US agents offered direct access to six airlines

Accovia Inc. announced an interface to Navitaire (a wholly owned subsidiary of Accenture) that connects travel agents, tour operators, resorts and hotels directly to six of the largest US airlines. “We‚re looking to offer full flexibility to travel agents and tour operators,”Claude Guay, Accovia CEO, told TravelMole.com at the PhoCusWright Executive Conference in Orlando. The new technology – Accovia AirConnect for Navitaire DirectNet – allows travel wholesalers and distributors to broaden their procurement channels and help reduce costs by managing multiple reservation channels from a single technology platform, he added. Travel retailers and wholesalers can package multiple travel services together and sell at a single price – without paying a GDS fee. “Offering access to Navitaire’s DirectNet services provides our customers with a direct channel to traditional and low cost airlines, and complements our existing GDS procurement solutions and ITA Software-based shopping capabilities,” said Mr Guay. Accovia, which says it offers the industry’s only travel automation and management product suite for the packaging and distribution of multi-component travel services through GDS and other channels, has among its clients major companies such as Disneyland Paris. Asked about the future of GDS in general, Mr Guay said: “I don’t know where GDS is going to end up, but some carriers are encouraging people to go direct,” he said. Strategies among travel companies may differ, but Expedia, for one, is clearly trying to capture the largest share of the market, he said. “They want to be the Wal-Mart of the travel industry, which is obviously a valid strategy,” he added.