Galileo Philippines distributes E-Ticketing Primer to Galileo Subscribers

Galileo Philippines is sending an e-ticketing 'primer' to its subscribers in Manila and throughout the Philippines. The primer is designed to help travel agents using the Galileo system to deal confidently and authoritatively with queries from members of the public. Galileo received International Air Transport Association (IATA) Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) approval in May to offer e-ticketing in the Philippines.

"Our travel agency subscribers have wholeheartedly welcomed our introduction of e-ticketing," said Eddie Nuque, General Manager of Galileo Philippines. "We are confident too that the travelling public will respond positively to e-tickets, and will enjoy the freedom and convenience that comes from having no accountable travel document to lose. But as e-ticketing is still new in the Philippines we recognise that customers of travel agents will naturally ask questions, such as how they can change a reservation if they have an e-ticket, or how many airlines offer e-tickets in the Philippines, and whether paper tickets will disappear. Our short primer covers all these points and will help travel agents make their customers feel confident about e-ticketing."

Galileo Philippines is already providing e-ticketing familiarisation courses to travel agents as part of its ongoing training programme and expects to complete training for up to 300 travel agents by September.

Galileo's primer is an additional measure designed to help reinforce passenger acceptance of e-tickets. The primer anticipates the kind of questions that customers will ask travel agents as they make reservations and have their first experience of being offered an e-ticket rather than a paper ticket. This directly addresses a concern among travel agents in the Philippines about the time they might need to spend in educating travellers about e-tickets and how this could impact agency productivity. By providing travel agents with a tool that will allow them to provide reassurance to passengers quickly and easily, Galileo is helping to ensure that its subscribers do indeed immediately realise the cost savings and increased productivity of e-ticketing.