The Kuoni Group has signed a partnership agreement with Online Travel Corporation (OTC)  to use the company’s web-based technology. The accord gives Kuoni access to some of the most successful online distribution systems available:  OTC is a   subsidiary of   the
lastminute.com Group, one of the established leaders in the internet
sales field.

Lastminute.com has long been a pioneer in internet sales within the
travel and tourism sector.  These online distribution channels offer
user-friendly booking procedures, fully-automated order processing
and “dynamic packaging” facilities that permit products and prices to
be realigned on a daily basis.
The use of this customer-friendly technology will substantially
strengthen Kuoni’s position in the direct sales field.  It also
enables Kuoni to further pursue its vision of establishing a
universal platform for its various tour operating units around the
world, by gradually extending the use of these systems to more and
more of its country organisations.
“With the online distribution market continuing to show sizeable
growth, our use of OTC’s successful technology is of vital strategic
importance,”  says Armin Meier,  CEO of the Kuoni Group.  “This
technology will help us ensure that we can continue to swiftly and
sustainably extend our leading position in this rapidly-changing
market.”
Under the terms of its partnership agreement with OTC, Kuoni has also
secured access to future technological developments of the systems
concerned. The first results of the new collaboration should be seen
 
from autumn 2006 onwards.
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