Customised travel reservation service

New Straits Times
02-19-2004
Customised travel reservation service
Edition: Computimes; 2*
Section: Business Computing

TMNET will be marketing ITP Technologies (M) Sdn Bhd's travel reservation service to its resellers, taking the service to a wider audience.

ITP Technologies, a technology and infrastructure provider for the travel industry, addresses different strata of business, from business-to- consumer (B2C) to business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C). The company is a strategic partner of Afoofa Sdn Bhd.
The collaboration with TMNet will be on B2C, with customers being corporations, says Lee Choon Loong, chief executive officer of ITP Technologies. This differs from the company's current arrangement with msn.com. my where it powers the travel channel open to the general public.

Lee says each corporate subscriber will get their own engine equipped with customer relationship management so that travel expenditure can be monitored by the corporation, and the individual staff can keep track of his or her travel records.

Customisation is done by each subscriber for an individual look and feel.

ITP Technologies develops business concepts around its reservations engine and how these concepts are applied is where the company comes in, Lee says.

The solution currently has 300 B2B subscribers. TMNet is expected to provide at least 4,000 subscribers in the first year, he says.

ITP Technologies' customer base consists of timeshare companies and Internet service providers, among others.

Lee says the solution has been successful, with market research indicates a high percentage of professionals using the service. "They like the convenience, instant reservations and prices offered, and are confident of using the service."

Working with branded portals helps create that confidence and is partly the reason why ITP Technologies works with the top layer of business. But the market is a mix of click and mortar as customer support is still important, he adds.

Lee says ITP Technologies is focused on tourism and travel; and wants to include the whole spectrum of the industry in its services.

He adds that the company's first priority is to develope its e- business model locally, and replicate it in the rest of the region and Asia as a whole.

He says the company is looking to developing the channel first before going to the mass market, and wants to be looked at as an e- business provider.

(Copyright 2004)