National Geographic has long served as the inspiration for exotic travel, even offering a limited selection of its own trips in recent years. This exclusive partnership was announced back in July but is worth noting. The Altrec site features a special section dedicated to travel where consumers can search for trips or destinations and then connect with an agent who is most experienced in that area. The remainder of the arrangements are conducted via e-mail or phone but it may be worth it. These sites will continue to mature by adding more video content and consumer reviews, continued integration of gear options such as detailed packing lists and expanding their inventory of available trips to include custom tours, personalized activities, and ultimately real-time booking.
Survivors are likely to be fighting over a huge market.
It is 70 percent owned by Sabre, recently spun off from the parent of American Airlines. Sites that survive the shakeout, he said, will be those that go beyond selling tickets to putting together travel packages and helping improve a consumer's trip. If I were a travel agent and all I did was write and deliver tickets, I'd be worried. The survey also found that some B2B functions, such as price negotiations and online collaboration, are still waiting to migrate online in a significant way. They show that despite a high level of online penetration, the majority of transactions completed online will be ordering and replenishment, and not price negotiations.