22 SPECIAL FEATURE TRAVEL TECHNOLOGIES Travel Technology- Working for You Now found everywhere, it’s the global travel industry’s driving innovative force With an increase in international Travel Technology exhibitors and the Chinese search engine Baidu and booking platform Qunar exhibiting at ITBBerlin for the first time, Travel Technology Guided Tours take on new format. Travel technology can now be found everywhere in the global travel market. Be it back or front offices, computer-aided custom marketing services or hotel software and booking platforms, it now extends far beyond social media and mobile travel services. ITBBerlin 2015 reflects the rapid pace of these developments. Travel Technology has indeed become one of the biggest and fastestgrowing segments at the show, attracting IN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY, INNOVATION IS A PROCESS RATHER THAN PART OF A PRODUCT exhibitors from all over the world. More than 170 companies, including around 30 newcomers, are showcasing their innovations and products on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds. Among those exhibiting for the first time are Chinese search engine Baidu, and online travel information site Qunar. A number of Italian travel start-ups will be occupying a combined display under the heading of ’Start Up Italia’. “In the tourism industry, innovation is a process rather than part of a product. Thus, at ITBBerlin, Travel Technology now occupies an increasingly important role“, said David Ruetz, head of ITBBerlin. “We are delighted with the large number of new exhibitors who will be making the most of the opportunity to appear at the world’s largest travel trade fair. The innovative spirit demonstrated both by start-ups and established companies in this sector will help to secure future growth in the travel industry.“ NEW: THE TOOLS LOUNGE In the age of the digital revolution there is now an increasing demand for web-based tools, across industries and individual sectors alike. In order to meet the growing need for information, ITBBerlin is collaborating with tools - Expo and Conference. Taking as its slogan “working web-based in tourism“ the tools Lounge will be showcasing webbased products that target tourism market professionals and show how business processes can be successfully digitised and automated. The tools event exclusively exhibits webbased business solutions and from 16 to 17 June 2015 will be taking place for the second time on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds. For more information about tools please visit www. tools-berlin.com. WIDE RANGE OF PAPERS AND WORKSHOPS The eTravel World is another attraction at the show. As part of the supporting programme, papers and workshops will be taking place on two stages. The range of forum events includes an introduction to Travel Tech, panel discussions on social media, papers on current developments in the markets of Asia and South America, as well as an ’Innovators’ Panel’ that includes brief pitches on the topic of apps. Due to the high level of demand, ITBBerlin’s Travel Technology Guided Tours will be taking on a new format. On Wednesday, 4 th March 2015, in collaboration with Institut für eTourismus ’Tourismuszukunft’, and following a brief introduction, guided tours are taking place in the Travel Technology halls. Their focus will be on tour operators, destinations and the hotel industry. Information on every company exhibiting in the eTravel World and Travel Technology can be found in the ITBBerlin Virtual Market Place at www.virtualmarket. itb-berlin.com. ITB BERLIN NEWS • Wednesday 4 th March 2015 www.itb-berlin-news.com
TRAVEL TECHNOLOGIES SPECIAL FEATURE 23 It’s a Revolution… Mobile is the game changer… Can you keep up? Mobile remains the biggest game-changing technology of recent years, continuing to drive a seismic shift in the way people are inspired to travel, as well as plan and book it. We asked Ivan Walter, CEO, GTA, how he sees new technology changing the face of global travel distribution… Mobile is driving consumer – and business – expectations for immediacy in their relationships with brands and companies. It means distributors need to give customers the ability to do business in real time and channel management will need to get faster, make the complex simpler and do more for less. GTA’s Supplier XML API, for instance, makes it easy for channel managers, intermediaries and hotels themselves to connect seamlessly to our systems, benefit from our extraordinary reach and immediately get in front of tens of thousands of travel-selling clients around the world. Through technology we enable them to keep their availability and rates up to date and better manage the reservations we bring them. We have also created a content delivery network that optimises stability and performance for customers, addressing the varying stability of technology infrastructure in some rapidly growing markets, like China. Thousands of XML customers will already be benefiting from the improved speed, reliability and performance of our XML and this year will see the further evolution of our HTML booking sites and mobile connectivity with the evolution of initiatives like emutrip. MOBILE IS DRIVING CONSUMER – AND BUSINESS – EXPECTATIONS FOR IMMEDIACY IN THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH BRANDS AND COMPANIES What’s emutrip?... Emutrip is a prototype mobile tool that aims to make life easier for the world’s travel agents and provide them with new revenue opportunities, while adding value for travellers and building awareness of agents’ brand and expertise. Starting life as a free itinerary builder, it will evolve into a sophisticated tool for travellers; accessible in store, at home and on the move. Ivan Walter CEO, GTA Emutrip quickly and simply automates the process of building a dynamically packaged trip and presents it in a way that is as appealing as the traditional holiday brochure but can be as individual as the traveller. It frees agents to devote more time to understanding the particular needs of their customers and providing relevant recommendations and reassurance. Each itinerary can be created using the agency’s own brand. Agents build elements of the itinerary day-by-day – from flights to rail travel, accommodation to activities – drawing on content from GTA’s extensive database and elsewhere. For instance, it includes flight information and can send alerts about delays, cancellations or gate changes. Each itinerary is easy to edit with notes, reminders and additions as travellers take advantage of agents’ recommendations for excursions, sightseeing and attraction options, theatre tickets and more. This means agents can more easily up-sell and cross-sell options that are relevant to individual travellers and so earn more commissions. Made to be mobile, travellers can download the emutrip app from the App Store and Google Play so they can view their itinerary on smartphones and tablets. Agents can also email the itinerary for travellers to read on their desktop computers or print out to carry with them. ITB BERLIN NEWS • Wednesday 4 th March 2015
