More agents sign for TLC
CNG Travel Group has sealed four deals to expand the use of its “TLC” (Travel Lodging Connector) hotel booking tool.
The group is to partner with UK-based NIS Europe, parent company of the Conferma Technology Group, to provide a joint hotel booking tool to Sabre agents in Europe and the US. The two companies hope to have 25,000 Sabre desktops in Europe and a potential 100,000 in the US using the technology next year.
CNG has also forged a deal with CorporateChoice, the business travel division of independents’ consortium Worldchoice, to use TLC, together with Citibond.
US-based consortium Hickory Travel Systems is also installing the TLC platform to its 4,500 partner agents.
CNG claims adoption levels of TLC have exceeded targets, with 4,500 travel agent desktop installations in the US by October 31. The company says it is likely to deliver more than the market forecast of 7,000 TLC agent desktops installed or committed by the end of the year.
CNG’s gross hotel booking value exceeded $10 million in October against less than $2 million in April, the month prior to TLC’s entry into the marketplace.
The company said it believed hotel booking growth will be sustained next year, based on indications of market demand and the rate of TLC adoption.
Chief executive Finbarr Power said: “We are disappointed that in the face of a changed market environment, conversion rates of high margin hotel bookings couldn’t be made up in time for the year end 2004.
“However, we are very pleased with the market acceptance of TLC and the response from travel agents and hotels alike. We fully expect this momentum to continue as product enhancements are added in the course of the new year.”
The group said global economic conditions improved during the second half of the year and led to an increase in hotel occupancy and subsequently a decrease in hotel margins for intermediaries.
In response, CNG said it “aggressively recruited experienced senior hotel supply managers to build our hotel supply and work within a hotel friendly TLC Prompt Pay model”.
Report by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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