<H1>Future Sticker Shock</H1> Glimpsing the future can be an expensive proposition. Consulting firms The Park Group and The Futures Group, which plan to release results of a joint study on the travel industry by September, will be charging between $40,000 and $50,000 for their predictions. Certainly, information on technology, low-cost competition, distribution, emerging markets and privatization could be quite valuable to travel suppliers. The study, titled "Will Your 1996 Corporate Strategies Take You to the next Millennium?" will provide plausible scenarios against which travel companies can test current strategies, said Park Group executive vice president Jim Foster.
Air Canada Addresses United's Global Effort
Robert Milton, Air Canada executive vice president and chief operating officer, said the airline plans to work "extremely closely" with United Airlines on United's effort to create the first airline network covering the entire globe. "We see the number-two carriers in the U.S. and Canada-American and Canadian-being offset by the number ones, us and United," said Milton. "We're also excited about the global prospects of the Lufthansa-Air Canada-United-Thai partnership." Milton's comments came two weeks after Air Canada reduced its investment in Continental; it plans to be out completely by 1997. "We look forward to a friendly relationship with Continental, and we are pleased to have helped them get out of Chapter 11," Milton said.
Uniglobe Aims To Improve Service
Uniglobe Travel International Inc. has implemented an 18-month, systemwide program that requires each of its 1,100 locations to meet escalated customer service, finance, reporting, sales and training performance benchmarks. The program, Operation Compass, is expected to chart a course for "consistency, reliability and professionalism" within the Uniglobe franchise, said company president and CEO Gary Charlwood.