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By EyeforTravel.com Correspondent, recently in Beijing"There are restrictions in the area of GDS, in particular in the issuing of air-tickets. The advanced technological platforms of business travel management overseas cannot be used in China because of the restrictions here. It is every player's wish that TravelSky, the key ticket-booking system in China, will be improved quickly to follow with the Chinese market development and growth."

Published: 01 Oct 2008

By EyeforTravel.com Correspondent, recently in Beijing

"There are restrictions in the area of GDS, in particular in the issuing of air-tickets. The advanced technological platforms of business travel management overseas cannot be used in China because of the restrictions here. It is every player's wish that TravelSky, the key ticket-booking system in China, will be improved quickly to follow with the Chinese market development and growth."

This comment was made by Zinan Liu, Director of Sales & Account Management, HRG, in an interview with EyeforTravel.com couple of years ago.

Reflecting on the current status, Liu says, "The GDS market is not yet deregulated in China. Meanwhile, TravelSky has progressed tremendously in the recent years in terms of its operational philosophy and technological solutions offered. It was airlines-oriented reservation system, but now it has a much wider portfolio of target clients including travel management companies as well as travel agencies, airlines and airports. Part of the driving force for the improvement is potential competition from GDS if the regulatory ban is lifted. TravelSky is likely grow even stronger in the presence of actual competition from the GDSs."

Liu, a speaker during EyeforTravel's Travel Distribution and Sales China 2008 conference, said the resourcing still continues to be a challenge for TMCs operating in China.

There is a gap between the expectation of clients for the service level and what can be delivered from the existing pool of travel consultants.

"It is a challenge for all the TMCs to manage the gap by means of intensive training, operational control and client relationship management," said Liu.

According to Liu, TMCs need creative thinking on business models and technological solutions to lessen its requirement on skilled manpower resource.

"On the other hand, corporate clients need to realise that the expectation for better service at a lower cost is unrealistic. In a competitive market, where clients are only willing to pay an identical price for standard and premium services, there is a danger that premium service providers could eventually be driven out. Good service relies not only on people and technology, but also on customers," said Liu.

Regarding corporate travel, during the previous edition of EyeforTravel's conference in Shanghai, it was mentioned that the decisive factor is service instead of technology, as long as one could fully meet client's requirement on travel policy compliance, cost saving target, etc, the company would not care about technology. And the service does not only refer to booking service, but also includes hotel programme procurement, complain process, and management reports' sincerity.

But now there is a growing awareness of the impact of the technology level on the service level, says Liu.

"More and more buyers do want more information about technology solutions that TMCs can offer. Some interested solutions are internal tools used by TMCs for better service level (automated quality check, scripted operation process, data consolidation software etc.). Examples of other technological solutions are such as online booking tools and online approval system which are used by travelers directly," said Liu, who shared that HRG's clients are mainly China-based international companies.