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Online self-service travel sites are significantly enhanced with service by traditional travel agents, such that TA's don't consider online service a competitive concern. This is due to the increased technological adeptness of todays TA's, as well as the exponential increase in travel options, multiple means of transportation, and especially due to the overload of tourism packages and special discounts. Liesure travelers simply don't have the patience to sift through the plethora of travel options and appreciate the personalized service provided by the TA who can tailor travel plans to fit their preferences. Corporate travelers use TAs to save time and to develop complex travel arrangements to keep pace of the dynamics of business opportunities. Every travel venue has its own unique and desirable features which are better obtained through local travel professionals who are thoroughly familiar with all aspects of the destination. Conversely, it is noted that web TAs don't experience competition as the strengths of the traditional TAs is packaged tours and personalized, yet limited travel options. Web agents make their profits through the sheer numbers of hotel properties world wide.

In contrast to the notion that the use of a travel agent is outdated, Millennials are actually more likely to use a travel agent than other demographics. This trend seems to go hand in hand with the increase in experiential marketing we see geared towards Millennials, and the fact that they often want more extreme or unique experiences. While in some ways Millennials are a spontaneous generation, they also appreciate a well planned trip that allows them to make the most of their time.

Noreen, I loved the points this article made. One might assume with the millennial generation they would use travel agents less as they would view them as outdated, but it is the opposite. Because the millennial generation are more adventurous and use travel to learn about themselves, they are consulting with agents who have perhaps been to the destination and can fill them in on the really great places to visit. Thank you for sharing!

This articles describes the importance of E-commerce and social networking on the hospitality industry. The social sites like facebook, twitter and instagram has proven beneficial for the marketing of the hospitality industry. Individuals post their experience on these networking sites, which indirectly helps in marketing of the hospitality firms. The use of internet and hotel website has proven, to increase the revenue of the hotels, many people book directly through the hotel websites, which increases the revenue for the hotels as well save the commission paid to the travel agents. The loyalty programs introduced by various hotel, took a new shape all together after internet became the major source in these hotels. It was convenient for the guest to check how much points the have in their account and the tier level. The hotels also started offering guest extra points to their account, if they booked the room directly through the hotel website. This resulted in an substantial increase in the RevPar of the hotels.

Air Canada's new platform, NDC Exchange, which works outside of the GDSes, allows the airline to manage the way its bookings appear on travel agency registration systems. The system was created by ATPCO (Airline Tariff Publishing Co.) and SITA, the latter of which transforms the data while the former provides the data services that make it have the ability to run,. Recently, several GDSes, such as Sabre, Amadeus, along with other entities like Verteil Technologies, Serko, and more, have also began to utilize their own NDC Exchange program.

The growth of e-commerce has had a dramatic effect on travel and hospitality marketing. While consumers once relied on travel agents and other intermediaries to help book and research trips, a number of developments from the growth of sites, such as Airbnb and Google's high-ranking display of travel results for specific geographic terms, is leading a change in the way consumers buy travel and hospitality services. Therefore, marketing techniques are changing too.

This article is very interesting to me and what stood out was when it talked about how today's society, travelers rely more on travel apps and websites to handle their own research and compare prices. The upside for the hospitality technology industry is that there are more companies selling directly to the consumers. Their is an increase in competitive e-commerce environment industries which offers extensive applications to offer everything from owner-listed accommodations to discounted flights. A strategy a company would use is by standing out by offering a wider range of localized content assets in multiple languages. In the article the role of content in e-commerce travel is the research of travelers to conduct an extensive background check and research when creating travel plans and making bookings. In the years to come e-commerce companies plan to grow extensively and serve the International markets . I believe that hospitality sites that offer significant amount of information in the consumers native language and have applications and websites that are responsive on mobile devices are more likely to stand out from their direct competition.

This article talks about the importance of electronic business and the new advances that affect the way that business is done; the growth of sites is changing the way consumers buy travel and hospitality services. As a result, marketers are changing strategies to become successful in this very competitive environment, differentiating themselves offering a wider range of localized content assets in many languages to reach consumers globally. Smart planning and optimizing mobile applications to serve the international markets are the keys that lead to success.

