Whether it’s that last minute plan or a pre planned well structured itinerary on your bucket list, irrespective of the time zones across the globe, quintessentially it has always been your travel agent who has come to your rescue, ensuring each of your travels have been memorable. Earlier, the need for travel agents to be able to make instant bookings and check seat availability in real-time was originally driven by the airline industry to better serve its travellers. But now acting as the catalyst and responding to those million searches worldwide for either flight bookings or hotel availability, real-time inventory upgradation has been of prime importance to agents to ensure that they serve their customers better at each step. An increasing number of travel companies are introducing interesting phone applications like virtual guides and planners, interactive websites to assist the traveller right from the planning stage. It is very important for every travel company to get on to the social media platform. While planning a holiday, travellers tend to research online about the destination and the travel company.
If seen geographically, in India, urban Indians with good internet access are driving a lot of this activity. Apart from retail, the convenience of online shopping is what makes it so attractive. Its the reason that online travel agents penetration is highest of all Asia Pacific here in India, climbing to 15 per cent next year, according to PhocusWright.
 “Providing only real-time information is no longer sufficient.”Rabih Saab President & Mng. Director, Middle East, Africa and South Asia, Travelport |
Real-time information has been leading to higher rates of conversion, with travellers committing more to fares and seats or hotel rooms that are confirmed, especially when based on offers. However, the constant challenge for travel technology companies has been reaching into every travel community with the new real-time technology tools. And as the government makes an effort to increase internet penetration in these areas, online sales is expected to grow manifold. Putting perspective on this, Rabih Saab, president and managing director, Middle East, Africa and South Asia, Travelport points out, “Travel agents need fast and accurate information to service the needs of their customers. Hence providing only real-time information is no longer sufficient. Due to the vast amount of data, agents require enhanced capabilities such as intelligent search to help them sort through and search for the relevant content they need to sell, as well as a streamlined platform to efficiently fulfill bookings. Addressing this need is our core desktop solution – Smartpoint – enable agents to have access to the breadth of travel content they need in real-time, whilst providing capabilities to enable agencies to work faster and more efficiently.”
What’s trending
With all of the technological advancements taking place on the sidelines, it is the mobile technology which is seen to be trending as the key priority area as more people are moving to mobile devices to access online content. According to PhoCusWright research, mobile will be the fastest-growing travel distribution channel in India between 2012 and 2015. Mobile travel gross bookings is expected to surge to US$1.2 billion between 2012 and 2015. New technology and technology enhancements must be designed with mobile capability in mind.
 “Earlier personalisation efforts by most e-commerce companies were to leverage transaction data alone.”Samyukth Sridharan COO, Cleartrip |
“While earlier, personalisation efforts by most e-commerce companies were to leverage transaction data alone e.g., Amazon’s ‘people who bought this also bought this’ prompt, we have extended the paradigm to suggesting, ‘We understand you and think you’ll like this’,” mentions Samyukth Sridharan, chief operating officer, Cleartrip, adding, that the technological investments to achieve this next wave fall in three categories, a) storing b) understanding and c) experimenting.
 “Companies are making huge investment in mobile technology to keep pace with the market.”Sharat Dhall President, Yatra.com |
As technology keeps changing, one has to be ready to make these changes to stay ahead in the business, opines Sharat Dhall, president, Yatra.com, stating that companies are making huge investment in mobile technology to keep pace with the market. Agreeing to this point, Jeet Sawhney, managing director, Abacus India reveals that about 39 per cent of Indian business travellers are now making travel arrangements including bookings via mobile devices, which projects as a huge opportunity for travel and tourism practitioners. Another interesting trend that the company sees is with smaller and niche travel operators launching their own sites, introducing new content with a degree of dynamic packaging. “We expect to see a lot of innovation around specific groups of travellers and their preferred forms of engagement such as via tablets or smartphones and social media integrated,” mentions Sawhney, while stating about Abacus Mobility Suite which offers an an array of products and apps designed for wireless travellers, connecting them to their travel management company.
 “Smaller and niche travel operators are seen to be launching their own sites.”Jeet Sawhney Mng. Director, Abacus India |
As a result of the constant growth in customer base, there is a need to scale the application and hosting of architecture. Sanket Atal, chief technological officer, MakeMyTrip, points out, “We are making a lot of investment in our data centres (hardware, management software, security) as well as in creating software architectures that are scalable and fast. We have also acquired many companies and are investing in technical integration of all MakeMyTrip companies worldwide.”
