Sadly I could not spend as much time as I wanted to with the PCW crew. What I saw (and then cheated by watching the stream (Thanks Phil!) made it worth while. Another good show chaps. Seemed to be more subdued than last year. The whole ITB show seemed to be very busy on the first day but was dead by Friday Afternoon.
However I am seeing a disconnect between what I perceive as the real world and what some of the panelists were saying. Frankly I don't think its Mobile's year. Not for the way that Travel can make money out of it. Sure there are some VERY cool apps on iPhone and now even Crackberry has some interesting apps. But its not that useful. Now I need a kind of traffic cop on my iPhone view top. And even after playing with an iPhone for quite some time - I have gone back to the Crackberry - better for what I need - Email.
Where I am still very uncomfortable is in the persistence that the "cool" elements outweigh "smart" elements. Thus I still dont see a long term huge value in UGC, Mobile, Social Networks and the like. This doesn't mean that there cannot be good uses, but I find it hard to sift through the "noise". And I know customers do too.
One area I am absolutely in sync with is that Context is critical. (I just cannot quite bring myself to say its King though).
What people say on platforms and then what they say in backrooms and coffee places are once again clearly different.
What are clients and their business partners are saying are very different. Cut costs, preserve value and do way more with way less. Many projects involving UGC just quietly died. Social Networks... no time. Mobile - why?
I see a big 3 Cs emerging.
Consistent, Context and Cheap.
And you?
14 March 2009
BA Swings A Soft Axe First (Eugene)
BA has swung its first round of cuts by sending out Voluntary Retirement Notices to all its European based staff. Much like Delta did at the end of 2008, BA's program promises little incentive to leave at the moment.
With BA's troubles mounting across the board, they need to reduce headcount even further and probably a lot faster. The drop off of premium traffic affects BA who is more vulnerable with less "cheap" seats in their inventory.
Having just flown in the back of BA and LH round trip in coach both ways - I can assure you that LH has many more cheap seats available - AND is filling them - than BA has and is not necessarily filling them.
They say perception is reality. In the case of the battle for survival, caution wins. BA's aggressive pursuit of profitability at the expense of the gross revenues is now starting to look a little thin.
Cheers
With BA's troubles mounting across the board, they need to reduce headcount even further and probably a lot faster. The drop off of premium traffic affects BA who is more vulnerable with less "cheap" seats in their inventory.
Having just flown in the back of BA and LH round trip in coach both ways - I can assure you that LH has many more cheap seats available - AND is filling them - than BA has and is not necessarily filling them.
They say perception is reality. In the case of the battle for survival, caution wins. BA's aggressive pursuit of profitability at the expense of the gross revenues is now starting to look a little thin.
Cheers
AF/KL Charges To Be Eaten By Travelport
Travelport has elected to eat the surcharges that will be imposed by AF/KL in France and NL starting this summer.
While both parties admit they are far apart - Travelport is trying to take the pressure out of the system by covering the overage at least for the short term. Just like Amadeus initially did for LH bookings in Germany.
The full impact has not yet hit Germany yet. LH is collecting its fee (4.90 Euros) for LX and LH via an ADM process. Those ADMs should be hitting people's desks in a few days. Then you will see some shift in the market.
We can be pretty sure that there are other carriers considering doing exactly the same thing. So in essence there are at least 4 airlines in Europe charging some form of GDS surcharge fee for content sold via the GDS. (The other 2 players currently doing this are Norwegian Air Shuttle and EasyJet).
Having spent the last week in Berlin at ITB, this is a hot topic for all kinds of Intermediaries, GDSs and Airlines.
With Travelport showing canned demos of its G2 developed product for Multi-Access GDS and LUTE Technologies CommandPRO already in production with several hundred agencies, there are going to be some interesting times ahead.
Cheers
While both parties admit they are far apart - Travelport is trying to take the pressure out of the system by covering the overage at least for the short term. Just like Amadeus initially did for LH bookings in Germany.
The full impact has not yet hit Germany yet. LH is collecting its fee (4.90 Euros) for LX and LH via an ADM process. Those ADMs should be hitting people's desks in a few days. Then you will see some shift in the market.
We can be pretty sure that there are other carriers considering doing exactly the same thing. So in essence there are at least 4 airlines in Europe charging some form of GDS surcharge fee for content sold via the GDS. (The other 2 players currently doing this are Norwegian Air Shuttle and EasyJet).
Having spent the last week in Berlin at ITB, this is a hot topic for all kinds of Intermediaries, GDSs and Airlines.
With Travelport showing canned demos of its G2 developed product for Multi-Access GDS and LUTE Technologies CommandPRO already in production with several hundred agencies, there are going to be some interesting times ahead.
Cheers
12 March 2009
ARC Sales - Stay down
January my friends was not a blip.
But lets be clear here - we are accounting for some aberration.
While total $ value sales were down 26% you have to really look at the number of tickets and the number of days.
So the extra day accounts for 3.6% extra activity. There are other considerations if you want to split hairs such as the number of work days. But in all we should expect that transactions are off a net 15% Y/Y. The falling off in yield is another example of the issues facing everyone. The airlines and the hotels are experiencing some pretty heft yield drops.
This is now exposing a soft underbelly of politicians. IE that the taxation model comes out pretty clearly. Taxes can make up a large chunk of the price now. We have fares across the Atlantic for nearly close to what RyanAir has been proposing. We have fares on legacy carriers between European Capitals for less than Ryanair (just have a look FRA-LON).
So still not healthy. But read between the lines.
Cheers
But lets be clear here - we are accounting for some aberration.
While total $ value sales were down 26% you have to really look at the number of tickets and the number of days.
So the extra day accounts for 3.6% extra activity. There are other considerations if you want to split hairs such as the number of work days. But in all we should expect that transactions are off a net 15% Y/Y. The falling off in yield is another example of the issues facing everyone. The airlines and the hotels are experiencing some pretty heft yield drops.
This is now exposing a soft underbelly of politicians. IE that the taxation model comes out pretty clearly. Taxes can make up a large chunk of the price now. We have fares across the Atlantic for nearly close to what RyanAir has been proposing. We have fares on legacy carriers between European Capitals for less than Ryanair (just have a look FRA-LON).
So still not healthy. But read between the lines.
Cheers
ITB2009 - What's it like?
From the Professor's perch - it looks pretty much the same.
The mad scrum to get into the building, at least this year you can print your entry badges but its still a mad dash. The halls seem just as full of carrier bag toting students and people from all countries. The organizers are saying its the biggest thus far. And it remains certainly very big.
From a Technology point of view there is clearly a lot less going on. The GDSs per se are not there. Travelport has a generic stand, Sabre is not there as a GDS and Amadeus is putting its Traveltainment best foot forward. Thus hall 6.1 is somewhat bereft of the usual players. No Tom Dillon this year to sparkle us with his Irish wit!