Google is indeed joining the online travel business, this will allow the largest search engine to become one of the largest travel intermediaries. Why is this important? Google has been experimenting and working with the world largest hotel company. The data they exchanged with Marriott has moved Google Travel along so much. This one stop shop is something Marriott is also experimenting with.

Great article. When I heard about this next big step that Google is making I was intrigued because I travel about 2-3 times a year and my go to site to book flights is Google flights. I always found that it was simpler to use Google Flights than to use Expedia or Orbit. Although Expedia and Orbit offered the hotels and flights in one page, I always deemed them to be too busy and more complicate to navigate. Looking at Google Travel, Google have kept it clean, direct and simpler and no pop up ads than what we are used to from the other OTA sites. It is interesting to know how relations with Google and Expedia will be after this. Although as the article states, Expedia CEO Mark Okerstrom saw this coming and he states "we have to be watchful about what they are doing" because Google have obtained a tremendous amount of data collected from marketing that Expedia does through Google.

True, Marriott is transitioning into a one stop shop and google has started but they haven't gotten on part with the other platforms as of yet. But it won't be long before they integrate and take over especially with all the information they have.

This article speaks on how GDS are doing in the age of 2020. Not only does it talk about how its doing over all but it also goes over how they remain successful with the new times. Keeping up with changing demands and trends.

This article talks about how GDS system usage has been and continues to increase over the years. While many owners prefer direct bookings on their site. GDS has been increasing at a faster rate than other channels which are used by travel agents. Hotels need to e using the GDS platforms in 2020 and beyond to maximise the benefits that it brings.

Scott Falconer's article, "Is 2020 the year of the GDS," entails discussion of the survey results of the DGS site as the most sued and rapidly growing site for booking by travel agents. Falconer also advises hotels and other travel agents to optimize the use of the GDS site to increase bookings and therefore profitability. In discussing the survey results, Falconers also suggests the GDS increase its potential by maintaining parity, observing prices, and promotions are critical in its continued growth. Falconer's finding first indicates that GDS usage has significantly grown in the past ten years. The author notes that by 2019, the number of travel agents using the site of GDS to make bookings had increased from 42 million to 79 million between 2009 and 2019 (Falconer). In the recent past, Falconer argues that the ratings and growth in usage of the site provide hotels with opportunities to grow revenue as the site makes 22 times more bookings than consumers. Through surveying with 900 travel agents, Falconer concluded that GDS is a prime channel for bookings because of its recent fast growth compared to other alternative booking sites. Secondly, Falconer notes that there is a need to stabilize the parity rates for the GDS channel to succeed. Based on the survey, most travel agents indicated that parity rates are influential to the decision to book a facility using the GDs site or others. Therefore, Falconer advises the GDS management to ensure the consistency of the price that properties offer to clients on other channels. The services listed in the sites are available as indicated at the property. In this case, the GDS can improve booking experience by clearly stating commissions, discounts, or cancellation policies at the site to increase the availability of information to the clients regarding the nature of commitment and expected services as the promised value. Falconer also highlights the importance of adver

As the entire travel industry, OTAs suffere a lot because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article are described not only financial losses of the OTAs, but also the steps that they are going to take towards the safety of the travelers, and the possible future conditions for the OTAs operations.

A global distribution system, or GDS, helps hotels sell rooms to travelers. A global distribution system helps smaller hotels connect to several different travel agencies. GDS allows travel agents to sell rooms to customers. There are three models: the retail model, the merchant model, and the opaque model. The retail model is the most traditional model. The travel agent would get a commission from the sell. The guest would pay the hotel and then the hotel would pay the agent.

The article breakdowns how digital disruptions has ignited innovation especially in the travel space. Data is showing how travelers expect digital technology to help with enhancing their travel experiences. Using digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) you can deliver on these travelers expectations in technology.

In this article, the author looks at the benefits that hotels derive from implementing global distribution systems (GDS). some of such benefits include an efficient booking process that alleviates administrative burdens in booking rooms. Besides, GDS is less expensive than marketing, and facilitates the integration of property-management systems with the daily operational tasks of a business. Thus, despite its challenges, it is a vital technology in hotels today.