What to leverage on
 “We are making a lot of investment in our data centres as well as in creating fast 7 scalable software architectures.”Sanket Atal CTO, MakeMyTrip |
Having the right technology directly impacts business growth, especially for small time agents competing with mid- or larger scale agencies. They can build their business with superior point-of-sale, mid and back office systems competing with much larger companies. As an example, Abacus has been using its technology to help tier two agencies expand locally and nationally or develop their niche focus. Saab opines, “Smaller agents have the ability to provide a more personalised experience for their customers. Through industry-leading technology such as Smartpoint, ePricing, Universal API, smaller agents can gain access to the latest technology and travel content that is focused on improving agency efficiency, enabling business growth.” Putting in a recommendation, Sawhney says, “Smaller agents should look at opportunities online and on the potential of mobile applications.”
Offering another choice, Atal mentions that small time agents can utilise the Opensource software as it is a great way to proceed since there is minimal barrier to entry and there are many companies offering services to customise the software as per your needs. “This can be used for things like CRM and financial systems as well as for creating a website for your company to get customer requests online,” he says. Big Data is a pipedream for small businesses currently due to the investment in both tech and talent involved. “A lot of travel agents already use platforms such as ‘Agentbox’ from Cleartrip to deliver their core services and automatically benefit from the investments we make,” mentions Sridharan.
 “It is essential to customise websites for mobile surfing and develop applications for smartphones.”Daniel D’souza Head of Sales – Tour Operating, Kuoni India |
Daniel D’souza, head of sales- tour operating, Kuoni India agrees, “Many travel agencies have had to make considerable adaptations to remain solvent and relevant to reach out to their prospective travellers. With more and more travellers starting to make their bookings online, it is essential to customise websites for mobile surfing and develop applications for the smartphones. The mobile platform also enables travel agents the convenience and ability to make bookings and interact with their customers even when out of the office. Kuoni- SOTC introduced a mobile app in association with Microsoft to introduce Kuoni -SOTC offerings to upcoming Windows 8 user base.”
While Amit Madhan, chief operating officer – IT & E Services, Thomas Cook (India) says, “Mobile and social media have become an integral part of our lives. In terms of leveraging it for business, it’s all about how to monetise and capitalise on that changing behaviour. The technology behind mobile phones is changing constantly and the challenge is to adapt quickly. At Thomas Cook India, we want to understand the behaviour of a user on a mobile site and place all those learnings into an app. Therefore, the mobile site is helping us increase customer engagement and leads rather than just transactions.”
Capital investments and gains
 “Mobile and social have become an integral part of our lives. In terms of leveraging it for business, it’s all about how to monetise and capitalise on that changing behaviour.”Amit Madhan COO – IT & E Services, Thomas Cook (India) |
Based on rapid technological changes that have taken place in the last few years, bigger changes happen once in 15-18 months while the smaller ones happen within six-eight months. Dhall states that depending on the market and competition- in case an organisation is lagging in technology and the investment happens at that point in time, there might not be any major change in the market share. But in case an organisation is investing to be ahead of the curve there can be substantial cost reductions as well as increase in the market share.
In the last five years, Travelport has invested over US$400 million in research and development to provide solutions that meet the business needs of its customers and reduce their overall cost of revenue. The company has invested into Smartpoint and Travelport Merchandising Platform which has redefined the way airlines sell their fares and ancillaries through the travel agency channel. “Whilst we are not able to disclose percentage share numbers, Travelport as a company has experienced a five per cent year-on-year growth for the past few quarters,” says Saab. As for Abacus, the company in India grew by 50 per cent last year and expects to double its size in the next three years. “Our investment in technology will result in an increased market share,” points out Sawhney, adding that, Abacus WorkSpace heightens productivity by 25 per cent and with better content aggregation, makes booking 40 per cent more efficient.” For Cleartrip, technology affects all aspects of their business – their marketing spends have become up to 100 per cent more efficient. Conversion rates (the probability of a user to book once they have searched) has improved by up to 100 per cent for some products. “We can segregate users to provide differential levels of customer service to our most valued customers. It is part of our fundamental value proposition,” says Sridharan.
Future needs
The world is moving towards everything mobile at a very fast pace. Atal predicts that in the next ten years people will be using wearable technology (equivalent of Google Glasses, Smartwatches) for having all information at one’s fingertips, conduct online transactions and also controlling equipment (cars, stereo systems, etc). “Yesterday’s science fiction is today’s reality and today’s science fiction will be tomorrow’s reality,” he feels.
Use of Big Data in India could also be a possibility, with the industry leveraging much more on personalisation and predictive analytics to serve travellers even more relevant content.”Cross-selling, particularly of hotels is still in a relatively early stage. However, it is safe to say that technology is going to become even more integrated in everyday life and continue to shift the way people live and do business. “From a travel perspective, we will see more ‘smart’ technology or integration of artificial intelligence into travel technology. For example, in the future technology will have the ability to predict where the traveller wants to go for his or her next vacation, before the traveller types it in to the computer,” says Saab.
