LOS ANGELES -- Travel managers seeking to win over travelers when
introducing an on-line booking system should focus on explaining
the technology's economic benefits and making the booking
experience a convenient one, according to two panelists conducting
the E-commerce workshop at the National Business Travel Association
conference.
"Show them how you are saving them money and keep them happy;
it's as simple as that," said Jeff Palmer of GetThere, a technology
company that focuses on developing and selling Internet-related
systems to the travel industry.
Other points raised at the e-commerce workshop included:
Travel managers should not be waiting for a "perfect" on-line
booking system to come along, said Richard Sprading of Maritz
Travel.On-line booking vendors are continuing to refine and improve
their products, but the systems that are available today offer very
real benefits to travelers, corporations and travel managers, he
said.
"You're going to be waiting a long time for things to be
perfect; in the meantime you are missing some real opportunities,"
Sprading said.
Research conducted by Maritz and others leads managers at that
agency to predict that on-line bookings will represent one-third of
all business travel bookings by 2003.In addition, research showed 76% of senior executives use the
Internet to obtain information on travel and other corporate
services.
Further, on-line travel spending can be expected to grow from $5
billion in 1999 to $30 billion next year.
GetThere's Palmer cited examples of how quickly and to what
degree travelers at several companies had adopted on-line booking
systems.One company, for example, reported that 70% of its bookings were
being made through an on-line system one year after adopting the
system.
Some companies' adoption rates varied between 25% to 50% after
three months of using a system while others reported adoption rates
of 30% or 40% after six months.
On-line booking systems can make it more difficult to for
travelers to circumvent their corporation's travel policy, Maritz'
Sprading said.Although a reservationist may be sympathetic to a traveler's
pleas to override corporate policy, an on-line booking engine is
not.
Two major keys to successfully adopting an on-line booking
system are spending a considerable amount of time and energy in
planning how the corporation and travelers will be introduced to it
and how they actually will use the system, panelists agreed.Secondly, the adoption of an on-line system should be compatible
with a corporation's overall travel program, they added.
Incentives can help sell travelers and travel arrangers on
using any system, Sprading said.