MENLO PARK, Calif. -- GetThere.com, based here, said it will establish a
network that directly connects corporate travel customers to major
travel suppliers.
It said Accor Hotels, Avis, British Airways, Candlewood, Hertz,
Marriott, Northwest Airlines, Radisson, Starwood, TWA and United
Airlines will be among the suppliers participating in the
direct-link service.
The direct connections will be implemented in a phased approach
beginning in late summer, GetThere said.
"We're talking to more suppliers, and we'll add to that list
over time," said Ken Pelowski, chief operating officer and chief
financial officer of GetThere.com.
With the direct link to customers, suppliers will save on CRS
fees, a savings that could be passed on to corporate buyers,
GetThere said.
Besides the potential in cost savings, Pelowski claimed the
service, dubbed the GetThere Supplier Network, will offer
advantages of speed and service. For example, he said, users will
be able to view photos of their hotel choices.
"The CRS uses only text-based fields," said Pelowski. "Wouldn't
it be nice to see the hotel where you're going to stay?"
GetThere's announcement comes on the heels of a similar one made
by competitor e-Travel, which had struck an agreement with Delta to
establish a direct e-link between that line and corporate
customers.
Pelowski said GetThere, because it is connected to $10 billion
in corporate travel buying power, owns the advantage in the
marketplace. GetThere clients with direct links to travel suppliers
will include Nike, Xerox, Cisco Systems and Lucent
Technologies.
"We are focused on the business-to-business marketplace, and we
typically save corporations 20% on travel spending," Pelowski
claimed.
He said GetThere is ahead of its competition because it can
integrate information from the CRSs into its system in order to
merge data related to bookings made via the CRSs with data based on
bookings made outside the CRSs.
"We have to create technology that creates a seamless
itinerary," said Pelowski. "We have that technology today."
Drew Patterson, manager of business development at Starwood
Hotels & Resorts, said his company worked on the project with
GetThere for about two months. He added that the agreement between
the two parties is not exclusive.
"Our perspective is that we want to provide our inventory to as
many customers as possible," he said.
However, he said, "I don't know how many corporate travel
management solutions the market will bear."
Rob Wald, director of product marketing at e-Travel, based in
Waltham, Mass., claimed his company is the true leader in
developing direct links because e-Travel already has established
functional links between corporations and suppliers, including
Continental Airlines.
Wald said he believes his competitor, GetThere, could implement
functions like frequent flyer upgrades by late summer, but the
"hard stuff" like direct booking and the fulfillment process will
take longer to implement.
"Having a marketing agreement with suppliers doesn't mean
anything," said Wald; "there won't be much substance to it for some
time -- not until the end of the year, I estimate."