GDS is a technology used to help travel agents find real time data of availability of travel arrangements to be sold to customers planning travel. GDS allows agents to access information on pricing, benefit packages, availability of rooms, rental cars, etc. Access to this technology offers many benefits to travel agents, as well as helping to create a more efficient booking process.

No industry has a bigger stake in protecting the environment and local communities than the travel industry. Like the article states, if coral reefs are destroyed, there will be no more snorkeling. And if the communities are not able to profit from the travelers coming to the area, their displeasure will show. In order to help green travelers decide if their trip is hurting the environment or harming local communities, or actually doing some good Sustainable Travel Leadership Network has started TravelWell. This project will also encourage the governments in the destination areas to improve sustainability practices, help travel companies decide where to do business.This initiative will score destinations based on the practices of piloted destinations, letting them know what areas they need to improve in. The problem is that while most governments are willing to create a plan, they do not actually follow through with the plans they've made. With TravelWell being implemented, destinations could lose out on the growing market of green travelers and this will affect their bottom line more in the long run. Because TravelWell will also give this information to potential investors, destinations also run the risk of losing potential investors. The main purpose of this tool is to keep the conversation of sustainability alive with governments. It would continually create a standard to measure the effectiveness of sustainability efforts as well as creating new ideas.

As this article mentioned, more and more travel agents use GDS to reserve hotel rooms. Finding from the research, it clearly demonstrated the importance of GDS for travel agents and more agents chose it as the searching tool. At the same time, for the hoteliers, it is also an opportunity to make use of GDS to influence travel agents. In addition, promotional message assist to increase sales. In my opinion, I think travel agents and GDS are not competitors, they can make up each other's disadvantages and cooperate with each other.

Almost everyone has recently heard of Cody Brocious and his gadget that was implemented and utilized to unlock guest room doors in Onity locking systems. This issue has been recently broadcasted all over the news and has gained the awareness of millions of people, making travelers panic when staying in hotels, and questioning their safety and security. The truth is, behind the issue at hand, travelers have been utilizing hotels and other establishments without being concerned or conscious of their safety, and with some negligence, and lack of attention, they put themselves at risk in numerous different ways. Although Brocious' invention gained the attention of the public, and although he went out of his way to be sure that other hackers out there knew how to replicate the system and how to utilize it to their advantage, enabling hackers to enter guest rooms and steal their personal belongings without their permission, or potentially cause physical harm to a traveler as well. Stated in this article, according to Forbes, the gadget that Brocious invented has proven inconsistent in its effectiveness. That is not to say that it could not eventually be improved, but with the changing in technology, and now the gained awareness, hotels are focusing more intently on ensuring guest security through their technological outlets. Technology affects many aspects of a hotel guest's security - from internet access to credit card information, along with guest room locks and personal identity. The article also suggests numerous ideas for how guests can avoid a lot of problems with their safety in mind, including using secondary security systems on their door, ensuring closure of the room door when leaving he room, as well as never keeping your room number written down with your key. The article also focuses on how utilizing your energy to ensure that your belongings are safe in your room as you would in your own home, is energy more well spent than being concerned about someone

This article discusses what travel agents think about the enhanced ability of both corporate and leisure based travel agencies to sell airline ancillaries because of improved Global Distribution Systems' technologies. Ancillaries are products and services that airlines sell to gain additional revenue on top of your ticket price. Ancillaries have become increasingly popular in the airline industry because of the sky rocketing price of jet fuel. To keep ticket prices down airlines are "unbundling" items from the overall experience. This presents them with an opportunity to turn a profit by charging fees for bags (carry on, checked, additional), on board food and drink, credit card purchases, headphones. It seems like everything you encounter from when you arrive at the airport to when you disembark the plane has a fee. This phenomenon is especially present in Low cost carriers such as Spirit, Air Tran, Jet Blue, etc. However there are consumers who disagree with this additional costs as is apparent in Southwest's continuous marketing campaign. I'm sure everyone has seen the commercials with Southwest representatives 'flagging' down unnecessary fees in order to promote their 'bags fly free' campaign. Anyhow the reason I am explaining ancillary revenue is because travel agents are now starting to sell more ancillary products such as hotel accommodations, travel insurance, rental cars because of GDS technologies. They can track the sale of fees through EMD (Electronic miscellaneous Documents) which is the current industry standard. In the article some agents state that the EMDs are hard to understand and use. I believe until the EMDs become "seamless and easy to use" there will exist some hesitation to sell airline ancillaries. However on the other hand the article states that Travelport is working towards a simple and uniform platform called Travelport Universal API/Desktop. Once this comeplete perhaps more agents will feel comfortable selling ancillaries. This is a goo

