The leisure travel market remains an important and growing industry sector for airlines. From inclusive tours, seat only (including consolidation and VFR), to cruises and land packages.
However, competition to win a leisure traveler combined with the lower margins, regulatory requirements, higher operating and distribution costs means the majority of airlines focus their efforts on a select number of large leisure companies who create bookings via their GDS.
This presents a challenge for the small to medium sized specialist travel companies who may have no direct relationship with your airline. As a result, this group may be forced to sell competing airlines to their customers. Or, the company might elect to obtain an airline’s product via a third party channel – which means the airline likely ends up paying the distribution costs.
Leisure Travel Zone provides booking and ticketing services on behalf of over 25 global airlines
The introduction of Leisure Travel Zone (the Zone) enables airlines to widen their distribution strategy, grow revenue, reduce operating and distribution costs, and mitigate credit risks.
With the Zone, your airline can set up and control a leisure travel product tailored to the needs of small to medium sized trade customers, automate the registration process and specify how verification should operate. In addition, the solution offers an online booking and ticketing service, management of credit limits and payment methods, as well as functionality to ensure bookings adhere to the applicable terms and conditions.
Trade customers are able to access the Zone at their convenience, and have full control over bookings from availability and pricing through to ticketing, and can elect to create bookings in their own GDS if the airline permits
Features and Capabilities
- Ability to set up and tailor products for small to medium sized trade customers
- The airline has full control over the trade customer registration, verification and fulfilment process
- Enable trade customers to self-service via online quotation, booking, amendment, payment, naming, APIS, seating and ticketing functionalities
- Low fare and best availability indicators direct trade customers towards flights with the most leisure inventory -allowing for more revenue management direction in the booking process
- Provides for multi-currency and multi-language capability
- Can be integrated with the airline’s own CRS or via NDC
- Can be utilised to merchandise the airline’s own NDC content
- System tabs/queues enable the user to manage the work flow and actions associated with the booking, such as ticketing deadlines
- Handles multiple terms and conditions and differentiates services and pricing by customer type
- Opt-out function for booking in trade customer’s GDS
- Can be white labelled to reflect the airline’s brand and identity
- MIS reporting funtionality
Benefits to Airlines
- Builds trade customer loyalty by offering state-of-the-art leisure booking and management services
- Optimises use of available inventory
- Lowers operating and distribution costs through effective use of automation
- Low capital expenditure and a user pay transactional model ensures a rapid return on investment
Benefits to Customers
- Provides a high degree of self-service and control; available 24 hours a day
- Intuitive user interfaces, logical flows and system generated reminders reduce complexity and eliminate the risk of cancelled space and/or financial penalties
- Provides small to medium sized trade customers with direct access to the airline’s leisure product enabling them to compete, win sales, and grow their business
