ICT and e-business in the tourism industry ICT adoption ... - empirica

Tourism
References
Research for this case study was conducted by Henry J. F. Ryan, Lios Geal Consultants,
on behalf of the e-Business W@tch. Sources and references used:
Interviews with Mr. Vic Darvey, Group Trade Director, lastminute.com and Ms. Claire
Williams, Head of Corporate Communications, September 2006
Desk based literature research, and information available from the Sabre Holdings,
Travelocity, lastminute.com, and affiliated websites: e.g. www.sabre-holdings.com,
www.travelocity.com, and www.lastminute.com
Business example:
Touropa.com – a dynamic packaging (DP) service provider
Touropa.com is a German dynamic packaging service provider situated in
Taufkirchen near Munich. Founded in 2004 (DP since March 2005),
Touropa.com is a virtual tour operator which provides tourists “easy-toassemble”
travel packages, from different components, by means of a webbased
travel configurator or via a requirements-based recommendation
solution. Customers pay one price and obtain a guarantee for the whole
package. All services can be booked separately, too.
Touropa.com is 60% owned by Georg Eisenreich (former Kreuzer, TUI and
FTI manager) and 40% by TUI AG. Although the company has only 21
employees, due to this ownership structure, it cannot be considered a typical
"small company".
Packages include accommodation, flight, car rental, transfer and additional
services such as events or theatre tickets. In terms of quantity, its line of
services offered is moderate in relation to other DP service providers on the
market. It includes 300 hotels, 15 destinations (mostly Mediterranean), four
airlines and one car-rental company. According to Eisenreich, a four-digit
number of service providers will be reached soon. Accommodation provision
descends to a large extent -most probably- from TUI.
Touropa.com does not acquire in-advance quotas, but enables real-time
packaging from separate data repositories of different service providers.
Service providers can adapt their prices according to their own capacities via
a web interface. This functionality provides service providers with enhanced
revenue- and capacity-management options. In contrast to in-advance fixed
prices that can only be reduced during phases of weak business activity,
Touropa.com’s service providers are also able to increase prices during
phases of high demand (e.g. on weekends). Two optional business models
are provided:
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the agency model (gross prices plus a negotiated commission rate) and
the merchant model (a fixed net price plus a margin determined by
Touropa.com), which is preferred by most accommodation providers.
Touropa.com follows a multi-distribution channel strategy, i.e. sales via
internet and other channels, such as traditional brick-and-mortar
intermediaries, travel TV-channels and call centres. Additionally, it offers
“white-label” services, i.e. services for third parties without visibility of the
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