Orbitz Worldwide has begun rolling out a
long-awaited technology platform for its eBookers Web sites in
Europe that it says will be more user-friendly, will triple its
hotel offerings and will speed things up for users.
In announcing the
changes last week, Orbitz Worldwide (owner of eBookers and No. 7 on
the Travel Weekly Power List) said the eBookers
site in the U.K. would be the first of its 13 European sites to be
revamped over the next 18 months.
Each of its
eBookers sites in Europe is tied to a different country, and each
has historically used its own back-office platform. Those systems
will be unified in the rollout, enabling data collection to be
consistent across the sites, the company said.
EBookers has been
criticized because it has been a drag on earnings. Earlier this
month, Orbitz Worldwide noted that its second-quarter net loss
included a $122 million impairment charge primarily tied to a
decline in eBooker's fair value because of poor operating
performance.
In a U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Orbitz Worldwide had
stated that the eBookers brand "operates on systems that require a
significant amount of manual processing, which has resulted in
substantial costs for reporting and maintenance."
Brian Hoyt,
communications spokesman for Orbitz Worldwide, said eBookers had
used a number of software vendors to build its own unique global
technology platform.
"We are the first
online travel site in the marketplace to develop a global platform
like this, and we are the first to market," Hoyt said.
He said the new
technology platform would eventually give consumers throughout
Europe a simplified, faster and more efficient system for booking
travel.
EBookers employs 13
different legacy systems for its Web sites in Europe, meaning that
travelers looking for deals within their home countries each see a
different approach to travel offerings. Integrating the systems is
intended to improve commonality among Web site functions across the
board, resulting in easier navigation.
The systems also
will become capable of accommodating multiple languages and
multiple currencies, Hoyt said.
"It makes sense to
have English-speaking countries be the first on the rollout," Hoyt
said. "We will be able to introduce euro pricing, and with new
multi-language capabilities, we will be able to eventually develop
new ways to search for a hotel product, for instance."
Ireland is likely
to be the second site to be relaunched, he said.
The company said
the new platform was designed for more rapid deployment of
customer-centric technologies and services across all of Orbitz
Worldwide's international brands, including the ability to offer
suppliers a global customer base. The effort is one of a series of
key strategic initiatives that the company is developing to improve
its international growth.
On the new U.K.
site, users will find three times as many hotel offerings, more
hotel-user reviews from thousands of locations, more travel
destination information, photos and maps, the company
said.
The new U.K. site
also will enable users to customize their air, hotel and tour
services while booking online, Orbitz Worldwide said.
To
contact reporter Dan Luzadder, send e-mail to [email protected].