I attended quite a few meetings on day 1 and spoke to many people. Even made it to one party. I think I could categorize people into 2 possibly 3 groups. The possible third is the Denials. There are still a few out there. Fortunately only a very few now. So the other groups I will call the Pragmatists and the Deer.
The Pragmatists are hunkering down - chopping vere they can and making plans for the upturn. Survival is a word you hear frequently. Caution is another watchword. Adjusting to the new reality seems to be the focus. Further i think we can see that there are few who believe that this is a short term thing.
The Deer are what a good friend of mine described as those beyond denial. The are not just frozen in the headlights but actually looking for salvation in them. Unfortunately there are still quite of a lot of these.
One element I find interesting is the contrasting views from the geography of the participants. I have not spoken to many from Asia/Pacific but there is a clear contrast from Europe and the USA. More pertinent is that the USA collapse in confidence is not shared so broadly in Europe.
So for now I will keep on observing. There are some wonderful things going on that will make for a fascinating view of the new world order when confidence and the economies return from hiatus.
And what do you think?
Cheers
The mad scrum to get into the building, at least this year you can print your entry badges but its still a mad dash. The halls seem just as full of carrier bag toting students and people from all countries. The organizers are saying its the biggest thus far. And it remains certainly very big.
From a Technology point of view there is clearly a lot less going on. The GDSs per se are not there. Travelport has a generic stand, Sabre is not there as a GDS and Amadeus is putting its Traveltainment best foot forward. Thus hall 6.1 is somewhat bereft of the usual players. No Tom Dillon this year to sparkle us with his Irish wit!
I attended quite a few meetings on day 1 and spoke to many people. Even made it to one party. I think I could categorize people into 2 possibly 3 groups. The possible third is the Denials. There are still a few out there. Fortunately only a very few now. So the other groups I will call the Pragmatists and the Deer.
The Pragmatists are hunkering down - chopping vere they can and making plans for the upturn. Survival is a word you hear frequently. Caution is another watchword. Adjusting to the new reality seems to be the focus. Further i think we can see that there are few who believe that this is a short term thing.
The Deer are what a good friend of mine described as those beyond denial. The are not just frozen in the headlights but actually looking for salvation in them. Unfortunately there are still quite of a lot of these.
One element I find interesting is the contrasting views from the geography of the participants. I have not spoken to many from Asia/Pacific but there is a clear contrast from Europe and the USA. More pertinent is that the USA collapse in confidence is not shared so broadly in Europe.
So for now I will keep on observing. There are some wonderful things going on that will make for a fascinating view of the new world order when confidence and the economies return from hiatus.
And what do you think?
Cheers
09 March 2009
Use of ACH as Debt Collection Works in Reverse for SABRE
Ouch....
NW decided it didnt like getting billed by Sabre for what were interline reservations (as opposed to GDS segments). So it threatened Sabre and eventually carried through on its threat and took a cool $1.5 million from Sabre via the ACH - Airline Clearing House.
Sabre sued and has now withdrawn its lawsuit.
The issue was code share segments on the struggling Midwest Express which NW owns now a share of.
What is fascinating about this is that Sabre pushed the issue a bit too far and Northwest stamped on them hard. It sets a clear precedent that in future any GDS who tries to do this will see the airlines push back - hard.
we have all been warned on this one
Cheers
NW decided it didnt like getting billed by Sabre for what were interline reservations (as opposed to GDS segments). So it threatened Sabre and eventually carried through on its threat and took a cool $1.5 million from Sabre via the ACH - Airline Clearing House.
Sabre sued and has now withdrawn its lawsuit.
The issue was code share segments on the struggling Midwest Express which NW owns now a share of.
What is fascinating about this is that Sabre pushed the issue a bit too far and Northwest stamped on them hard. It sets a clear precedent that in future any GDS who tries to do this will see the airlines push back - hard.
we have all been warned on this one
Cheers
07 March 2009
So Is Ryanair Serious About Pay Toilets? Anything Else?
Rumours, denials, counter-rumours....
Latest is the #1 story yesterday (6May2009) at the Irish Times - http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0306/1224242371838.html?via
says yes.
So thanks for the sleuths Professors Stuart and Hartmut for keeping me abreast of this rather dirty and smelly situation.
Now as I understand it MOL is serious about the pin and swipe issue. A pound to spend a penny.
On some deep research we uncovered a shocking set of facts. Indeed FR has done some research into this. Amongst the ideas mooted for the still top secret FR Transatlantic service (which is according to rumour where the whole thing got started) was a series of items including the use of Safety Equipment.
The Professor was secretly been made aware of the proposed card backs that will appear in coach. There are two panels mounted on each seatback.
The image looks like the one illustrated here and then there is some additional text:
Additional charges will accrue for the use of "flotation devices”
$10 for the life vest
$5 for the seat cushion”
Plus there is additional charges as follows:
$1 for the use of the light on the life vest.
$5 to inflate the life vest – although there is no charge to blow it up yourself,
$1 to activate the light on the life vest.
You can purchase a rental bundle for $20 for a fully working life vest from the website. The token expires on arrival at your destination or 10 hours after first contact with water which ever comes first." END
As we understand it the Devices will only be enabled for Chip swipe and pin as the cost to insert a coin and collect and process the heavy money will result in additional fuel drag. Ryanair is said to have been very pleased at the amount of fuel savings that will accrue as the result of this proposed solution. Also the use of a Ryanair card guarantees the service will work. Amex cards will not be accepted.
So far the Professor has been unable to confirm if any other airline is interested in the idea.
However with fuel back at reasonable levels - there is bound to be a review of business models that had the life vests and seat bottoms removed from certain aircraft.
Cheers
05 March 2009
The Professor Will Be At ITB Next Week
Greetings good people.
Next week its that time to get good walking shoes, brush up on your German and be prepared for copious amounts of alcohol, bonhomie and drinking from the firehose. Yes its ITB2009 at the ICC in Berlin.
I have been coming regularly since 1988. So that's a long time. Apart from I think 2 years - I have not missed any others.
So I will be at the PhocusWright Bloggers' conference and also helping a client roll out their new product lines. (Yes, I know it may seem strange but I do also have a day job). So you will find me either there or stalking the Halls. Usually Hall 6.1.
I will be joining the other Twits - if you are too - then you can follow me - I will be twittering sporadically. This is a note I received from Phil Caines :
"We look forward to meeting all of you and sharing ideas of what social media's future will look like for the Travel Industry. Please keep in mind that we will be using the "#ITB09" Twitter hash tag through out the event, and please tag all videos/pics/blog posts with "PhoCusWright ITB 2009"
In reverse if you are being a voyeur then you can look on these tags and see what is going on.
