<B> Worldspan Buys TTG Code</B>
By Cheryl Rosen
<I>Atlanta</I> - Getting a firmer grip on its online booking system, Worldspan has licensed the source code for Trip Manager from Travel Technologies Group, the World Travel Partners-BTI Americas sister company that developed it.
Until now, Worldspan has been private-labeling TTG's ResAssist--a move that allowed it to quickly enter the online booking market, and to focus on sales instead of development. The differences between the two systems were almost entirely cosmetic and contractual; whichever company sold the product determined the price and provided customer support.
But with 500 customers now on board, Worldspan is turning its attentions to pushing usage, said director of product line marketing Helen Porter. Having access to the inner workings of the system will allow the GDS to modify Trip Manager according to its own vision, and develop a product that is uniquely its own.
"We've been talking about this for some time now, and the strongest reason is the flexibility to customize the product to meet our customers' needs," Porter said. "We've had a really good relationship with TTG, but there have been times when our customer needs are different from their customer needs."
Following new Trip Manager contracts signed last month with Delta and last week with Northwest, for example, Worldspan might want to develop a version of the system customized specifically for airline industry employee travel--a niche market in which TTG may have little interest. It also may develop a more leisure-oriented system to power Internet travel sites, another growing customer niche for the GDS.
Even corporate customers "have been interested in seeing us have more autonomy and flexibility," Porter said, though she also noted that the agreement "is very open as far as future options in joint development" between Worldspan and TTG.
For Worldspan customers, that arrangement promises "the best of both worlds," said Cindy Heston, manager of corporate travel worldwide for Thomson Consumer Electronics in Indianapolis. "Having Worldspan own the code will make a difference on the maintenance--there are some text items in the system that aren't consistent and that confuses our travelers a little, for example, and now Worldspan can fix that right away. Now we're in a smaller pond, and I like that."
For TTG, the deal brings cash to fund future development, said corporate travel and technology president Danny Hood, though he declined to say how much. "My excitement over this deal is that Worldspan gets what it wants and we get some real money to do some sexy things," he said. "We're going to put a voice front end on the system. We think the combination of trip templates and speech recognition is going to be very powerful.