MAJOR FOCUS ON E-TRAVEL AT WORLD TRAVEL MARKET 2000

World Travel Market 2000 is to get to grips with the travel and tourism industry’s most controversial and explosive issue – e-travel.

Two hard hitting hour and a half debates with senior industry experts and a series of daily e-travel seminars hammer out the problems and the opportunities.

“This is the most important development in the industry since the birth of the package holiday. The debates are definitely not to be missed!” said exhibition director, Fiona Jeffery. “They will sweep away the promotional hype and lay the subject bare for scrutiny on a domestic and global scale.”

Respected industry American journalist and vice president and editorial director of Travel Weekly US, Alan Fredericks, will chair a panel on Tuesday 14 November at 10.30 am, at the central feature area, when the subject will be ‘e-travel: Evolution or Revolution’.

The speakers will be: Clive Jacobs, chairman and chief executive of Holiday Autos Group Ltd, the world’s largest leisure car rental broker, Simon Vincent, chief operating officer for Thomas Cook’s UK distribution division, encompassing shops, bureaux, call centres and the tour operations division, including mass market operator, JMC Holidays Ltd, and Sheila Tully, Director and Senior Consultant of brand consultancy, Appetite, formerly Beresfords.

“ E-commerce is the most exciting opportunity for the travel industry in years”, said Clive Jacobs.” But it is also a threat to be taken very seriously. Travel agents and the industry in general must embrace the new technology to improve service and add value to customers. Those that don’t will lose out.”

The theme is taken up by Thomas Cook’s Simon Vincent. He said:” The dot.com companies are not about changing from one distribution channel to another, but providing choice and flexibility for our customers in choosing and booking their holiday. We are aiming to provide a seamless multi-channel experience for customers who can hop from internet to shop to mobile phones and access our services through each.”

Brand consultant, Sheila Tully, underlines the importance of building genuine lasting brands, moving beyond the information and booking stage. She said: ”All that has been achieved so far is cutting out the middle man. The future for e-travel brands is in creating a beginning, middle and end experience, where a visit to the site offers total brand experience for the consumer through added value factors that make them return again and again before and after they travel.”

The second debate, to be held on the second Discovery trade open day, Thursday 16 November, again at the central feature area at 10.30 am, addresses the pressure now on travel agents to re-act to the boom in web commerce. Entitled ‘Death of a Salesman?’ and chaired by Jeremy Skidmore, editor of the UK’s Travel Weekly, the debate will focus on whether agents have a future.

Speakers include Steve Endacott, managing director of Holidays By Phone, Gary Wardrope, commercial director of The Travel Channel and Colin Heal, Todd Carpenter, director, Travel Trust Association and chairman of ARTAC Worldchoice, a 800-strong group of independent agents.

Steve Endacott’s message fires a blunt warning shot in the ‘war’ against agents. He said: ”Customers will migrate from walking to travel agents to talking by phone, driven by clicking to research, long before online booking has an impact. Most high street travel agents are nothing more than warehouses for brochures, with great discount knowledge but poor product knowledge.”

Todd Carpenter robustly defended the future of the travel agent. He said: ”The internet is just another means of distribution, it will no more eliminate the need for a retail presence in the travel industry than the telephone has done. Which retail agents will be there in the future will largely depend on how they harness the internet as an information and distribution tool”.

However, Colin Heal believes agents can hold their own in the competitive world.” Independent travel agents are facing major challenges over the next few years from alternative distribution methods. By investing in technology and training, backed by high standards of service, these challenges can be met.

“To paraphrase the words of Mark Twain - News of the death of travel agents are greatly exaggerated”.