Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, Sep 25, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, Sep 25, 2002 |
|
|
|
|
|
Info-Tech
-
E-Commerce & E-Business Industry & Economy - Tourism Amadeus to launch e-ticketing by year-end Our Bureau
KOCHI, Sept. 24 AMADEUS will introduce e-ticketing in India before the end of the year. Mr Ankur Bhatia, Managing Director of Amadeus India, has said that it will first be introduced for international travel and later to domestic air travellers. In effect, e-ticketing means you do not get a physical ticket; instead will be provided boarding pass on the production of your photo identity card at the airport counter. Amadeus is a pan-European joint venture, which was formed with Lufthansa holding a stake of 18 per cent, Iberia Airways 18 per cent and Air France 23 per cent while the rest is held by the public. The company is a leading global distribution system and technology provider serving the marketing, sales and distribution needs of the world's travel and tourism industry. Welcome to the age of technology-enabled travel. "Viewpoint 3.0 is a graphical user interface which provides desktop booking solutions linking airports, carriers, car rentals and hotels across the world,'' says Galileo India Ltd, a leading provider of computerised reservation systems in the country. Their latest product, ViewTrip bridges the gap between the traveller on the move and the travel agent, aimed at enabling the customer to make last minute changes in reservations, flight schedules and reservations while he is on the move. The US-based Galileo International connects approximately 47,000 travel agency locations worldwide to 540 airlines, 34 car rental companies, 51,000 hotel properties, 431 tour operators and all major cruiseliners throughout the world, Ms Neha Arora and Mr R. Srikrishna of Galileo said. Galileo extends to 3,400 travel agency locations throughout India and enjoys a market share of 43 per cent of the segments (one-way flight tickets) generated in the country, the officials said. Sources in the industry pointed out that technology is increasingly becoming the facilitator of travel business, rather than a threat. The reference was to the perceived threat to the travel agent with the advent of the worldwide Web, which was threatening to put thousands of travel agents out of business. Instead, terminals such as those of Amadeus and Galileo, which are installed at the travel agent offices provide instant access to reservation schedules to thousands of hotels, airlines, airports, car rentals across the world. The distribution companies like Amadeus charge a flat booking charge of $2-$4 depending upon the origin of demand.
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
|
Stories in this Section |
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | Home |
Copyright © 2002, The
Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu Business Line
|