I still remember when most airlines used to include breakfast or dinner for their passengers including alcoholic beverages well that doesn't happen any more. I believe when Travelport Universal Desktop becomes available it would become more clear to travel agencies the transaction process and for the consumers what products and services they are ofering.

I too miss the days of free sodas and peanuts. "Sigh-" sometimes its the little things in life that bring the most joy. I agree I think the new Travelport Universal Desktop will be a valuable tool if utilized correctly.

CCRA has made modifications online to assist travel agents in increasing their income. CCRA offers a 15% commission to all travel agents, and works with hotel partners to ensure travel agents are offering a better price than what consumers can find online themselves.

Arthur & Alex Beach were onboard the Costa Concordia when it began to sink. They were taken from one place to another on bus and train, until they go to an airport outside of Rome where they were able to call their son to call their Travel Agent, Jackie Berube, where she helped them book a flight out the next day. Many people these days have access to the internet where they can look at the information themselves. There are also many people that would like to save the trouble and call a Travel Agency to help them find specific information. Although when the Economy isnt doing so well, they begin to drop Financially because people are traveling less. Travel agents used to rely heavily on a percentage of the price of an airline ticket, now they often charge flat fees for airline ticket purchases or creating a custom trip package.

Some travel agents has made a shift in the way they do business. Since most agencies have went out of business after airlines took away their commissions and consumers started to shop online, they had to start offering more service than the internet can provide.

This article is related to IT security in hotels. Around six months back a panel of IT executives from Starwood Hotels, Hilton and other lodgings operators met at the LodgeNet's Customer Technology Symposium in Chicago to discuss on how protecting customer data is becoming their top priority. This type of situation was brought to a head earlier this year when marketing services giant Epsilon experienced a massive breach to its email systems. According to a SecurityWeek report, among those impacted by the breach were several hotel operators, including Hilton, Ritz-Carlton and Marriott. According to a 2010 Wall Street Journal report, the most common security vulnerability in hotels is point-of-sale software. Often, hotels do not require employees to change the default names and passwords of these programs, making it easier for hackers to break in and steal customer information. To overcome some of these and other concerns, McBeth said hotel operators are applying the best practices detailed by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), which aims to address data security for businesses that handle payment cards. However, he admitted that the task of ensuring protection throughout an organization is difficult, given the number of channels where vulnerabilities could be uncovered. This being the case, it is encouraging to see some hotels are making moves to lock down their data security practices. There is clearly a great deal of work that needs to be done, but if a hotel can demonstrate it is capable of protecting customer information, it may be more likely to inspire confidence in consumers, which, in turn, could afford the hotel a competitive edge.

Its a tough task to monitor this, because at the end of the day, the responsibility is at the property level to ensure that data is secure across the board. So training employees on the importance of data security and what a breach means could go along way.

The article highlights the recent security concerns regarding travel to the Dominican Republic. The article gives key safety tips to take, not just for the current level 2 alert but for any international travel as an appropriate security plan of long distance traveling.

Whether travelers are seeking freedom or flexibility, new friends or more "me-time," the solo travel market will only expand as more people begin to feel comfortable with the idea of exploring alone. Whether travelers are exploring on their own or hitting the road with loved ones, we're dedicated to helping them enjoy the best of every destination and feel part of a global tribe of curious, passionate explorers.