There was something very comforting about the days of the Bell System monopoly. You could always pick up the phone and you always got dial tone. Things had to be pretty bad before the comforting noise in your ear. Today we ask questions like "Where are you?" and we know that we have a 50:50 chance of no dial tone.
I use this analogy to illustrate how complicated things have become in distribution. Today, you cannot rely on the GDS any more to provide you with 100% of distribution needs. As I love to say (and this is no disrespect to mothers-to-be) we are all a little bit pregnant here! Connectivity to multiple sources of information (content if you prefer) in the form of Direct (LCCs and Legacy airlines) Travel types (Hotels vs Airlines) and products etc are a must for any intermediary.
While I applaud BTC's efforts to get the airlines to play ball in making the GDS channels work to ease distribution woes - I think its a losing battle.
LH has responded to the BTC appeal over its push to get Amadeus (in which it owns a 11.5% interest) to play ball. BTC feels justifiably - that the corporate travel managers are a pawn in the game. They are.
However in the longer run - Amadeus is the one who has to change and adapt. With approx 80% of the indirect distribution share across Europe - they need to deal with the issue and come to the table and make a deal. If not they must accept the consequences. So far there is no movement on their part. In the mean time users are scrambling to adapt. And adapt they will.
For the LH letter response and the dialogue - go to this link. Its worth a complete read.
http://businesstravelcoalition.com/campaigns/pfp_outreach.pdf
Cheers
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