Hickory & First To Open Central Res, QC Centers
<B> Hickory & First To Open Central Res, QC Centers</B>
By Sarah Welt
<I>Saddle Brook, N.J.</I> - Hickory Travel Systems, managing partner of First Travel Management International, opened a new reservation center on July 9, while its international First alliance in Germany is rolling out a global quality control system.
The reservation center, located in Grants Pass, Ore., is one of three Hickory operates; the others are in Tucson, Ariz., and Saddle Brook, N.J. It will function as a full service res center, handling roll-over calls and working as a transparent backup to Hickory's other operations.
Overseas, the organization is working on a global QC system that will be based in Hanover, Germany, and should be ready to roll out within two months. "It will operate like a service bureau, so all agencies in Europe, whether on Amadeus or Galileo, will have one big computer center to QC all transactions. It will be one QC system for 30 different agencies with almost 1000 locations," said Hickory president and CEO Bill Chiles, who recently was re-elected to a three-year term as chairman of the First supervisory board, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Hickory plans to bring the QC system to the United States by Jan. 1, 1999, after ensuring that it is fully compatible with the Sabre CRS. "We've got to do some adaptation for our U.S. agencies, many of which have their own QC system already," said Chiles. "But probably 50 percent of Hickory's members would love to be on the system. It will cost a fraction of what you'd pay for it on your own."
Over the next three years, First will be focusing on the Asian marketplace. "We've been able to fill out the Asia piece very well, even though we haven't signed a formal franchise contract," Chiles said.
Also on the agenda is a plan to offer upscale a la carte services--such as an international rate desk, 24-hour service and a hotel program--to leisure travel agencies.
The international First organization, with $9.8 billion in air sales in 1997, was formed following the Carlson-Wagonlit merger. In 1997, 10 European agencies with an informal working relationship banded together and came seeking a U.S.-based partner. They chose Hickory because it "had the widest coverage and was in the unique position to buy the master franchise rights with hard money and become a shareholder," Chiles said. The two main shareholders are Chiles' group in the United States, with 20 percent, and one in Germany, with 35 percent.