Media Release
A New Travel Platform Looks Like A Smart Move In Turbulent Times
1st September 2003
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - August, 2003 - Earlier this year Webjet, an online travel company, announced its decision to partner with Microsoft to develop a next-generation travel services platform. This project is now is now in the final phases and drawing closer to production release in just a few months - just in time to capitalise on the recent market upheavals in the travel industry.
The recent announcement by Qantas that it may create a low cost airline in the Australian market to compete head to head with Virgin Blue is going to result in more choices for the consumer and no doubt more aggressive marketing tactics from the airlines. As competition increases, so to will the number of choices and options confronting the travelling public. The platform that Webjet and Microsoft are building, the Travel Services Aggregator (TSA), will help the public make sense of the competing offers - and to exercise more control over their travel plans and expenditure than ever before.
The TSA platform will enable Webjet customers to book travel services such as flight, car rentals and accommodation sourced dynamically from a variety of suppliers. Customers will be able to construct and purchase highly customised itineraries, in real time, online. This will give customers greater control over their travel plans, including price, by allowing them to obtain the best possible deals from a range of suppliers. In effect, the TSA platform allows customers to become their own wholesaler and holiday packager.
Further evidence of change in the travel industry, brought about recent advances in eCommerce technology, is that both Qantas and Virgin now host their own customer sales web-site. Historically airlines have paid for large global distribution firms (referred to as 'GDS providers') such as Galileo Systems, SABRE and Amadeus to host their fares and publish these though agency networks. Now however, airlines are often hosting and distributing this fare information themselves. This is placing unprecedented pressure on the GDS providers to deliver additional 'value add' services beyond just fare hosting and provision - or to lower the price they charge for this service. The TSA platform being developed by Webjet seeks to take advantage of this change, by being able to connect to many sources of fare information. In the first soon to be release version - the TSA platform will be connecting to both the GDS services of Galileo Systems in the US, and the private Qantas fares and sales web-site.
David Clarke, Managing Director of Webjet, said
"These changes are utterly unprecedented in the distribution of travel in Australia. They represent a fundamental shift in the way technology can be used to drive down the cost of distribution and concurrently created a unique opportunity to create a special value relating to the ownership and management of the customer relationship".
The new platform will allow regular users of the Webjet service to store their preferences when it comes to booking flights, cars or accommodation - and have these preferences factored into the offers that the platform collects on behalf of the consumer. Personalisation when purchasing travel goods and services has long been recognised as a key factor to success in the travel industry. Webjet is seeking to use new generation .NET technologies to deliver much of the personalisation traditionally offered by travel agents - but at a much lower cost to the consumer.
The new platform, referred to as the Travel Services Aggregator (TSA) is due to launch in December 2003, and is being delivered using Microsoft's Solution Development Centre (SDC) in Sydney. For Microsoft, the project represents an opportunity to showcase how it's new .NET technologies can be used to gain an advantage in a rapidly changing business environment, quickly and at low cost. For Webjet - the project looks like it will open up a new way of doing business in the travel industry.
For more information about the Webjet project, or the Microsoft Solution Development Centre - please contact David Clarke, Managing Director of Webjet at dclarke@webjet.com.au or James Simpson, Manager of the Microsoft Solution Development Centre at jsimpson@microsoft.com.