Airlines "their own worst enemy" - TravelMole


Airlines “their own worst enemy”

Thursday, 08 Feb, 2005 0

In the corporate market, an airline’s toughest competition is its own website, says BTI UK managing director Mike Platt.

Mr Platt told TravelMole: “The lines are being blurred between business and leisure travellers because business travellers are behaving like leisure travellers and booking online.

“Yields will go down because business travellers are getting access to fares they didn’t previously have access to.

“Before the growth of the internet airlines could compartmentalise the market by the inflexible business traveller and the flexible leisure traveller, but nowadays business travellers aren’t prepared to pay a premium.”

Business traveller booking leisure fares direct isn’t just a problem for airlines. Mr Platt added that as business travellers increasingly book their own travel it is up to travel management companies to prove their worth. He said his own company is working with travel managers to get across the value of TMCs, such as tracking executives when they are away on business or implementing travel policy to boost cost savings.

Despite increasing competition from the likes of Expedia Corporate Travel, “traditional” TMCs remain positive. Speaking at the Guild of Travel Management Companies’ annual lunch, the first official use of the organisation’s new name, chairman Richard Lovell said TMCs were maintaining a stable market share with business at 2002 levels.

Report by Ginny McGrath



 

profileimage

Ginny McGrath



Most Read

Mark Jaronski of Explore Georgia on FIFA World Cup 2026

Connecting Small Businesses to Global Tourism Markets: Nate Huff of Tourism Exchange

North Carolina’s Resilience: Wit Tuttell on Recovery and Tourism

Kittipong Prapattong’s Plan for Thailand’s Tourism Growth: Taxes, Visas, and Campaigns

James Jin: Didatravel’s Journey from China to Global Reach and the Impact of AI on Travel

Darien Schaefer on Pensacola’s Evolution: From Small Town to Global Destination

Florida Tourism’s Next Frontier: Dana Young on Expanding Beyond the Classics

Patrick Harrison on Tampa Bay Tourism’s Resilience and Marketing Strategy

Bubba O’Keefe on Clarksdale’s Vibrant Music Scene

Commemorating Elvis and Embracing Tupelo’s Culture with Jennie Bradford Curlee

Craig Ray and the Expansion of the Blues Trail

Presenting Mississippi’s Cultural Trails with Katie Coats
TRAINING & COMPETITION

Our emails to you has bounced travelmole.com Or You can change your email from your profile Setting Section

Your region selection will be saved in your cookie for future visits. Please enable your cookie for TravelMole.com so this dialog box will not come up again.

Price Based Country test mode enabled for testing United States (US). You should do tests on private browsing mode. Browse in private with Firefox, Chrome and Safari