In this technological age, instant access to precise, up-to-the-minute information is crucial in the travel industry. Travel professionals must meet and match the demands of å‘next generation travellerså’, who can access a wealth of information through the Internet.

To meet these competitive demands, Telewest Travel
, a leading supplier of broadband communications to the travel industry, has introduced several enhancements to endeavour - the online service that can offer travel professionals more for less. 

Endeavour is designed specifically for the travel industry professional to enable faster, more accurate provision of travel information to the customer.  According to Telewest, the faster you can get to your customers, the more likely you are to achieve more sales and to win more customers.

Delivering extensive Viewdata, Internet and e-commerce capabilities to the industry; combined with high-speed connection via broadband ADSL, a rapidly growing phenomenon, Telewest claims that using Endeavour, agents can access the latest travel information with increased efficiency and speed at a low cost.

Endeavour online and endeavour office are the latest additions to the endeavour portal, launched as part of an ongoing effort to help agents embrace the Internet and meet the demands of customers who wish to search and book holidays 24 hours a day on the web.

Endeavour Online enables agencies to offer holiday deals via their own branded website. It provides personalisation features including an automated tracking service to monitor customer activity and an ‘online travel folder’ allowing customers to save holiday search results and re-visit them using a password. The service offers users a rich booking experience with an integrated secure payment facility.

Endeavour Office is based on Microsoft web services technology built with the capacity to integrate across multiple sales channels and other endeavour applications. Using endeavour office, travel agents can manage their discounting and earnings effectively and track sales status per transaction. Dynamic packaging is a key component of the system, providing agents with the ability to support the increasing demand for independent travel arrangements.

Telewest has increased its offerings not only to offer travel
agencies a `one stop`, or `holistic` solution, but also to enable them to fully automate
processes, keeping at the forefront of technology and becoming more
efficient.

Technology experts are increasingly encouraging travel agencies to get online and compete in the `race` for information. Keith Webber, head of travel, Telewest Business told Internet Travel News: “I encourage
agents to have an online presence as the internet is growing into a
major holiday search tool.  The internet is becoming a substitute
Teletext resource that is available 24 hours a day.  Users that book in
this way generally know the resort they are going to and don`t need the
added assistance of the travel agent.  However, if they are familiar
with the travel agent and are aware of its 24-hour online booking
service, the agent is far less likely to lose out on this important
revenue stream, as they are known and trusted by the customer.

“The increasing availability of broadband and internet offerings that
have trade-specific components are shaping the online travel market.
Agents need to examine their own booking facilities, so that they
continue to meet customer needs.”
Who should use endeavour

Endeavour is suitable for all travel businesses, regardless of size. It offers immediate enhancements to services such as viewdata, and provides features that include internet access, email and GDS access.

Requirements

To access endeavour, travel agents need a personal computer that meets certain specifications (See www.telewest.co.uk for more information)

Benefits

Simplicity

Powerful, easy to use search engine

Easy comparison of holiday features

Demonstrable breadth of holidays

Benefit of big player front office selling systems without need for servers or IT people

Customer database with contact information and booking history

Display of holidays returned by holiday search

Comprehensive system

Online brochure information

Independent resort information available online

Browser presentation to improve client experience

Intuitive screens supported by a printer user guide

Easily updateable

Support

Connecting to endeavour automatically connects agents to a support network - help desk for practical advice, free user guides and online user information.

 

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