So see you around. It will be interesting. I hope to get a notion of the mood. I expect it to be Somber but - I am sure that there are some great pockets of interesting stuff going on. The New World Order is coming good people - brace yourselves!
Cheers and see you there.
Next week its that time to get good walking shoes, brush up on your German and be prepared for copious amounts of alcohol, bonhomie and drinking from the firehose. Yes its ITB2009 at the ICC in Berlin.
I have been coming regularly since 1988. So that's a long time. Apart from I think 2 years - I have not missed any others.
So I will be at the PhocusWright Bloggers' conference and also helping a client roll out their new product lines. (Yes, I know it may seem strange but I do also have a day job). So you will find me either there or stalking the Halls. Usually Hall 6.1.
I will be joining the other Twits - if you are too - then you can follow me - I will be twittering sporadically. This is a note I received from Phil Caines :
"We look forward to meeting all of you and sharing ideas of what social media's future will look like for the Travel Industry. Please keep in mind that we will be using the "#ITB09" Twitter hash tag through out the event, and please tag all videos/pics/blog posts with "PhoCusWright ITB 2009"
In reverse if you are being a voyeur then you can look on these tags and see what is going on.
So see you around. It will be interesting. I hope to get a notion of the mood. I expect it to be Somber but - I am sure that there are some great pockets of interesting stuff going on. The New World Order is coming good people - brace yourselves!
Cheers and see you there.
03 March 2009
Forrester Shows Continued European Diversity in Online
Forrester has recently looked at the major markets in Europe for online.
The characteristics are predictably different. Here are the summaries taken from their website:
First the UK
"With more than one in two UK consumers shopping online today — that is about 28 million consumers — online shopping and travel booking are mainstream. UK online shoppers outspend their European and even their American counterparts. Despite the current recession, we expect online retail and travel sales in the UK to continue growing strongly over the next six years as consumers move their spending online. By 2014, 37 million UK online buyers will spend £56 billion online."
Now Germany - Europe's biggest market
"German online shopping adoption is growing at double-digit rates each year. The number of online shoppers has almost doubled since 2000, with 36 million Germans regularly buying products online today, or 44% of adults. By 2014, we expect 44 million German online buyers to spend about €44 billion via the Internet."
France is growing very rapidly
French online shoppers — or cyberconsommateurs — are now surging to the Internet. Their number has roughly quintupled since 2002, with 35% of French adults projected to buy products online in 2009. Clothing is the most popular retail category that French people buy online, followed by books, music, and leisure travel like flights and hotels. Despite the current recession, we expect online retail and travel sales in France to grow strongly over the next six years as consumers move their spending online. By 2014, 30 million French online shoppers will spend roughly €28 billion via the Internet.
So percentage wise the Brits will continue to outspend their counterparts online. Despite the UK GDP dropping now to 3rd in Europe (behind Italy!) it still maintains its differences. The French have now decided that its time for their hockey stick event and are rushing headlong to the Web. The Germans restrained as ever are still warming to the web. The adoption rate curves for Europe in general have been slower and flatter than the USA. Which now accounts for such a large lag between the European adoption and that of Uncle Sam's countrymen.
Cheers
The characteristics are predictably different. Here are the summaries taken from their website:
First the UK
"With more than one in two UK consumers shopping online today — that is about 28 million consumers — online shopping and travel booking are mainstream. UK online shoppers outspend their European and even their American counterparts. Despite the current recession, we expect online retail and travel sales in the UK to continue growing strongly over the next six years as consumers move their spending online. By 2014, 37 million UK online buyers will spend £56 billion online."
Now Germany - Europe's biggest market
"German online shopping adoption is growing at double-digit rates each year. The number of online shoppers has almost doubled since 2000, with 36 million Germans regularly buying products online today, or 44% of adults. By 2014, we expect 44 million German online buyers to spend about €44 billion via the Internet."
France is growing very rapidly
French online shoppers — or cyberconsommateurs — are now surging to the Internet. Their number has roughly quintupled since 2002, with 35% of French adults projected to buy products online in 2009. Clothing is the most popular retail category that French people buy online, followed by books, music, and leisure travel like flights and hotels. Despite the current recession, we expect online retail and travel sales in France to grow strongly over the next six years as consumers move their spending online. By 2014, 30 million French online shoppers will spend roughly €28 billion via the Internet.
So percentage wise the Brits will continue to outspend their counterparts online. Despite the UK GDP dropping now to 3rd in Europe (behind Italy!) it still maintains its differences. The French have now decided that its time for their hockey stick event and are rushing headlong to the Web. The Germans restrained as ever are still warming to the web. The adoption rate curves for Europe in general have been slower and flatter than the USA. Which now accounts for such a large lag between the European adoption and that of Uncle Sam's countrymen.
Cheers
Analysts Eagerly Await Sabre's Results
Sabre is going to hold an earnings call with Analysts on Thursday 1600 CET. (I guess they really don't like the Europeans that much!!!)
The call is scheduled for Thursday, March 5, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. Central Time (CT) / 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET).
Dial In # 1 800 884 5695 International Dial In # 617 786 2960 Participant Passcode: 42626240
I shall be there... it is going to be the first call since 2006 as far as I can tell.
since Sabre has been private since March of 2007 this will be an interesting conversation. Let's see if they get to be as open as Travelport has been.
Cheers
The call is scheduled for Thursday, March 5, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. Central Time (CT) / 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET).
Dial In # 1 800 884 5695 International Dial In # 617 786 2960 Participant Passcode: 42626240
I shall be there... it is going to be the first call since 2006 as far as I can tell.
since Sabre has been private since March of 2007 this will be an interesting conversation. Let's see if they get to be as open as Travelport has been.
Cheers
New GDS Usage Patterns Emerge
From the Professor's position, I see decidedly interesting trends emerging in 2009 of how the GDS model is morphing.
As we saw from the last few weeks - GDS usage is down - WAY down. Now comes some new data that points to a real change in the profile of the GDS contracts in the USA and Europe.
To the other side of the pond first, I was looking at some numbers from Europe today - the traffic from European airports is plummeting at the same level or greater than the USA. Europe has been on a great growth spurt until 2008. Europe's emplanements now comprise over 500 million passengers which is getting closer to the USA's numbers but the days of rapid LCC fueled growth are over. That should point to an end of the significant total GDS based traffic share erosion for Europe... I said should. But it wont. Last week, KLM joined Lufthansa in pushing for a battle with its dominant home market GDS, Travelport's Galileo and Worldspan brands. The Dutch part of the AF/KL group has a slightly different program that will result in a surcharge of Euro 4.50 per segment. (LH's PFP program costs Euro 4.90).
Coming back across the Atlantic we see some new trends which should cause even more misery - particularly in Atlanta and Dallas.
