30 Minute Interview

'We seek opportunities with airlines that see value in our network'

Online travel agents share a close relationship with airlines. Himanshu Singh, managing director, Travelocity India speaks about his portal's relevance to airlines. By Chetan Kapoor

Himanshu Singh Managing Director Travelocity

How does Travelocity have an edge over other OTAs with respect to airline bookings?

It's all about seamless global distribution. Any airline that ties up with us has the benefit of reaching 20 million customers across the world through our network of sites and over 44,000 affiliates in over 40 countries across the world. Worldwide, we offer over 400 airlines to our customers. This choice will be available to the Indian consumer when we launch air bookings on our site.

Given our Sabre heritage, we already have great relationships with many leading airlines in India and we plan to enhance them to create a better proposition. That said, we are continuously looking for new opportunities with airlines that see value in our network and are keen to create sustainable relationships.

Are you looking at the chartered airline segment?

Worldwide, we do sell chartered flights online through Lastminute.com in Europe. In India, our strategy is to wait and watch the way the chartered segment category grows over the next few years, and then decide on a course of action. As a customer-focussed company, we have always been on the lookout for new opportunities to enhance our offering and provide more value to customers.

Tell us about the technology used for real-time airline bookings.

Sabre and Travelocity are one of the largest spenders in travel technology R&D globally. It's a matter of pride that the Sabre Development centre, where a lot of R&D in travel distribution technology gets done, is located in Bangalore. This is the technology which forms the core of the best airlines of the world including Jet Airways and Kingfisher in India, as well as the Travelocity network of websites worldwide.

How do you perceive the future of travel agents?

Traditional travel agents have always played an important role in the travel eco-system. There will definitely be some natural evolution, given the rise in savvy customers and their expectations but we see traditional travel agents continuing to enjoy great relations and good business from their customers.

Travelocity, part of the SABRE family of companies (which operates the world's largest GDS) believes in the spirit of co-operation rather than competition. We will be partnering with certain travel agents in India through the Travelocity Partner Network and powering them with a private labelled web booking solution, which will be an online booking channel for their consumers.

What is the scope for OTAs venturing into the offline space?

Our business is based on a pure online model. The Indian market shows potential enough to handle multiple models of B2C travel commerce. However, with the rapidly growing online audience and the rising purchasing power, the online space itself is some distance away from saturation. We intend to focus and lead in this segment first.

What is on the cards for Travelocity India?

Travelocity India will introduce flight bookings, and new and innovative online travel technologies to India, including dynamic technology innovations. Dynamic packaging combines flight and hotel bookings, allowing travellers to mix-and-match a package. A total price is displayed rather than individual pricing, which is less than the sum of all parts if booked separately. Individual pricing for each element of the trip is opaque to customers. This is good news for suppliers as the brand is protected on discounted or last minute inventory.