Online Travel Industry

Online Travel Industry is intresting industry. Perfect for Internet and ebusiness. All participants communicate online from service provider to middlemen to consumer. e.g., Airline provider does autioning of tickets online or does booking of tickets online. Middlemen does booking on behalf of consumers, generally providing add-on value added services for them and charging for additional services rather than airline bookings, since the margins on only airline booking is very thin.

Online travel industry has ready systems in place e.g., it has following major systems -

1. CRS - Computerised Reservation System, where consumers and travel agents can do online booking e.g., websites like www.makemytrip.com or www.travelguru.com or www.clubmahindra.travel.

2. GDS - Global Distribution Systems - These systems are backend systems used generally by travel agents. Now these are connected to CRS to provide online availability status to the consumer through websites. e.g., Abacus, Galilio, Amadeus, Worldapan etc.

3. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system like Talisma, or SAP-CRM to manage customer preference, requirements etc.

4. Billing Systems - Various biling system are availble which does complete accounting for a online travel agency. These system take the booking details from CRS and also calculate applicable commissions.

Online Travel Agencies provide Hotel, B&B and Resort Accomodations, Airline Bookings, Rail Bookings, Car and Bus Rentals, Cruise Bookings, etc. Traditional Hospitaility companies like Club Mahindra are now providing extending Travel Services to their members because of easy entry levels of putting up the travel website. For this company has started new travel portal - www.clubmahindra.travel[2187]. This is one company which has booked for .travel domain and will be first company in India to promote .travel branding. Dot travel is top level domain given by Tralliance (www.travel.travel) used specifically for travel related companies like from travel planning, accommodation, hotels, air tickets, holiday packages, sightseeing tours, visa processing, foreign exchange and even travel insurance.

More online companies are expected in this industry since Online industry and travel industry both are expanding and fueling each other with the help of low cost airlines and better connectivity and penetration in India.