ASTA's annual GDS survey points to some significant trends. Here is some of the recap from the ASTA Website synposis: http://www.asta.org/News/PRDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=5122
GDS penetration among ASTA members has dropped 15% in the last 10 years. In truth the number of Agents has of course halved in that time. 40.4 percent of respondents said they have a "No-minimum" pricing plan. yes most of these are still getting paid a segment override. While these numbers are showing a negative trend, the GDSs are still paying more (percentage wise) in incentive compensation.
It seems clear that the holistic (aka non-fragmented) model is fully on the way out. But this makes travel like any other business. Other markets have seen this fragmented supply for many years - pre-and post the Internet boom. Sadly Travel may lose its "special-ness".
Welcome to the new world order.
Cheers
As we saw from the last few weeks - GDS usage is down - WAY down. Now comes some new data that points to a real change in the profile of the GDS contracts in the USA and Europe.
To the other side of the pond first, I was looking at some numbers from Europe today - the traffic from European airports is plummeting at the same level or greater than the USA. Europe has been on a great growth spurt until 2008. Europe's emplanements now comprise over 500 million passengers which is getting closer to the USA's numbers but the days of rapid LCC fueled growth are over. That should point to an end of the significant total GDS based traffic share erosion for Europe... I said should. But it wont. Last week, KLM joined Lufthansa in pushing for a battle with its dominant home market GDS, Travelport's Galileo and Worldspan brands. The Dutch part of the AF/KL group has a slightly different program that will result in a surcharge of Euro 4.50 per segment. (LH's PFP program costs Euro 4.90).
Coming back across the Atlantic we see some new trends which should cause even more misery - particularly in Atlanta and Dallas.
ASTA's annual GDS survey points to some significant trends. Here is some of the recap from the ASTA Website synposis: http://www.asta.org/News/PRDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=5122
GDS penetration among ASTA members has dropped 15% in the last 10 years. In truth the number of Agents has of course halved in that time. 40.4 percent of respondents said they have a "No-minimum" pricing plan. yes most of these are still getting paid a segment override. While these numbers are showing a negative trend, the GDSs are still paying more (percentage wise) in incentive compensation.
It seems clear that the holistic (aka non-fragmented) model is fully on the way out. But this makes travel like any other business. Other markets have seen this fragmented supply for many years - pre-and post the Internet boom. Sadly Travel may lose its "special-ness".
Welcome to the new world order.
Cheers
28 February 2009
Are Bloggers Journalists?
In truth - I have always thought the answer was NO!
However the definition is a hard one to nail down. Many journalists are not full time, many are not classically trained. Most have good ethics.
But as we all know the law can be an ass in trying to define things.
So it is with much interest that I see that the US Congress has decided to take the matter into its own hands. And thanks to the folks at WebProNews for showing us this little one.
It seems that the two versions of the Bill set out to achieve the same goal - defining what is a journalist and then seeking to protect that definition and the attendant rights, as such both the Senate and House agree on what a journalist’s duties are and what journalism entails:
"the regular gathering, preparing, collecting, photography, recording, writing, editing, reporting, or publishing of news or information that concerns local, national, or international events or other matters of public interest for dissemination to the public."
But the House version which has more people, defines further by adding:
"for a substantial portion of the person's livelihood or for substantial financial gain and includes a supervisor, employer, parent, subsidiary, or affiliate of such covered person."
So, in effect, if journalism is a hobby or passion you do as a public service, or if you are a freelancer without a boss--both of which easily describe a blogger--then the government reserves the right to force you to tell them who told you something, much like the government tried to do with New York Times journalist Judy Miller under the Bush Administration. Of course if you are a blogger anyway - you should not have the same rights.
Oh boy - this means that all you Bloggers and Twits out there are going to have to be careful how you do - what you do and about whom.
And that includes me.
Cheers
However the definition is a hard one to nail down. Many journalists are not full time, many are not classically trained. Most have good ethics.
But as we all know the law can be an ass in trying to define things.
So it is with much interest that I see that the US Congress has decided to take the matter into its own hands. And thanks to the folks at WebProNews for showing us this little one.
It seems that the two versions of the Bill set out to achieve the same goal - defining what is a journalist and then seeking to protect that definition and the attendant rights, as such both the Senate and House agree on what a journalist’s duties are and what journalism entails:
"the regular gathering, preparing, collecting, photography, recording, writing, editing, reporting, or publishing of news or information that concerns local, national, or international events or other matters of public interest for dissemination to the public."
But the House version which has more people, defines further by adding:
"for a substantial portion of the person's livelihood or for substantial financial gain and includes a supervisor, employer, parent, subsidiary, or affiliate of such covered person."
So, in effect, if journalism is a hobby or passion you do as a public service, or if you are a freelancer without a boss--both of which easily describe a blogger--then the government reserves the right to force you to tell them who told you something, much like the government tried to do with New York Times journalist Judy Miller under the Bush Administration. Of course if you are a blogger anyway - you should not have the same rights.
Oh boy - this means that all you Bloggers and Twits out there are going to have to be careful how you do - what you do and about whom.
And that includes me.
Cheers
27 February 2009
Brits Return to Butlins
Ah sweet nostalgia.
When I was a wee nipper - I badgered my parents to take me to Butlins. The haven of wonder, all inclusive all the fun you can consume.
And yes there is a Wikipedia article on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butlins
Butlins itself somewhat lost its glamour when the Brits discovered the fleshpots of Europe and then learned that contrary to (then) popular lore the Wiley Oriental Gentlemen didn't really patrol the harbour of Calais.
Fast forward to today's sobering economic crisis and the lack of affordable holidays, and we see that the Brits wont be leaving their shores in such droves this year. Many of them will simply stay home - Staycation will creep into the vocabulary again. But for many the second year without a holiday away somewhere is just not tolerable. So they are packing their sandwiches and heading to Butlins.
And this isn't your grandfather's Butlins (or its arch competitor Pontins) either. Sure there are the Redcoats. But the ghost of Sir Billy and his son (also sadly deceased) do not haunt the remaining 3 "villages". Mother-in-law jokes have been banned but the nobbly knee contests remain. And the venerable Chalets are still there in some cases.
Ah sweet nostalgia....
When I was a wee nipper - I badgered my parents to take me to Butlins. The haven of wonder, all inclusive all the fun you can consume.
And yes there is a Wikipedia article on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butlins
Butlins itself somewhat lost its glamour when the Brits discovered the fleshpots of Europe and then learned that contrary to (then) popular lore the Wiley Oriental Gentlemen didn't really patrol the harbour of Calais.
