Travelport, one of the world’s leading providers of global distribution systems (GDS) and operator of the Galileo and Worldspan platforms, announced that Galileo Vacations, an online vacation package search and booking tool for Canadian travel agents, has simplified the process of determining the most commissionable packages by enabling agents to sort both by lowest base price and “all-in” total price that includes fees, charges and taxes. With this change, Travelport is currently the only GDS to offer price transparency when booking inclusive tour charter (ITC) and land-only products in Canada.
“The enhancement to Galileo Vacations is what we wanted for our 18,000 ACTA agents across Canada,” said David McCaig, president and COO of the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies. “This is great news and will spur our efforts to bring transparency to the whole travel market” ACTA’s McCaig has recommended that travel agents quote to their clients the all-in price of a vacation product including base fare plus fees, charges and taxes. “This also makes it much easier for agencies to determine and to collect fair commissions for the work they do for both suppliers and consumers,” McCaig added.
“Travelport is delighted to become the only GDS to offer Canadian travel agents total price transparency on our tour booking solution, Galileo Vacations,” said Maurita Baker, country manager, Canada, Travelport GDS. “Delivering the ability to quickly determine which packages are truly the best price and at the same time, offer the highest commission is a win-win for agents and their customers.” Added Baker, “Ultimately, this also provides the consumer with better information on the total cost of their vacation.”
“We applaud Galileo Vacations for making it easy for agents to quote the all-in price,” said McCaig. “Travelport enables ACTA agents to provide the pricing transparency consumers need and want. Both consumers and travel agents are bound to welcome Travelport’s move that gives them the real bottom line they need to make the best buying decisions,” McCaig added.
Galileo Vacations provides Galileo-connected agencies in Canada access to major Canadian tour operators - including Transat Holidays, Air Canada Vacations, and Sunquest Vacations among many others - serving Europe, the United States, the Caribbean, and other parts of the world. Agents can access Galileo Vacations without a fee from any computer with an internet connection, and without any hassles such as the requirement of a software download. The web-based shopping and reservation solution was developed in conjunction with IT solutions leader Softvoyage.
“Bringing pricing transparency to Galileo Vacations is a great coup for Travelport and a truly an agent-friendly development,” said David Elmy, president, The Travel Group, an agency located in Vancouver, BC. "Galileo Vacations has become an even more powerful tool, giving us the confidence that we are always offering our customers the lowest base price and in turn, securing the highest commissions for our services.”
Theodore Koumelis - Tuesday, March 09, 2010