The rise in prominence of Expedia Corporate Travel, Orbitz For Business and Travelocity Business has sparked extensive speculation within the corporate meetings industry as to those companies' plans for their space—speculation that is not without merit, as at least one of the online corporate travel agencies soon plans to increase its meetings industry presence. For meetings technology companies, that means anticipation as to whether the online agencies will be friends or foes.
Expedia Corporate Travel marketing manager Mitch Robinson said the company likely before the end of 2003 would announce some type of activity related to meetings management. He would not characterize the nature of that activity, but drew parallels to the company's 2002 purchase of Seattle-based, bricks-and-mortar travel agency Metropolitan Travel, which effectively marked Expedia's entry into the realm of corporate travel management (BTN, July 29).
"Look at why ECT purchased Metropolitan," Robinson said, noting that Metropolitan employed, and ECT still employs, travel agents who plan corporate meetings. "That is the model. We can combine online technology with our meeting and incentive people who have a great deal of experience. We have the experience and the people, and we want more technology. We can either build it or work with someone."
Even beyond ECT's immediate plans, though, rumors and speculation as to the online agencies' purported plans run rampant.
"The industry is looking at some of the players not directly tied to meetings, like Orbitz and Expedia, very seriously," said meetings industry consultant Jeff Rasco, also president of Attendee Management Inc. of Wimberley, Texas. "Some of the service providers are having conversations about being acquired or absorbed. It will be interesting."
To some, the presumption that the online agencies would seek to add meetings management functionality—particularly such capabilities as attendee registration, request for proposal services, housing and air fulfillment and even data-consolidation services—seems inevitable. "It's not all that much of a stretch," Rasco said. "Why wouldn't they add corporate meeting registration while they're at it? If I'm an attendee and I can get the best hotel rates, the planner still gets credit for the room block and air and car and all the confirmations in one package, why wouldn't I?"
The implications for the meetings technology sector as constituted would be significant.
"There are some groups out there with money, and they will shake things up," Rasco said. "And there are a lot of companies that are relying on their place in the industry but do not have the resources to compete. There are larger technology companies that have those resources, and they don't build in-house, they go out and get it. But I've been wrong before."
Orbitz made its first entry into the meetings management sector in June, when the company announced it had formed a partnership with Chicago-based David Green Interactive, a division of meetings and convention management firm David Green Organization
(Meetings Today, July 7). Effectively, Orbitz for Business will refer its customers who seek meeting planning services to DGO.
However, many in the meetings industry viewed that move as Orbitz's first, preliminary step into meetings management, not its final one. OFB general manager David Cerino said any future move the company may make would build upon the David Green partnership. "David Green has been in business more than 30 years, and they have a high level of quality service," Cerino said. "All extensions would be through David Green. As to the further integration of tech tools, we're always looking to add more functionality or automation for companies that need that service."
One such functionality, Cerino said, would be the automated analysis of potential group air costs based on meeting site selection, which Orbitz currently is developing in-house. Cerino said not to expect that tool to be released until 2004.
Cerino acknowledged speaking to meetings technology companies that also are partners of DGI. "We have talked, but it is in the early stages," he said. Cerino did not name names, but PlanSoft is one DGI partner.
Expedia's Robinson noted his company employs agents who plan meetings and contrasted that setup to Orbitz's DGO partnership. "We believe we have a much better way of doing it, with developers sitting across from corporate travel agents," he said.
Travelocity Business only this summer publicly unveiled its corporate travel offerings
(BTN, Aug. 14), but the company already resides in the same corporate family as a meetings technology product: It and GetThere's DirectMeetings services both are owned by Sabre Holdings. Sabre is in the process of realigning GetThere with Travelocity
(BTN, Sept. 22), and a company spokesperson noted it was too early to detail how DirectMeetings would integrate with or under Travelocity, but also said GTDM would be a part of the realigned Travelocity in some capacity.
Current meetings technology executives continue to analyze the online agencies' potential impact on their businesses.
"That's a competitive marketplace, and they're all competitive players," said Ed Tromczynski, president and COO of Twinsburg, Ohio-based PlanSoft. "We keep our eye on whether they will turn their cannons to the group market and whether they would be likely partners of PlanSoft or competitors. They're getting that aroma that the group market is something they want to do, and they're evaluating who might be a partner and who might be a problem."
Tromczynski said an outright acquisition of a meetings technology company by an online agency eventually may occur. "It will be a little while before they seriously focus on group space," he said. "They have a lot of work on transient to do and a lot of marketshare to gain, but it's not outlandish. If they think the group space is big enough, it's possible."
Tromczynski specifically mentioned a theoretical deal that could involve PlanSoft sharing some content of its database of hotels: photos, floor plans and an in-development geographic mapping function. "It would be no challenge for us to serve one of them with a subset of our information," he said. "Any of the three would be likely candidates for a partnership."
SeeUthere Technologies, which last month announced it raised $4.6 million in capital
(see story), would not address any potential direct relationship with Expedia or other such vendors. "We're not in the position of commenting on the intentions of other companies," said COO Stanley Chin.
SeeUthere, however, long has pitched itself as a solution ready and willing to work with any other travel and meeting technology supplier and that extends to the online travel agencies, said vice president of product management and marketing Helen Loh. "We see that as a possibility," she said. "Look at how traditional agencies became involved with meetings technology, including with SeeUthere. Look at how online self-booking tools did as well. As a complement, we'd be right there. Is it inevitable? Yes, but we hope to be ubiquitous and agnostic."
John Pino, CEO of Philadelphia-based online meetings management firm StarCite, in a recent interview with Meetings Today
(Meetings Today, Oct. 20) acknowledged the online agencies' potential to change his industry.
"Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz could be [our competitors] one day, not that they are today," he said. "As our sales get bigger, we have to figure out how to contrast ourselves to much larger players than we're used to. That's the thing that keeps me up. The competitive set is apt to change, and it will include larger, more well-established companies than StarCite. I don't know who could emerge, but there is no doubt there will be large players here, and sooner than later."