Fast forward to today's sobering economic crisis and the lack of affordable holidays, and we see that the Brits wont be leaving their shores in such droves this year. Many of them will simply stay home - Staycation will creep into the vocabulary again. But for many the second year without a holiday away somewhere is just not tolerable. So they are packing their sandwiches and heading to Butlins.
And this isn't your grandfather's Butlins (or its arch competitor Pontins) either. Sure there are the Redcoats. But the ghost of Sir Billy and his son (also sadly deceased) do not haunt the remaining 3 "villages". Mother-in-law jokes have been banned but the nobbly knee contests remain. And the venerable Chalets are still there in some cases.
Ah sweet nostalgia....
26 February 2009
LAX Suffers Downturn - What It Means For Some.
I thought I had agreed with myself not to spread more doom and gloom. However I like to dig into the statistics of what happens and why. I am obsessed with data within data.
OK so in looking at LAX's January numbers - there are some nasty pieces about the drop off in traffic. The reality is not quite as horrendous as it sounds. However ONT - also covered by the LA Airports authority took a huge bath and has lost a lot of scheduled traffic, including 5 airlines altogether.
For LAX one of the premier gateways in the country and 3rd or 4th largest airport frequently - the downturn is still pretty significant.
Passenger counts are off by 11.3% LAX btw does about 25% of its traffic internationally. So if the drop off is in International traffic then LAX hurts more than the rest. Because of its location Pacific travel is obviously very high as it is the main US-Asian gateway airport.
So looking at the number of pax its down with a higher number international than domestic. OK so far makes sense. But LAX stats are rather good so you can see who actually took the hit. It seems that the tenants in
Bradley (International airlines) dropped 6.34%
Terminals 2 (AC, VS, NW and ANZ dropped 10.85%
Terminal 4 (American and Qantas) dropped 40.45%
Terminal 5 (Delta) dropped 48.18%
Terminal 7 (United) dropped 41.36%
This makes it interesting to see that the US carriers to International points outside of the Americas are doing worse than those locations airlines. It also shows that the traffic to Asia/PAC which in GDS terms was off (according to Travelport) by more than 20% a real basket case and far worse than US or EMEA.
With the large jump in traffic between Taiwan and China - you can see that there is a real change occurring in the profile of travel. What we are seeing is not just a general decrease but a change in world order.
That is interesting
Cheers
OK so in looking at LAX's January numbers - there are some nasty pieces about the drop off in traffic. The reality is not quite as horrendous as it sounds. However ONT - also covered by the LA Airports authority took a huge bath and has lost a lot of scheduled traffic, including 5 airlines altogether.
For LAX one of the premier gateways in the country and 3rd or 4th largest airport frequently - the downturn is still pretty significant.
Passenger counts are off by 11.3% LAX btw does about 25% of its traffic internationally. So if the drop off is in International traffic then LAX hurts more than the rest. Because of its location Pacific travel is obviously very high as it is the main US-Asian gateway airport.
So looking at the number of pax its down with a higher number international than domestic. OK so far makes sense. But LAX stats are rather good so you can see who actually took the hit. It seems that the tenants in
Bradley (International airlines) dropped 6.34%
Terminals 2 (AC, VS, NW and ANZ dropped 10.85%
Terminal 4 (American and Qantas) dropped 40.45%
Terminal 5 (Delta) dropped 48.18%
Terminal 7 (United) dropped 41.36%
This makes it interesting to see that the US carriers to International points outside of the Americas are doing worse than those locations airlines. It also shows that the traffic to Asia/PAC which in GDS terms was off (according to Travelport) by more than 20% a real basket case and far worse than US or EMEA.
With the large jump in traffic between Taiwan and China - you can see that there is a real change occurring in the profile of travel. What we are seeing is not just a general decrease but a change in world order.
That is interesting
Cheers
GDS Innovation - An Oxymoron? A Challenge
The interest over the Sabre decision to rescind one developer's contract seems to have ignited a big debate.
Sabre is very much on the defensive for its decision. Travelport seems to be fence sitting. However Amadeus seems to be taking a more open approach. I encourage readers to go the the BEAT website and read Dwayne Ingram's letter in response to Pass Consulting's Michael Strauss.
http://www.thebeat.travel/blog/node/373
But let's just challenge a little of the assumptions here. Is GDS "innovation" actually an oxymoron?
The definition of "innovation" seems to have been lost in the shuffle. Also the investment by the GDSs needs an examination.
A GDS's stock in trade is maintaining currency of its platform. So there are armies of developers and functional analysts inside a GDS who sit there all day consuming 1000 hours of time each year of time (1 man year) in "development". In reality much of this - not all but by far the largest portion - is just standard sustainability activity. The analogy I would use is that it is like paying for a change of tires on your car. If the tire model is changed, the rubber is modified or the service is better etc etc it doesn't change the fact that its a tire (or a tyre) and that you need a tire to run the car. Will it get you to your destination faster?
Of hard core innovation and research into it - there is precious little being done at the GDSs. I am sure someone will disagree with me but please show me where that money is being spent and I will happily recant if a GDS can demonstrate true innovation expenditure.
When I was at Worldspan - we did hard core R&D but it was never funded that way. We funded it out of people's time and some egregious sleight of hand, and the budget never reflected it. More than once did I get my knuckles wrapped for that behavior. But in the end my team delivered new products and services which today power a significant amount of Worldspan's gross transactions. Is that what the GDSs are doing today? You be the judge.
Nope rather the GDSs are actually delivering LESS functionality than they did years ago. There is in reality now a technology gap between what counts for real innovation and additional functionality vs. maintenance of the status quo.
In defense of the GDSs - this is all that they can do. The demands of the business have grown to such a level that it is impossible for them to maintain the totality of service that they used to provide. They have eliminated in the past 10 years: Networks, workstation software, hardware etc etc. At the same time they have in general abandoned the back office and mid office markets to third party developers. Their remaining platform of solutions is significantly below what it once was. Yet their revenue from the airlines has continued to rise (percentage wise) despite implementing the Full Content contracts. Just look at Travelport's latest numbers. It is very transparent.
Today almost every GDS based booking touches a third party developer's application in some shape or form. So the value of the third party developer to the equation is critical. Indeed the third party developers almost to a man (sorry or woman) are doing what the GDSs are no longer capable of - namely providing that missing functionality, content access or efficiency - that the GDS used to provide. So in truth the third party developers are actually helping the GDSs stay in business.
The GDSs should actually acknowledge this and stop some of their arcane "certification" processes. Wouldn't life be wonderful if we had a platform that didn't need "certification".
Perhaps that symbiotic relationship is going to change. Clearly the innovation edge goes to third parties and not to the GDSs. So Amadeus's approach is the right one. I only hope their actions match their rhetoric. One thing is for certain - the barriers to entry are decidedly lower than they used to be and the relative value of a GDS to the distribution mix is similarly lessened.
