ATLANTA -- World Travel Interactive, the Internet and e-commerce
subsidiary of World Travel Partners, will demonstrate its on-line
travel tool at the National Business Travel Association's annual
conference in Los Angeles from July 30 to Aug. 2.
The travel solution, called WorldTravelNet, will be marketed to
corporate customers of World Travel Partners, according to Bill
Niejadlik, executive vice president of World Travel
Interactive.
The product was developed in cooperation with Xceed, a New
York-based Internet services firm with offices in Atlanta.
WorldTravelNet, called a "turnkey solution" by Niejadlik, will
feature a booking engine; a wireless technology called Active
Itinerary, and an as-yet-unnamed management software, which
Niejadlik referred to as a "data warehouse."
The management software features an expense-reporting tool and a
data-analysis function. Like most on-line travel solutions,
WorldTravelNet will be installed into a corporation's intranet,
where the company's business travelers can go to book and modify
trips.
Niejadlik said he is particularly excited about the wireless
aspect of WorldTravelNet.
Active Itinerary, an application designed for gathering
information while on the road, will be accessible via a palmtop
device or a Web-enabled cellular phone. It will enable travelers to
access destination information, such as weather, driving
directions, entertainment events and points of interest.
In addition, the traveler will be able to personalize the
function by entering personal interests on the WorldTravelNet
portal on the company's intranet. The technology will match those
interests with the person's itinerary.
For example, if the traveler is going to Boston on a business
trip and is a big hockey fan, then he will be able to receive an
automatic message telling him that the Bruins are playing the
Montreal Canadiens tonight at the Fleet Center.
Active Itinerary can be used whether the traveler purchases
travel on line or through a traditional World Travel Partner
agency, Niejadlik said.
Using the so-called data warehouse software, corporate
management clients will be able to do their own travel reports;
compile passenger name records across all CRSs that World Travel
Partners uses in booking travel for that company, and enter a query
to elicit other specific information the company needs.
For example, a corporation will be able to determine the average
fare it has spent for flights between Atlanta and Los Angeles.
Niejadlik said that corporations could use such information to
negotiate a better deal with travel suppliers and to track its
employees' compliance to travel policy.
The data warehouse function and Active Itinerary will be
compatible with technology from other companies.
For example, Niejadlik said, World Travel Interactive can create
a seamless solution for customers of World Travel Partners, even if
they're using Sabre BTS as their booking engine or Interpro as
their expense management solution.
"Because we're a [traditional] agency, we're not like GetThere,
saying that you have to use our tool in order to get the features,"
Niejadlik said.
Niejadlik declined to discuss costs, other than to say it is
"extremely low-cost" to install. "We don't want anyone to say no
because of the price," he said.
World Travel Interactive expects to launch WorldTravelNet in
late summer or early fall. The data warehouse function will become
available at a later date, probably early 2001, said Niejadlik.