<B>TechTalk</B>
<B>OTA Sets Sights On Availability and Booking</B>
Members of the Open Travel Alliance now are reviewing its 2001a specification for hotel-based traveler profiles, with hopes to finalize it in a May 15 meeting in Ft. Lauderdale. Meanwhile, the OTA is targeting later this year for release of the 2001b availability and booking specification for air, car, hotel and leisure, which will facilitate the exchange of messages between supplier host databases and customers or intermediaries. OTA is developing Extensible Markup Language-based Web data exchanges for such functions as building, storing and exchanging traveler profiles.
<B><A NAME=2>TRX Releases Web Version Of Reporting Tool</B>
Dallas-based TRX Inc. last month announced at the Association of Corporate Travel Executives conference in Tampa, Fla., that it is rolling out to several major clients the new Web-based version of its Navigator data consolidation tool--adding flexibility on report timing, round-the-clock access and multiple users. "Our global clients now can simultaneously view reports with colleagues on other continents, offering immense speed to their corporate travel analysis and decision making," said TRX data services executive vice president and general manager Susan Hopley.
<B><A NAME=3>Sabre Licenses TQ3 Maritz Data Model</B>
TQ3 Maritz Travel Solutions late last month announced an agreement giving Sabre a license for its data model to support various customer relationship management, knowledge management and transaction processing applications. Terms of the agreement between the two companies, which became effective on March 30, were not disclosed. The data model, introduced in 1992, involves multiple database tables and entity relationships to manage travel transaction data, profile management, reservations, ticketing, accounting and reporting.
<B><A NAME=4>Aqua, Trondent Partner For Agency, CTD Automation</B>
Barrington, Ill.-based Trondent Development Corp. partnered with Aqua Software Products Inc. of Santa Ana, Calif., to launch a new service called Travelgamut, offering to agencies and corporate travel departments a complete line of automated solutions. Travelgamut offers clients access to upgrade, seat, fare and waitlist modules; travel documentation delivery via fax, e-mail or Web; e-ticket tracking services; and automated quality control. Supported from a dedicated service bureau operating center at Trondent's headquarters, Travelgamut will be powered by the Aqua 2000 quality control system and Trondent's document delivery software.
<B><A NAME=5>ACTE Offers Membership TravelTechnology.com Study</B>
TravelTechnology.com late last month announced that the Association of Corporate Travel Executives would offer TravelTechnology.com's "Corporate Self-Booking Tools: An Analytical Study" to its membership at a 25 percent discount off the $1,200 price tag. An expanded update to the November 2000 study will be released in June 2001. Norm Rose, president of TravelTechnology.com and author of the study, said, "No matter which market estimate you believe, it is clear that corporate self-booking tools are not just a passing fad, but over the next five years these products will become the primary starting point for all business travel transactions.