So here is my challenge to the GDSs. Adopt the Open Source GPL (General Public License) model. It includes any abuse provisions. If you are truly open then put that out there.
For anyone who is interested one of the best articles on the subject from a legal perspective can be found here:
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/public-license-explained/
Lets get real here and perhaps a little more honest with ourselves....
Cheers
Sabre is very much on the defensive for its decision. Travelport seems to be fence sitting. However Amadeus seems to be taking a more open approach. I encourage readers to go the the BEAT website and read Dwayne Ingram's letter in response to Pass Consulting's Michael Strauss.
http://www.thebeat.travel/blog/node/373
But let's just challenge a little of the assumptions here. Is GDS "innovation" actually an oxymoron?
The definition of "innovation" seems to have been lost in the shuffle. Also the investment by the GDSs needs an examination.
A GDS's stock in trade is maintaining currency of its platform. So there are armies of developers and functional analysts inside a GDS who sit there all day consuming 1000 hours of time each year of time (1 man year) in "development". In reality much of this - not all but by far the largest portion - is just standard sustainability activity. The analogy I would use is that it is like paying for a change of tires on your car. If the tire model is changed, the rubber is modified or the service is better etc etc it doesn't change the fact that its a tire (or a tyre) and that you need a tire to run the car. Will it get you to your destination faster?
Of hard core innovation and research into it - there is precious little being done at the GDSs. I am sure someone will disagree with me but please show me where that money is being spent and I will happily recant if a GDS can demonstrate true innovation expenditure.
When I was at Worldspan - we did hard core R&D but it was never funded that way. We funded it out of people's time and some egregious sleight of hand, and the budget never reflected it. More than once did I get my knuckles wrapped for that behavior. But in the end my team delivered new products and services which today power a significant amount of Worldspan's gross transactions. Is that what the GDSs are doing today? You be the judge.
Nope rather the GDSs are actually delivering LESS functionality than they did years ago. There is in reality now a technology gap between what counts for real innovation and additional functionality vs. maintenance of the status quo.
In defense of the GDSs - this is all that they can do. The demands of the business have grown to such a level that it is impossible for them to maintain the totality of service that they used to provide. They have eliminated in the past 10 years: Networks, workstation software, hardware etc etc. At the same time they have in general abandoned the back office and mid office markets to third party developers. Their remaining platform of solutions is significantly below what it once was. Yet their revenue from the airlines has continued to rise (percentage wise) despite implementing the Full Content contracts. Just look at Travelport's latest numbers. It is very transparent.
Today almost every GDS based booking touches a third party developer's application in some shape or form. So the value of the third party developer to the equation is critical. Indeed the third party developers almost to a man (sorry or woman) are doing what the GDSs are no longer capable of - namely providing that missing functionality, content access or efficiency - that the GDS used to provide. So in truth the third party developers are actually helping the GDSs stay in business.
The GDSs should actually acknowledge this and stop some of their arcane "certification" processes. Wouldn't life be wonderful if we had a platform that didn't need "certification".
Perhaps that symbiotic relationship is going to change. Clearly the innovation edge goes to third parties and not to the GDSs. So Amadeus's approach is the right one. I only hope their actions match their rhetoric. One thing is for certain - the barriers to entry are decidedly lower than they used to be and the relative value of a GDS to the distribution mix is similarly lessened.
So here is my challenge to the GDSs. Adopt the Open Source GPL (General Public License) model. It includes any abuse provisions. If you are truly open then put that out there.
For anyone who is interested one of the best articles on the subject from a legal perspective can be found here:
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/public-license-explained/
Lets get real here and perhaps a little more honest with ourselves....
Cheers
*Air.* Loses Yet Another Battle
Remember that airline that has been trying to get started in South Africa and sell flights by the hour. Well after losing just about everything they had - now they are going to lose their name as well.
Here is a recap of a summary ruling:
The court ordered that:
• Airtime shall not use the company name ‘Airtime Airlines’ as a trademark
• The carrier is interdicted from using the word ‘ifly Airtime’ in relation to its services and business, including the advertising and marketing of its products and/or services.
• The carrier is interdicted from passing off its products, services or business as being that of 1time, by using the colour red and/or the word time, otherwise than in its ordinary descriptive sense, without distinguishing its products, services or business from 1time
• Airtime is also interdicted from misrepresenting its products, services and/or business to be that of 1time, or associated in the course of trade with 1time.
Gotta respect the law
Here is a recap of a summary ruling:
The court ordered that:
• Airtime shall not use the company name ‘Airtime Airlines’ as a trademark
• The carrier is interdicted from using the word ‘ifly Airtime’ in relation to its services and business, including the advertising and marketing of its products and/or services.
• The carrier is interdicted from passing off its products, services or business as being that of 1time, by using the colour red and/or the word time, otherwise than in its ordinary descriptive sense, without distinguishing its products, services or business from 1time
• Airtime is also interdicted from misrepresenting its products, services and/or business to be that of 1time, or associated in the course of trade with 1time.
Gotta respect the law
25 February 2009
Travelport Reports - Its Ugly Out There
In the last quarter of 2008, Travelport's bookings plummeted. And there is no reason to believe that Sabre is not down by a similar amount. Amadeus is probably doing a little better but not by much.
GDS based total transactions were off a stunning 15%. What was a worry in August at the Q2 numbers has turned into a full scale rout and ensuing panic with these numbers.
Once you peel back the usual corporate BS - you see that there is some very worrying underlying trends.
Trend #1 - move to a late booking environment. This has not been seen in the USA for a long time if ever. In Europe the switching of consumer behavior occurs often. Early vs late has therefore become something of a game between sellers and consumers. For the US sellers this is a very worrying trend. Even more so when US players have to play by the quarterly report microscope rules.
Trend #2 - traffic is just off. its off 10%+ at the end of last year judging by all the data with a pretty steep dive at Xmas and also January started way off.
Trend #3 - all markets are similarly affected with the exception of LATAM (which is relatively small) and GCC also relatively small at around sub 10%. What is also noticeable is that Europe seems to be holding up about the same as the USA but that Asia Pac is really off. This bodes better (but not well) for Amadeus but not for Travelport and Sabre must be really hurting, the latter as a result of powering Abacus.
Trend #3 - GDS based bookings seem to be falling off faster than total pax. This is very worrying and I have written about this before. This is driven by two factors: less corporate traffic (which is way off as we have seen from premium airlines like Cathay and BA) and by more shopping which has resulted in leisure shoppers moving towards buying direct (as we have seen from Expedia).
Travelport therefore stated that Q4 2008 "overall volume declines and 9 percent lower GDS revenues. GDS bookings fell 14 percent in the Americas, 15 percent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and 21 percent in Asia-Pacific." Moreover Gordon Wilson head of Travelport's GDS business reported that traffic was even further down in January of 2009. Still a 6% point delta between GDS revenues and transactions points to airlines paying more. This will further exacerbate the conflict between airlines and their former GDS children.
