Imagine if a soothsayer had predicted the future of

travel distribution in India…

Twenty years ago

Sachin Pabreja 10 th january 2010

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 These days running a hospitality business is tough. Guests are getting choosy. Agents are
demanding more. Markets are extremely volatile. Timelines are short. Maximizing your
revPAR these days is all about getting an optimum mix by delicately fine-tuning your pricing
and inventory allocations across various channels. In such a scenario, having specialized
partners can make the difference. Avenues – South Asia’s largest integrated eCommerce
company and Pegasus - the world’s largest third-party hospitality marketing and
reservations provider have partnered to bring you, a single window access to all the major
GDS and Internet Travel Websites (IDS). With pegasus integrated solution, you maintain a
single real time representation of your properties’ inventory that is accessible through all
electronic channels like the Global Distribution System (GDS), Internet Distribution System
(IDS), your branded hotel websites and your call centre operation. Global Distribution
System (GDS) The Global Distribution System was created so travel agents worldwide could
keep track of flight schedules, availability and price, and book travel. Today the GDS, though
separate from the internet, is used by travel agents and travel websites to provide travelers
with complete travel packages (travel & tours, hotels bookings to list a few). If leveraged
effectively, this marketing channel’s unique features can enhance your business in a big way.
Our portal seamlessly connects to Sabre, Gailileo, Amadeus and Worldspan through the
Pegasus Switch. These GDS channels effectively reach 99% of all global travel agents.
Internet Distribution System (IDS) An Internet Distribution System is a collection of online
travel portals or agencies that have huge member bases and specialize in internet marketing
of travel and related services. These ‘One Stop Shops’ have distinctive features that can be
used to drive potential travelers from the world over to your hotel. ResAvenue lists your
hotel inventory on Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, WorldRes, CNN Traveller, Continental
Airlines, Lastminute.com, Hotwire, Travelweb.com, hotels.com and 2000 other travel
websites.

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 Clarity in pricing structure.
 Logical selling strategy.
 Avoidance of adhoc rate decisions
Rational and fair pricing within the competitive market
place, based upon demand
Honesty, integrity and parity of rates offered.

Set the rates that you think are honestly good rates for a given
demand level.
Have the integrity to offer this rate - instead of a higher rate if
you think you can get away it…
The rates must be available in every channel at parity.
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 1.Single Window Interface – Achieve all your marketing needs from a single interface i.e.
your own branded website, GDS and Internet travel websites.
 2. Worldwide Presence - There are 7 dominant third party intermediaries or internet
distribution channels (IDS) online and each of them has thousands of affiliated websites.
And when you register on any of these IDS through Pegasus you get registered on their
affiliated websites.
 3. Easy Connectivity – The most simple and cost effective hospitality marketing and
distribution solution in the world today.
 4. Content Mapper – This facility allows you to simultaneously and automatically update
your content in all sales channels.
 5. Automated Travel Agent Commission Payment Service – Also automates your online
reservation and distribution efforts through Pegasus’ industry leading automated travel
agent commission payment service. This service also eliminates manual travel agent
commission processing. And, if you receive an automated travel agent commission claim,
access your interface and it will inform you when the commission was paid.
 6. Market Reach Online - Effective and easy way to market your hotel on the Internet. It is
extensively used by travel agents and is also the most common booking mechanism for
consortia and negotiated corporate rates.
 7. Online Distribution Strategy – Opening out your inventory to new online distribution
channels is an effective method to capture new market share.
 8. Little Maintenance Effort Required – The information after changes gets automatically
reflected into the GDS and IDS (Internet Travel Websites).

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Residence Special : across the chain…

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 India Distribution Special

 Low cost carriers in India are making steady progress towards technology adoption, terming it as imperative development for their business to stay ahead of the growth curve.

 Recently, Deccan (Air Deccan) signed a deal with Amadeus, which has a market share in excess of 50% with a penetration level of nearly 20,000 booking agents, to improve its
distribution network. It has already signed up with Abacus, which marked the first GDS adoption by an airline in the India's LCC market space.

 Providing an insight into these deals with GDS, Sagar Rathod, Head Distribution, Deccan said Deccan's partnership with Abacus is an important milestone in the airline's growth and
future plans.

 "We believe that the GDSs offer a certain value to Deccan and Abacus was the first to offer a solution which is designed for LCCs at an extremely competitive cost. We hope it would
produce great results. We are looking at this cost as opportunity cost which gives us the ability to sell across the Asia Pacific region where Abacus has a strong market presence," he
said.

 Rathod, in an interview with EyeforTravel.com's Ritesh Gupta, said that the GDS see the LCCs as a big opportunity to grow market share, as the LCC market share has grown from 0
to close to 33.5% (as of December 2007) in the span of three years.

 "If this trend continues, it's in the interest of the GDS to distribute LCC content. Also, there is already a sharp rise in passenger numbers which is the Deccan effect and the other LCCs
capitalised on this growth opportunity. In India, Deccan leads the competition in the LCC segment has been at the forefront of innovative distribution and otherwise, going forward
we believe that if we offer the right product to the business traveler through the GDS the SBU and corporate would find it attractive to book," he said.

 GDSs like Amadeus in India are strengthening its agent network every year and a key development is number of agents growing from relatively lesser-known cities. On this, he said,
"We are looking at leveraging them for managing corporate traveler. In terms of travel agents and air travelers from Tier II/ III cities, that will be managed by the our direct
distribution ability and route to market."

 On how to reduce cost of content collection to enable effective distribution choice, Rathod said he would be selective in product offerings unless the distribution channel is open to
reason and deals, one needs to get creative to manage costs.

 "The airlines are fast moving their lowest fares to their own website in an effort to shift from indirect distribution to direct distribution so as to manage this ever growing distribution
cost. The percentage of bargain hunters who use their credit cards to buy online are low as opposed to those who use travel agents and willing to pay a few dollars more, plus the
human factor a traveler always takes comfort from the fact that there is an agent who has managed is very important business trip/holiday and has an existing relationship with the
agent this is a paradox the airlines face. The traveler will eventually realise that the best deals come from airlines who know how to manage their costs best, selective product offering
creating a customer centric product and offering this through the right channel would in time get the hybrid mix right," he said.

 Talking about consumer, Rathod agrees that today's travelers are not a LCC customer or a traditional customer, but rather the modern traveler who mixes and matches based upon
the requirements for that journey and their perception of the value of the product on offer.

 "These are new age air travel consumer, I believe like every other aspect of the aviation business distribution also should be consumer-centric. We approach our distribution
requirement with a strategy to compliment the buying behaviors of our consumer, our distribution should be modeled around our product offering. 10 years ago the airlines had 4
POS (Point of sales) which is ATO, CTO, TA (travel agents) and some airlines had call centers for reactive selling mostly for customer service. Distribution channels are overarching to
our growth strategy and we consistently focus on exploring innovative and effecting distribution channels," he said.

 Rathod shared that online travel agents account for around 25% share of overall LCC tickets in India and the web direct channel for LCCs has settled around similar percentage.
Agents in India contribute maximum chunk of distribution for LCCs, too.
 Comments

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