Report highlights ongoing technology issues in the tour operating sector.
LONDON, UK – Travel technology provider Open Destinations released their annual report, titled ‘Top 5 Technology Challenges in the Tour Operating Sector.’ Members of the European Tourism Association (ETOA) had an early preview of this report during the Showcase.travel Digital workshop held in London.
“Our technology workshop is the perfect forum for this discussion,” says Tom Jenkins, CEO of ETOA. “This report from Open Destinations adds real value to our members and gives them an opportunity to gain some valuable insight from experts in the sector.”
The report was created from worldwide customer feedback during technology projects over the course of 2015. The five challenges were derived from discussions with tour operators around running their technology systems more effectively, such as hosting their technology in the cloud and integrating with channel managers.
“Tour operators are facing increasing competition from OTA’s and large travel companies,” says Open Destinations CEO, Kevin O’Sullivan. “Both their technology and their processes need to be more sophisticated. This report looks at ways that tour operators can improve their technology to compete in this arena and also streamline their staffing costs to make them work more efficiently.”
In addition to the technology challenges faced by tour operators, the report highlights real life case studies of business process outsourcing (BPO) services provided by Open Destinations. This includes managing products and contracts, auditing flight tickets and reconciling supplier invoices. “Our outsourcing teams have helped our clients achieve remarkable efficiencies in their operations,” says O’Sullivan. “One of our travel wholesale clients estimates that they’ve had 30% in cost savings and 50% increase in overall productivity.”
Photo caption: Tom Jenkins, CEO of ETOA.
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She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