Interestingly in this debate - what we see are the first signs of an acknowledgment of the sea change. The withdrawing from the holistic one size fits everything model has finally come to be acknowledged by the external analysts and even the GDSs themselves.
Former Thomas Weisel stock watcher Jake Fuller--last week hinted at the Masters' Program conference - that the Private Equity players would not be able to sell their GDS based assets in a recovering market any time before the seminal 2011 airline contract negotiating period. Thus the value of the GDS write downs will have to be massive. In turn this would trigger concerns of the debt holders and also any bank to lend more money for basic services such as continuing "normal" investment at usual levels let alone investment in any fundamental changes to cope with a downsized GDS business.
Even Jeff Clark hinted at a number of scenarios such as a return to the NMC/NDC model. he said "If in 2010 and 2011 we continue to go down by 15 percent per year, all bets are off. At that point, you start to look at very different types of technology to move fewer volumes, you start looking at different regions in different ways, and perhaps go to different partnership agreements. Today we're investing in sales and marketing organizations because we have enough scale in those markets to do it. You might go back to (NMC/NDC type) relationships at that point to 'variable-ize' your cost structure."
That type of commentary makes Sabre's recent comments on being THE aggregated source for content sound pretty hollow. Especially when being used to beat up on emerging potential competitors.
I will say this again. The GDS model is definitely wonky if not completely broken. Someone just needs to be honest about it and address the reality of the new world order. Sounds like some people already have it on their radar.
Cheers
GDS based total transactions were off a stunning 15%. What was a worry in August at the Q2 numbers has turned into a full scale rout and ensuing panic with these numbers.
Once you peel back the usual corporate BS - you see that there is some very worrying underlying trends.
Trend #1 - move to a late booking environment. This has not been seen in the USA for a long time if ever. In Europe the switching of consumer behavior occurs often. Early vs late has therefore become something of a game between sellers and consumers. For the US sellers this is a very worrying trend. Even more so when US players have to play by the quarterly report microscope rules.
Trend #2 - traffic is just off. its off 10%+ at the end of last year judging by all the data with a pretty steep dive at Xmas and also January started way off.
Trend #3 - all markets are similarly affected with the exception of LATAM (which is relatively small) and GCC also relatively small at around sub 10%. What is also noticeable is that Europe seems to be holding up about the same as the USA but that Asia Pac is really off. This bodes better (but not well) for Amadeus but not for Travelport and Sabre must be really hurting, the latter as a result of powering Abacus.
Trend #3 - GDS based bookings seem to be falling off faster than total pax. This is very worrying and I have written about this before. This is driven by two factors: less corporate traffic (which is way off as we have seen from premium airlines like Cathay and BA) and by more shopping which has resulted in leisure shoppers moving towards buying direct (as we have seen from Expedia).
Travelport therefore stated that Q4 2008 "overall volume declines and 9 percent lower GDS revenues. GDS bookings fell 14 percent in the Americas, 15 percent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and 21 percent in Asia-Pacific." Moreover Gordon Wilson head of Travelport's GDS business reported that traffic was even further down in January of 2009. Still a 6% point delta between GDS revenues and transactions points to airlines paying more. This will further exacerbate the conflict between airlines and their former GDS children.
Interestingly in this debate - what we see are the first signs of an acknowledgment of the sea change. The withdrawing from the holistic one size fits everything model has finally come to be acknowledged by the external analysts and even the GDSs themselves.
Former Thomas Weisel stock watcher Jake Fuller--last week hinted at the Masters' Program conference - that the Private Equity players would not be able to sell their GDS based assets in a recovering market any time before the seminal 2011 airline contract negotiating period. Thus the value of the GDS write downs will have to be massive. In turn this would trigger concerns of the debt holders and also any bank to lend more money for basic services such as continuing "normal" investment at usual levels let alone investment in any fundamental changes to cope with a downsized GDS business.
Even Jeff Clark hinted at a number of scenarios such as a return to the NMC/NDC model. he said "If in 2010 and 2011 we continue to go down by 15 percent per year, all bets are off. At that point, you start to look at very different types of technology to move fewer volumes, you start looking at different regions in different ways, and perhaps go to different partnership agreements. Today we're investing in sales and marketing organizations because we have enough scale in those markets to do it. You might go back to (NMC/NDC type) relationships at that point to 'variable-ize' your cost structure."
That type of commentary makes Sabre's recent comments on being THE aggregated source for content sound pretty hollow. Especially when being used to beat up on emerging potential competitors.
I will say this again. The GDS model is definitely wonky if not completely broken. Someone just needs to be honest about it and address the reality of the new world order. Sounds like some people already have it on their radar.
Cheers
What Should The Topic Be For Blog #1000?
OK Dear readers
We are closing in on Blog number 1000. So I have a question - what would you like the topic to be?
In the past 3 years since I have been running this blog - I have covered a wide variety of topics. Almost all (except for the odd frivolous ones) are focused on the market segment of Aviation, Travel and Tourism - with a particular emphasis on distribution.
The first blog I ever did was May 16th 2006. Over the first year - there was not a lot that I posted. Just comments on things that were interesting. It wasn't until Feb of 2007 that I started to blog on a serious basis.
To date we have had over 100,000 people visit the site, subscribe in an email or access the content via RSS. This includes our partners who have syndicated the content. And there have even been people who "borrow" some of the words and try to make it their own. I have received thousands of comments - not all of them complimentary but in the most part (except for a Hotel in India) valuable.
So what do I write on for the 1000th blog?
Top stories have been:
The death of the GDS model
The LCC revolution morphing into a regular business model
Poor Airline Service
Stupid Customer Service tricks
Obfuscation by people and companies who should know better
New forms of distribution
Brickbats and Bouquets for all manner of seller behavior
Really Cool Stuff
Road Warrior experiences.
If you have another topic - let me know and I will probably try and do a series for the blog entries 995 through 1005.
Let me know.
And as always - thanks for reading and...
Cheers
We are closing in on Blog number 1000. So I have a question - what would you like the topic to be?
In the past 3 years since I have been running this blog - I have covered a wide variety of topics. Almost all (except for the odd frivolous ones) are focused on the market segment of Aviation, Travel and Tourism - with a particular emphasis on distribution.
The first blog I ever did was May 16th 2006. Over the first year - there was not a lot that I posted. Just comments on things that were interesting. It wasn't until Feb of 2007 that I started to blog on a serious basis.
To date we have had over 100,000 people visit the site, subscribe in an email or access the content via RSS. This includes our partners who have syndicated the content. And there have even been people who "borrow" some of the words and try to make it their own. I have received thousands of comments - not all of them complimentary but in the most part (except for a Hotel in India) valuable.
