A Battle Is Brewing In Seattle
A hotbed of competition soon will wake up in Seattle as a handful of midsize to large clients of Metropolitan Travel pit Expedia's corporate product against Galileo International's Highwire. Most Metropolitan clients use the Highwire booking tool, which the agency built before selling it to Galileo in 2001. Months after the acquisition of Met by Expedia, which will target midsize and larger accounts later this year, Galileo execs in November touted to investors a list of nine top Highwire clients that included Met customers Amazon.com, Nordstrom and Starbucks. Expedia parent Microsoft also is a Highwire user with high adoption. Galileo said it expected 350 percent growth in Highwire segments this year, up from about 750,000 in 2002. Asked whether Expedia's moves weaken the cited customer relationships, Cendant Travel Distribution chairman and CEO Sam Katz said, "We can't predict what will happen with those relationships. We can't get into details, but there are some non-compete types of clauses." Expedia senior vice president of corporate travel Byron Bishop was unaware of such stipulations: "We have absolutely no restrictions to provide a better product to those customers," he said. "Unfortunately for our clients, Highwire is not getting very high adoption. Each existing client will choose when to convert. If it turns out some client has to wait until year-end 2003, so be it."
Orbitz To Automate Exchanges, Move E-Mail Support
Orbitz chairman, president and CEO Jeffrey Katz last month said the booking site "early this year" will be equipped with Worldspan's Rapid Reprice technology to allow travelers to exchange certain airline tickets without manual intervention, something Expedia's and Northwest Airlines' sites implemented last year. "It's a nice feature, and it represents one-third of the calls we get," said Katz. Exchanges are one of a couple "typical travel-related questions" handled for Orbitz by Upstream, the Rosenbluth International unit that won the Orbitz support contract in April, said Upstream vice president of sales and client services Joe Terrion. Others involve itinerary confirmations and site navigation. "Ninety percent of customer inquiries come by telephone, though e-mail is an option," Terrion said. "We do not do any of the ticketing, just inbound customer service. We set up a joint venture in India and will be servicing Orbitz from there." The Mumbai-based venture, Lawkim Private Ltd., for the time being will handle some e-mail support for simple requests. "This also allows customers' instantaneous response to marketing campaigns we may have, but typically not the really hard things like exchanges, where you might want to call," said Eliah Kahn, Orbitz vice president of customer experience. "We're trying to move in such a way where we don't risk jeopardizing any service we provide. We may explore phone in the future, but for now all phone contact is handled in Upstream's North Dakota offices."
Navigant To Build Online Fulfillment
Joining a number of its competitors, Navigant International this year will roll out a centralized e-fulfillment unit. "You need it for full self-service and no touch," said chairman, president and CEO Ed Adams. The effort is but one of a handful of technology-related items on the 2003 agenda for Navigant as it brings new systems online and faces tough decisions on others. The second-largest travel management company is seeking to finalize its thinking on whether and how to integrate technology acquired with Sato Travel, including its profile management and back-office systems. Navigant and Sato currently use different versions of GlobalMax for the back office, and Adams called the decision "a challenge." The back-office system drives Navigant's ReportFLYR data management offering—which Adams said "has opened some doors for us"—as well as its AlertFLYR contract management system, due to be released by this month. Announced in July
(BTN, July 15, 2002), AlertFLYR offers clients current data on their contractual performance "without having to mine for it," said Darryl Hoover, director of corporate MIS. The system lets users establish thresholds for key performance indicators and produce exception reports on policy compliance, preferred supplier usage, booking method and other areas. The system tracks performance versus goals on up to seven airlines, three hotels and three rental car companies. Meanwhile, Navigant's Santa Ana, Calif.-based Aqua Software Products this month readied the launch of AquaQuest, the Web fare connection from Orbitz that the company will market to other travel agencies.