Future of travel industry must be inventive and it is always not about spending money on marketing and technology. One needs to explore technology suitable for their business or invest in and leverage white label technology, said Himanshu Singh, MD, Travelocity India. Talking at ‘Inline with Online’ business session, he said scalability should also be taken into consideration, cost structure is high and there is need to leverage the internet for engaging customer for better value proposition and give them the convenience, control and choice while booking,” he stated. Selling travel has changed; even in the online space, India has created a model which is rather different and unique, observed Dhruv Shringi, director and co-founder, Yatra.com. Vinay Gupta, CEO, Via said the travel agents need to look at things differently and not necessarily refine them. There are various issues which needs to be looked at such as retention, cost, of maintenance, the GDS losing their supremacy in distribution, and lack of brand association. V. KT Balan, chairman and managing director of Madura Travel Service spoke about the concerns faced by the small time agents.”

Posted on (IST) 14:50 October 28, 2007