So what do I write on for the 1000th blog?
Top stories have been:
The death of the GDS model
The LCC revolution morphing into a regular business model
Poor Airline Service
Stupid Customer Service tricks
Obfuscation by people and companies who should know better
New forms of distribution
Brickbats and Bouquets for all manner of seller behavior
Really Cool Stuff
Road Warrior experiences.
If you have another topic - let me know and I will probably try and do a series for the blog entries 995 through 1005.
Let me know.
And as always - thanks for reading and...
Cheers
24 February 2009
Air Arabia Steps Gingerly Into Europe
Most folks in North America and in Europe have never heard of Air Arabia. It never seems to quite make anyone's list. Yet it is today a powerhouse in the GCC states. It is today probably the most profitable airline in the world with yields that most legacy airlines can only have fantasies about.
It has built an extensive network feeding the the GCC markets into Southern Asia and even beyond. It has steadfastly avoided stepping into the territory of the European based LCCs. Well dream no more. Air Arabia has announced its first Western European destination - Athens. Albeit with a very modest 3x a week ATH-SHJ service. This will not be the last of their European destinations.
With Dubai's new LCC - FlyDubai rearing to go this year - Air Arabia must spread its wings and continue to develop more cross feed and keep ahead of the its Emirates neighborhood cousin who is surely going to make a big impact in the LCC market arena when it arrives later this year.
While technically not its first flights to Europe (the carrier already serves Istanbul and Kiev) this is the first step into a major European gateway.
Welcome to Adel Ali and his team. it would be interesting to see if Ryanair is going to fly to Sharjah! I wouldn't put it past the Irish.
Cheers
It has built an extensive network feeding the the GCC markets into Southern Asia and even beyond. It has steadfastly avoided stepping into the territory of the European based LCCs. Well dream no more. Air Arabia has announced its first Western European destination - Athens. Albeit with a very modest 3x a week ATH-SHJ service. This will not be the last of their European destinations.
With Dubai's new LCC - FlyDubai rearing to go this year - Air Arabia must spread its wings and continue to develop more cross feed and keep ahead of the its Emirates neighborhood cousin who is surely going to make a big impact in the LCC market arena when it arrives later this year.
While technically not its first flights to Europe (the carrier already serves Istanbul and Kiev) this is the first step into a major European gateway.
Welcome to Adel Ali and his team. it would be interesting to see if Ryanair is going to fly to Sharjah! I wouldn't put it past the Irish.
Cheers
Simple IBEs Are - Well - Passé
Jim Peters is the CTO for SITA, himself a pioneer having developed one of the earliest IBEs with the Bookit Suite in the mid 1990s which subsequently became part of Datalex, he knows a thing or two about the booking engine process.
I am not sure if I agree with him on his predictions of the end of the conventional IBE. If so then his former company could be in for a hard time since that is their major product line.
“Web 2.0 technologies will transform airline websites into travel planning portals that go far beyond date and location. By making it faster, easier and more cost-effective to provide real-time content from diverse sources, Web 2.0 technologies meet travelers’ demands for greater information and personalization," he said at SITA's 60th anniversary.
Some of the European Union's legislation on privacy might get in the way of this bold vision.
However Jim has a good point, the days of the simplistic Web 1.0 access focused IBEs are clearly reaching the end. The consumer has - as a direct result of their experience with Web 1.0 stuff - become smarter in their purchasing processes. So much the better. But its just not enough.
Someone asked the Professor this week what he thought the real impact of Web 2.0 was? After careful consideration - I am of the opinion that Web 2.0 has been a little over-rated. Ask anyone which is the definitive Web 2.0 travel site and most people will scratch their heads. Trip Advisor? If not them then who?
There is a great book - The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki. I still find it hard to believe but the book makes a compelling case about crowd "intelligence". But can this theory be applied to travel and travel purchase processes? My belief is that Web 2.0 has been somewhat over-hyped. However because it is so nebulous that the chances are that whatever comes along now can be construed as Web 2.0 - heck even this blog is Web 2.0.
What is more interesting to me is how you harness the power of this "Wisdom" with expert advice to create a series of guides and assistants that makes wizards really and truly wizards. Smart, intuitive and overall useful yet still letting the user remain in control.
Sadly though - and perhaps this is Jim's point - the technology that exists at the heart of all of these processes remains essentially a GDS like purchasing process. The portals of which Jim refers just cannot be powered by that old clunky GDS model technology. Something newer that is more closely aligned with the Consumer is required. Those systems are few and far between. The challenge to create new systems - truly next generation and not just lipstick on Sarah Palin's proverbial pig - that are actually built around the customer is just too much of an opportunity to miss.
Now that's interesting!
Do you agree?
I am not sure if I agree with him on his predictions of the end of the conventional IBE. If so then his former company could be in for a hard time since that is their major product line.
“Web 2.0 technologies will transform airline websites into travel planning portals that go far beyond date and location. By making it faster, easier and more cost-effective to provide real-time content from diverse sources, Web 2.0 technologies meet travelers’ demands for greater information and personalization," he said at SITA's 60th anniversary.
Some of the European Union's legislation on privacy might get in the way of this bold vision.
However Jim has a good point, the days of the simplistic Web 1.0 access focused IBEs are clearly reaching the end. The consumer has - as a direct result of their experience with Web 1.0 stuff - become smarter in their purchasing processes. So much the better. But its just not enough.
Someone asked the Professor this week what he thought the real impact of Web 2.0 was? After careful consideration - I am of the opinion that Web 2.0 has been a little over-rated. Ask anyone which is the definitive Web 2.0 travel site and most people will scratch their heads. Trip Advisor? If not them then who?
There is a great book - The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki. I still find it hard to believe but the book makes a compelling case about crowd "intelligence". But can this theory be applied to travel and travel purchase processes? My belief is that Web 2.0 has been somewhat over-hyped. However because it is so nebulous that the chances are that whatever comes along now can be construed as Web 2.0 - heck even this blog is Web 2.0.
What is more interesting to me is how you harness the power of this "Wisdom" with expert advice to create a series of guides and assistants that makes wizards really and truly wizards. Smart, intuitive and overall useful yet still letting the user remain in control.
Sadly though - and perhaps this is Jim's point - the technology that exists at the heart of all of these processes remains essentially a GDS like purchasing process. The portals of which Jim refers just cannot be powered by that old clunky GDS model technology. Something newer that is more closely aligned with the Consumer is required. Those systems are few and far between. The challenge to create new systems - truly next generation and not just lipstick on Sarah Palin's proverbial pig - that are actually built around the customer is just too much of an opportunity to miss.
Now that's interesting!
Do you agree?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)