Automating service fee management can increase revenue, says Amadeus survey
Agents can increase service fee revenue and productivity by 28% and 67% respectively by automating the management of service fees, according to research commissioned by Amadeus.
The independent study was conducted in five European countries by Dr. Fried and Partner, a German consultancy.
It compared agencies calculating fees manually with agencies using an automated solution.
Automating service fee management was found to allow travel agencies to adopt more sophisticated fee schemes, increasing service fee revenue by as much as 28%.
According to Amadeus, agencies using an automated solution can, on average, increase productivity by 67% for service fee application activities and by 12% for the overall booking process.
According to earlier research, published by Amadeus in July this year, 34% of travel agencies see falling commissions as the biggest challenge their business faces.
In Scandinavia, 73% of business travel agencies’ total revenue now comes from service and transaction fees.
“Amadeus commissioned this study to help our customers as they move to a service fee-based business model. Our close relationship with thousands of travel agencies around the globe allows us to compare trends in service fees and how they are managed by agencies,” says Claude Giafferri, VP, Travel Office Products & Solutions, Amadeus.
“We are convinced that there are strong revenue opportunities to be uncovered by travel agencies and this study demonstrates that automated processes are a key enabler to making the most of the service fee revenue opportunity.”
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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