<B> Worldspan Offers Dial-In</B>
By Mary Ann McNulty
<I>Atlanta</I> - Continuing to shift as much of its offering to the Web as possible, Worldspan last week rolled out Commercial World Net, designed to immediately offer smaller corporations a cost-effective booking option, and to eventually replace the more expensive dial-up version of Commercial World.
By switching to Commercial World Net, corporations and agents in remote locations can immediately eliminate the $150 monthly fee charged for the dial-in through CompuServe, said vice president of sales and marketing Sue Powers. "It's just been released in the last 30 days, but we're seeing most of our users switch over," she said.
Some larger corporations currently using Commercial World through leased phone lines also might find the new Net version attractive, Worldspan executives said.
Business travelers or travel arrangers can use the site to create, view and change booking information, and to route it to their travel department or agency. Besides viewing all available flights and fares, users can select a seat from a live seat map, view hotel and car availability and e-mail their travel agent. They also can access reservation and profile databases and generate reports.
Worldspan began a shift to the Web more than two years ago when it deployed its frame relay network, then slowly converted agencies to the Worldspan Go! browser-based interface. More than half of the company's users now have Go!, said Powers.
As part of the online push, the GDS also released a Guide to Electronic Marketing for its subscribers. Taking a page from its own strategic plan, the book encourages subscribers to embrace technology, rather than fear it, noting that in 1998, $2.8 billion in travel was booked over the Internet, triple the 1997 amount.
Earlier this year, Worldspan released the first in its series of guidebooks, What's Coming Next in the Travel Industry. Among the 12 trends that will drive the structure of the travel industry, the GDS forecast that international travel will soar, more business travelers will become self-bookers, commissions will continue to decline, agency service charges will proliferate and fees will rise.