Operators "do not know where their sales come from"

Tour operators need to be able to sell their product through multiple channels – but they also need to know where their sales are coming from, according to the TOWARD Europe white paper on distribution. The white paper points out that many operators “do not know where their sales come from, or who might be aggregating product and selling on, suggesting a lack of control over where and how product is distributed.” It says the problems lies in current systems architecture and points out that investing in new technology is the key to taking back control of distribution. For operators to be able to distribute over many channels their inventory management systems need interfaces that allow for intensive searches from third parties. But the white paper warns that this can also lead to problems: “In many cases it is not the interfacing that causes problems but the underlying structure of the inventory management and reservations systems. Many of these were designed in an era when only simple rudimentary product searches were necessary – or possible.” It also points out that while intermediaries such as online travel agents may provide competitor products, they also represent a valuable sales channel which is why operators need to have the technology to link to their systems. For more details on TOWARD Europe visit www.towardeurope.org. See related stories: Operators “unaware” of true distribution costs Clock ticking for operators over technology.