New Highwire, KDS Products "Express" Midmarket Interest
Seattle-based Highwire and Paris-based KDS are targeting, respectively, small to midsized travel agencies and midsized businesses with new self-booking tools that are slimmed-down versions of their major corporate tools, Highwire and KDS Corporate. They made their announcements separately today and yesterday, but KDS and Highwire parent Parsippany, N.J.-based Galileo International--owned by Cendant Corp.--do have a European partnership in which Galileo markets a private-labeled version of KDS Corporate, called Galileo SpecialAgent. The latest products also share a name in that Highwire is offering Highwire Express and Highwire Express Plus, while the KDS product is called KDS Express.
Designed to be sold by small and midsized agencies to corporate clients that "lightly" manage travel, the Highwire-hosted Express and Express Plus products can be uniquely branded and are meant to be implemented in as little as two weeks. Both offer agency consortium and corporate negotiated supplier rates and self registration for new users. Features available only in Express Plus are automated synchronization with global distribution system profiles, out of policy reason codes, corporate policy enforcement, benchmarking and statistical booking reports. Galileo officials said all Highwire booking tools will be available for GDSs in addition to Galileo starting by year-end.
In a statement, KDS called its Express, to be available this summer, "a packaged solution ensuring a quick return on investment due to a fast track implementation." Features include pre-trip approval, post-trip reporting and travel policy integration. KDS officials were unable immediately to elaborate on what the statement referred to as a travel policy engine "specifically designed for medium-sized corporations."
There is room in the midmarket for more new online booking business. According to recent research by Business Travel News, 13 percent of 130 midmarket companies with an average annual U.S.-booked air spend of $5 million now are buying and implementing a self-booking tool, while 23 percent more will select a tool this year or next. One-third of such companies have a tool, while 23 percent said they have no plans to buy one.