Galileo Offers GUI Face

<B> Galileo Offers GUI Face</B>

By Jay Campbell

<i>New York</i> - Galileo International last week introduced a new system that replaces the cryptic codes of the global distribution systems with point-and-click interfaces, potentially reducing travel agency training costs by 30 to 40 percent and making it easier to hire agents in a shrinking labor pool.

The Windows-based system, called Viewpoint, is a graphical user interface (GUI) desktop booking system that handles air, car and hotel bookings. Formerly known as Project Breckenridge (<I>BTN,</I> June 10, 1996), Viewpoint was tested in about 100 agencies in 21 countries, and will go into worldwide deployment in December.

At a press conference, Terry Rolecek, Galileo's director of subscriber marketing and sales programs, said that "great travel agents have three main skills: CRS knowledge, travel industry knowledge and customer service and sales." Simplifying the first "will enable our subscribers to focus their training on the other two, transforming agents from reservationists to brokers."

At beta tester Professional Travel Corp., director of reservations Kathy Cook estimated that Viewpoint could cut the cost and time involved in booking a reservation by 30 to 40 percent--and said "even the experienced agents surprised themselves."

Viewpoint displays twice as many flights as a CRS screen, and offers seat maps for air bookings and searchable city maps for hotel bookings. For corporate customers, the system enables travel policy-makers to bias the display towards preferred vendors. It runs on 486 PCs or higher, making it a feasible solution "for the vast majority of travel agents," said Rolecek. An Internet version also is being considered.