that while ARSs automated flight and seat controls within individual airlines, CRSs made this possible across several airlines. By the mid-to late 1990s, several major CRSs had expanded into global systems – the Global Distribution Systems (GDS).
The advent of online travel had revolutionized the travel industry by offering a cheaper alternative to CRS/GDS technology for travel service providers. Airlines increasingly reduced their dependence on travel agents and CRSs/GDSs by selling directly to consumers via the internet. A number of online travel agents sprung up around the world, competing with traditional agents for customers. There were three main types of online travel agents
Online stores set up by brick and mortar agents
Online travel portals that not only sold travel products and services but also offered destination information and other services. Some of these were ‘pure; online travel agents without and physical stores
Online travel bidding sites
The entrance of online travel agents into the market had made the travel environment much more competitive for traditional agents. Due to structural scale and purchasing arrangements of online agents, they were able to offer ‘dirt-cheap’ airfares
Around the world, particularly in the Asia Pacific regions, the travel industry was booming. Despite the dampening effects of events such as 9/11 and SATS on global tourism, the industry enjoyed a spectacular rebound in 2004 and had been growing ever since.
In the late 1950s, airlines began to build an Airline Reservation System (ARS) that connected their branch offices and travel agents for obtaining real-time flight data and for booking purpose. The various ARSs soon evolved into a single system – the Computer Reservation System (CRS) – that connected them together and which was made available to all travel agents. The key difference between the two systems was that while ARSs automated flight and seat controls within individual airlines, CRSs made this possible across several airlines. By the mid-to late 1990s, several major CRSs had expanded into global systems – the Global Distribution Systems (GDS).
The advent of online travel had revolutionized the travel industry by offering a cheaper alternative to CRS/GDS technology for travel service providers. Airlines increasingly reduced their dependence on travel agents and CRSs/GDSs by selling directly to consumers via the internet. A number of online travel agents sprung up around the world, competing with traditional agents for customers. There were three main types of online travel agents
Online stores set up by brick and mortar agents
Online travel portals that not only sold travel products and services but also offered destination information and other services. Some of these were ‘pure; online travel agents without and physical stores
Online travel bidding sites
The entrance of online travel agents into the market had made the travel environment much more competitive for traditional agents. Due to structural scale and purchasing arrangements of online agents, they were able to offer ‘dirt-cheap’ airfares