PARSIPPANY, NJ -- Cendant on March 31 will launch Jumpstart,
Web-based technology that Cendant said will enable tour operators
and online travel agencies to buy wholesale hotel inventory through
Cendant's res system -- Galileo -- thus avoiding a manual
processing of transactions.
Tour operators and online agencies that have negotiated
wholesale deals with individual hotels can load those available
rooms and rates in the system, said Andy Hermo, Cendant's vice
president of network development. Hoteliers will be eager to do
business with tour operators that have the capability, Hermo
claimed.
Mike McCormick, Cendant's senior vice president of hospitality
and leisure services, said Jumpstart will give tour operators and
online agencies access to the inventory in Galileo through one Web
portal that is hosted by Cendant instead of through
telecommunication lines and on-site equipment, which is more
costly.
"Jumpstart will help clients serve their customers faster,
better and cheaper," McCormick said.
Hermo said Jumpstart is not an effort to increase the sale of
Cendant-branded hotels, but to be an "enabler" that provides a
automated process for tour operators.
Jumpstart's price will be about $10,000 per year (a licensing
and maintenance fee), plus a volume-based monthly transaction
fee.