29 August 2008

TravelMole eWire Q&A with Sabre's Martin Cowley

Martin Cowley is senior vice president, Sabre Travel Network for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), a role he assumed in July 2007.

Q: How has the TMC/corporate travel landscape changed in the last few years. What progressions (or regressions) have you seen?

A: Due to mounting pressure on costs, TMCs need to be ever more savvy about helping their customers save money. They need new and innovative tools, the most relevant content and continued workflow optimisation to serve their customers.

The travel manager role is becoming a function of procurement and the need to deliver better service, savings and security.

Q: WhatÃ¢â¬â¢s the way forward for GDS and travel technology providers in the future?

A: In todayÃ¢â¬â¢s world you have to think multi-channel. We need to provide our customers with the broadest access to travellers and content, ensuring the continuation of the most efficient marketplace for travel. For our supplier customers, this means to help them optimize the various dynamic distribution and marketing channels. For our agency customers, we need to help them receive the most comprehensive and most relevant content Ã¢â¬' via offline, online or any other future channel.

Q: Do you see further consolidation in the GDS market?

A:You are likely to continue to see those that have combined their resources work to improve their integration.
With the growth in multinational business, more global agencies, as well as the pressure on costs, you can expect that corporations and TMCs will look for GDS that can deliver wherever in the world they do business.

Q: What are your thoughts on the online travel space: Web 2.0 has dominated the scene in the last year or two Ã¢â¬' what do you see as the next big thing?

A: The growth of the online travel space will be driven by innovation and diversification of travel products, focusing on the customer, as competition is fierce. Along with sophisticated CRM technology, customised cross and up-selling functionality, peer reviews, social networking and Ã¢â¬ÅâœunwiredÃ¢â¬~ technology, Web 3.0 is a good example of future technology as it allows for more productive and intuitive traveler experience.

Q: How does mobile technology fit into the SabreÃ¢â¬â¢s plans over the next few years?

A: ItÃ¢â¬â¢s in the spotlight! Only recently we launched our new mobile check-in self service solution and our Sabre Virtually There Mobile platform is continually being enhanced, from providing real time information about flight changes to maps and directions as well as city and restaurant guides.

Q: How do you see the travel industry riding out the current economic downturn?

A: It has been repeatedly stated that for the airlines anything over $100US a barrel is an issue. In the US, the first priority must be to ensure that the industry is addressing the underlying issues Ã¢â¬' air traffic control systems, dependency on foreign oil, regulation on speculation in the oil markets. This will also help to relieve the situation globally.

Q: WhatÃ¢â¬â¢s your view on the current screen scraping controversy Easyjet and Ryanair are embroiled in? Is Ryanair right to not honour the tickets booked on third party websites?

A: I understand the importance for an agency to have aggregated content and that's why we strongly advocate for full access to content to support this need. In exceptions where content is not made available to the GDS, our goal is to provide streamlined processes that integrate easily into the desktop.

Q: Is the traditional business travel agent, fully conversant in GDS language and codes, becoming a thing of the past as technology companies turn everything GUIÃ¢â¬~¦

A: We provide both GUI and traditional formats within an integrated desktop so that even for agents that prefer to continue to use traditional formats, they get point and click benefits as well, such as click on a hotel entry and getting details about the room, photos, etc. Agents do get the most benefit when using the fully integrated GUI environment, but we do not force them to choose one over the other.

by Dinah Hatch