The ITB Travel Technology Congress will be taking place from 14 to 16 March in Hall 7.1b, immediately adjacent to the…
The ITB Travel Technology Congress will be taking place from 14 to 16 March in Hall 7.1b, immediately adjacent to the section devoted to ITB Travel Technology. The organisers, TMS Tele-Marketing, have decided to make this a compact congress, thereby avoiding the need to hold a number of sessions simultaneously.
The opening event, on Sunday, 14 March, will examine the opportunities for an upturn in the travel market in 2004, which could be brought about as a result of structural changes. Among the main issues to be dealt with by this congress is the extent to which the internet will continue to influence the tourism market. Do opportunities still exist for package tours or will they be replaced by the services offered by low cost carriers? Is dynamic packaging the answer to the increasing individualisation of travel? When will the traditional travel catalogues finally disappear from travel agents` shelves? These subjects will be discussed on the opening day of the congress by representatives of last.minute.com, L`tur and Thomas Cook. On the second day, Monday, 15 March, discussions at the congress will focus on the future contribution that will be made to travel business by global distribution systems. Here the emphasis will be on real time communication and electronic purchasing of tourism services, an area that has been largely neglected so far. The final day, Tuesday,16 March, will be concerned with problems currently affecting the hotel sector and business travel. Here too the question is whether cheap airlines are jeopardising the future of the business travel sector.
The ITB Travel Technology market segment
In addition to the congress itself, TMS Tele-Marketing-Service is also responsible for part of the ITB Travel Technology (Hall 7.1 c) market segment. Other suppliers can be found in Halls 6.1, 7.1 c and 8.1.
Hall 6.1: Global distribution systems (GDS), data base organisers, reservation systems, technology solutions, travel agency software, online ticketing systems, calculation programs, B2B.
Hall 7.1 c: IT consultancy services and solutions in the fields of e-commerce and CRM,
B2B, B2C.
Hall 8.1 c: Suppliers of hotel software, hotel reservation systems.
(Details correct as of 10 December 2003)
Major new developments this year include booking solutions for low cost carriers, browser-based booking portals and the integration of front-, mid-office and back-office solutions.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
