Data Capture Key To Non-GDS And Non-TMC ResCorporate travel data consolidators are seeing growing interest in the use of their services to capture data from disparate booking channels, partly alleviating one of the less appealing aspects of accessing rates and inventory outside of the designated travel management company. "Not only can we connect with the global distribution systems, but also a growing number of non-GDS data sources," said Trondent Development Corp. COO Lana Parro. "We also do some business with the online agencies, and we anticipate that growing." According to Prism Group president Michael Whitesage, "Today, we have data sources from third parties like Expedia and Orbitz and the carriers using the system. Carrier-direct still is evolving and portals are opening up, but customers have not made a great demand in using portals. The concern is policy. Before you unhinge the agency source, you need to have their capabilities. They provide airline booking, complete itineraries, policy adherence and data capture." Despite the obstacles, he said, "We are capturing data today from some airline-direct channels with permission of corporate accounts."
Aqua Study: GDSs Grab 95% of TransactionsGlobal data consolidation and management report capabilities are among the top reasons 83 percent of corporations continue to use a traditional TMC, according to an Academic & Business Consulting study sponsored by Aqua Software Products, a division of Navigant International. Announced in April, the study showed that about 95 percent of corporate travel transactions continue to be processed through global distribution systems, but that 65 percent of agencies and corporations said they are unable to access all fares and schedules through their current booking interface. Most non-GDS volume, the study showed, is going directly to supplier Web sites. The research included agencies and non-client corporations with a collective air volume of nearly $5 billion and more than 11.3 million annual transactions.
West Coast TMC Tries MIDT For Airline TalksCendant subsidiary Shepherd Systems in March named Montrose, Calif.-based TMC Montrose Travel as a client for its AgentFlash data solution, which offers users a detailed picture of GDS bookings
(BTN, May 13, 2002) for the purposes of enhancing incentive agreements with airlines. Also known as MIDT, the GDS data in AgentFlash includes individual marketshare, system share and peer share for each and/or all cabin classes of service. Montrose Travel claimed more than $100 million in 2003 gross sales.
TRX Reveals Robust Transaction GrowthTRX Inc. said it broke all internal records for transaction processing during the first quarter, putting it on track for annual achievements including the management of more than 82 million data records this year among its French, German, Swiss, U.K. and U.S. offices. Among the first-quarter milestones: TRX's Correx automated quality control and auto-ticketing solution processed more than 13 million travel reservations, a 34 percent year-over-year increase; the Tranxact back-office travel reservation processing, settlement, exception handling and distribution solution settled more than 10 million transactions, up 29 percent; the Datatrax travel and financial data solution handled more than 24 million data records, a 15 percent rise from the year-earlier quarter.
Expedia Partners For ReportingExpedia Corporate Travel clients have praised the timeliness of the firm's data reporting, which Expedia in April said was to be provided in part by San Jose, Calif.-based Business Objects. The company's software accesses data from Expedia's Microsoft SQL Server warehouse. Orbitz For Business last year partnered with Prism Group for data consolidation and reporting.