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Screen scraping not sidelined by XML
WTM Special Report: Screen scraping is still widely used in the travel industry, despite the availability of XML.
Speaking at the EyeForTravel Travel Distribution conference at this year’s World Travel Market, Gordon Maynard, technical director at Teletext Holidays said: “We moved to using screen scraping because XML interfaces were not yet ready for our flight search, which we use to search inventory from charter, low cost and full service schedule airlines.”
Despite using an XML datafeed to access content from hotel consolidators, Maynard said that for the moment, his company has to screen-scrape for its airline inventory.
“Screen scraping is a technology I detest because it is very messy, but it is a pragmatic solution and allows us to work with suppliers that haven’t developed XML technology, plus it means you can work with suppliers without their co-operation.”
But he said there are major drawbacks to using screen scraping: “The down side is the look to book ratio, because we’re firing off an enquiry for every search. Plus it leaves us vulnerable to changes made by suppliers to their websites that could affect our access to their site.
“It’s a far from ideal technology and we are glad to say that we’re gradually finding more suppliers using XML technology.”
Report by Ginny McGrath
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