Genesis launches E-Travel Alliance

Following the announcement that Worldspan would power its service, Genesis announced the launch of its E-Travel Alliance (ETA). The move is the cornerstone of the first phase of the GENESIS platform, president Bruce Bishins told TravelMole. “The significance of this is that travel agents for the first time can begin building their own platform. Our relationship with Worldspan is a phased approach,” he added. He said the process will begin in February in Canada, and then spread to the US and Mexico in the second or third quarter. ETA participating travel agencies are joint shareholders of a centralized booking and fulfillment service. The service offered via the internet and Worldspan allows agents to channel their customer’s itineraries to a service center in any one of several ETA participating countries. The local booking agency benefits from access to expanded automated content offerings from all ETA countries, according to Mr Bishins. Those benefits include enhanced revenue and commission agreements, worldwide pre-and post-sole customer servicing, quality assurance monitoring, and a vast array of e-commerce opportunities. Local ETA travel agency participants can be affiliated with any group or association. They can also keep their existing GDS contract. In addition to reservations and ticketing services, ETA participating travel agencies will also be provided with a complete back-office and client management system.