U.K. travel management company Portman has launched a
self-booking version of PortmanOne, the point-of-sale booking desktop used by
its own consultants. Chief customer officer John Dick said corporate clients
gain profiles that are synchronized across PortmanOne's agent, online and mobile
platforms, the last of which is being piloted. They also get hotel, air, rail
and ground transport content from direct and Web sources, as well as from global
distribution system Travelport. Those sources include Expedia; GroundScope,
which styles itself as a GDS for ground transportation; and Travelfusion, which
provides access to hundreds of low-cost carriers. "Other booking tools may
have some of these links, but none have all of them," Dick claimed.
He noted that most TMCs run separate online and
offline traveler profiles, which means mistakes can occur if, for example,
travelers change their dietary preferences or offer different contact details.
He added that a booking started by a traveler can be changed by a Portman
consultant or vice versa and will look the same no matter where it was
initiated, including on the mobile app, which will include air reservations.
Other features include live chat, which Dick said is
used particularly heavily by clients' youngest travelers.
Portman developed PortmanOne with travel technology
provider Atriis, which is owned partly by Portman's parent company. Lufthansa has
named Atriis one of the partners that can provide a direct, GDS-bypassing
connection from the airline group, but Portman is not offering that to clients
at this stage, even though it would help avoid Lufthansa's €16 Distribution
Cost Charge. In fact, PortmanOne does not yet offer any traditional carriers
via non-GDS routes, though Dick and Portman commercial director Adrian Parkes
are looking closely at British Airways' New Distribution Capability offering,
which now includes the ability to book negotiated corporate fares.
Dick said that, in spite of the link to Expedia,
85 percent of hotel rooms sold through PortmanOne remain GDS sourced. However,
said Parkes, "we are trying to protect ourselves so that we can take
content from elsewhere if we have to." Dick added that offering both GDS
and Web content helps customers better compare corporate and best available rates
for hotel bookings and that it's gradually causing a switch toward the latter.