TUI and Thomas Cook take shares in TTI

TUI UK and Thomas Cook have become shareholders in the Travel Technology Initiative (TTI). The announcement means the TTI can now count all of the “Big Four” operators among its shareholders, as well as other big hitters including P&O Ferries, Stena Line, and Brittany Ferries. Thomas Cook head of IT service delivery for airline and tour operators, Mark Foy said Thomas Cook was committed to achieving industry-wide standards for data exchange and message based communications. The aim of the TTI is to achieve standards for electronic distribution in the travel industry. In April the TTI published three XML specifications for tour operators to share electronic brochure content with agents, both online and traditional. This was followed by an autumn conference, “Out of Print”, centred on the issue of electronic brochures.