Southern Africa’s Travel News Weekly
June 23 2010 I No. 2112
INSIDE
TRAVEL NEWS WEEKLY
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News
FEATURE
Avis E-Vouchers
NEWS
Indian Ocean Destinations
No more lost docs
Football Fever
Travel industry shows its ‘gees’
MICE sector is booming Page 2
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AA taps into online travel Natalia Thomson
I
MAGINE how successful your travel business would be with a client base of over a million South African consumers. So watch out travel agents! The Automobile Association (AA) of South Africa, with its 1,6m members and 80-year reputation, has moved into the world of online retail travel. The AA has launched a new online travel booking engine – AA Holidays – that allows SA members and also 110m international members and consumers in general to book flights and buy packages and accommodation, among many other online travel tools. Pioneered by Lonehill-based Real Time Travel Technology (RTTC), the site has a clean, structured look and feel linked to an established back-end booking engine, which has been running successfully for Thompsons Online and Computicket Travel, with Infinity and Vodacom Business Tourism soon to take up the same system. RTTC co-owner, Paul Clifford, explains that the content-rich Content Management System is “working well” and offers unique features like Google maps with GPS co-ordinates indicating landmarks nearby selected accommodation options. YouTube clips, multiple images and intelligent data indicating the price
variances of domestic and international airfares over a month are among other features on the new site. “On the flight search section, the back-office engine does all the searching but also provides a map of the route and multiple options so that travellers can build an itinerary and pay online immediately. Over 55 000 bed nights are bookable real-time in the system and pricing is checked weekly to ensure it is up to date.”
More features
The AA will also be adding new features to the engine, says Geoff Elske, AA Travel gm. “Weather reports, travel insurance, destination routing and ordering of forex online will eventually be added to enhance any leisure or business trip, ensuring that AA is a traveller’s first port of call when planning to get away.” This easy-to-use portal caters for all travellers, budget or advanced. Its package creator functionality will return the cheapest possible results, where travellers can ‘upgrade’ their choices. The plan-your-trip function allows consumers to dynamically package their trip by searching for product separately. Multiple search results can be placed within the shopping basket and paid for all at once. On the back-end doing the fulfilment is The Holiday
Warehouse, run by former Flight Centre South Africa gm, Dayle White. “We’re focusing on domestic and regional product but consumers can also book international travel through the portal,” says Geoff. AA South Africa’s network with other AA clubs worldwide ensures it has access to tourism product, destination knowledge and content globally. The new online retail agent, says Geoff, will be an opportunity to grow AA’s market share in retail travel but is not aimed at undermining the group’s current chain of 16 Travel Experience stores. “We’ve seen in our research that consumers will generally surf travel sites to do research on the travel options available out there and then go to an agent to book.” Geoff says this is because online consumers in South Africa may still be wary of inputting their credit card details online. “There have also been lots of fly-by-night online travel sites out there. But AA is a trusted brand. It’s 80 years old and we believe this is a key differentiator.” Paul says the system can be white-labelled and customised for use by South African retailers. “The site would have the same functionality, fields and tabs but the look and feel would be designed to reflect the retailer’s branding.” ■
Swiss heads to San Francisco Swiss International Air Lines commenced its new nonstop service between Zurich and San Francisco on June 2. The airline will operate flights six times a week on an A340, which sports a colourful and flowery design with ‘San Francisco’ lettering as a tribute to the West Coast city’s famed flower power past. The aircraft is also the first of Swiss’s A340s to be equipped with the new Swiss business cabin. It has a unique seating arrangement and seats that feature an innovative air cushion whose firmness can be adjusted to the individual’s wishes. All ‘flower powered’ up are Swiss pricing manager, Andrea Bull, and Lufthansa pricing manager, Jeisen De Caires Photo: Tijana Huysamen
US implements secure flight programme Natasha Tippel THE Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the United States is currently implementing Secure Flight. The programme is an enhanced security check for passengers wanting to fly to/ from/within the US, which, it is
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said, will aid aviation security and help make travel easier for passengers. When travelling to or from the US, passengers will now be required to provide minimum Secure Flight Passenger Data (SFPD) when making a reservation with any
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