<B> Agents Join In CRS Quest</B>
By Sarah Welt
<i>New York</i> - The United States Travel Agent Registry's (USTAR) Genesis Project has finished up the year by releasing financial details for its proposed non-profit ticketing, settlement and accreditation platform, and gaining support from the American Society of Travel Agents and the Association of Retail Travel Agencies.
USTAR, which hopes to build an agency-owned alternative to the airline CRS systems, revealed details of the cost structure for its $50 million initiative at a November meeting with ASTA's executive committee in Alexandria, Va.
Costs, based on what it hopes will be 1,000 travel agency members and 6,000 Genesis workstations are:
$15 million for system integration and project management
$10 million for contingency and reserve fund
$6.6 million for data center hardware and operations
$5 million for training and help desk implementation
$5 million for advertising and communications
$3.6 million for CRS core application development and deployment
$3.5 million for administration
$.7 million for ticket stock development and production
$.6 million for settlement plan software development.
USTAR membership application fees for 1998 have been set at $150 for those signing on between Jan. 1 and March 1, with additional $50 increases to kick in on March 2 and June 2. Annual membership fees are $250 for travel agencies and $25 for individual agents.
Other user costs include a $500 monthly access fee; a one-time $175 connection/installation fee; and a 36-month lease package, including a server, four workstations, a router and an ATB printer, for $300-$400 a month.
Genesis users will be credited with 75 cents for each service coupon reported to the settlement house, so the monthly access fees can be offset by agents selling 650 coupons. Each air booking will yield four coupons and non-air bookings will yield one coupon.
Genesis plans to charge segment fees of $1.90 per booking, charged upon processing service coupons, so suppliers will not be charged for passive segments. Long-term contracts like those agencies now have with traditional CRSs are not part of the USTAR scheme, where subscribers will be permitted to access the system on a month-to-month basis.
Once Genesis is recognized as a CRS, any airline that owns a CRS must participate in Genesis. "This means all airlines that have a CRS relationship in terms of ownership either directly or through affiliates will have no choice but to participate in Genesis and to deliver us inventory and functionality in equal terms," said USTAR president Bruce Bishins.
USTAR met with 35 travel suppliers in December to get feedback and to clarify functional and platform issues. Since some suppliers raised concerns about revenue accounting, screen displays and documentation, USTAR is suggesting that suppliers participate in a technical advisory group in their specific area of interest.
Next on the agenda for USTAR in 1998 is beta testing of the system with approximately 20 to 30 travel agencies, currently scheduled for the third quarter. An active launch is planned for the fourth quarter.