Australia Increases GDS Revenue
SYDNEY - Best Western Australia property owners heard today that over 60% of local corporations use a travel management company. Growth of these companies in the Australian and New Zealand markets has been over 40% in the past five years
National Sales Manager, David Simpson hosted workshops aimed at advising Best Western property owners / managers how to use the various distribution channels to grow their businesses, in Alice Springs this week as part of the Best Western Australia national annual Convention.
Simpson said that Best Western properties, “need to adapt to changes in market conditions and the need to do business differently which means considering the growth of Travel Management Companies (TMC’s) as the emerging link in the distribution chain.”
The workshop training also included a session on the Global Distribution System. Revenue from the GDS to Best Western Australia / New Zealand increased 26.1% while the number of room nights sold increased 24.9% compared to YTD 2002.
This is in part due to BestCheque - launched in April 2003. Best Western’s global commission program, BestCheque guarantees commission to travel agents worldwide. Whether a reservation is booked through the GDS using the “BW” access code, Best Western`s website or Best Western`s worldwide central reservation system, travel agents will receive a consolidated monthly statement that lists each reservation by property and pays all commissions in one cheque.
BestCheque was developed to meet the needs of property owners who wanted a travel agent commission program that would save time, cut costs and replace the tedious operation of paying commissions manually and individually.
Simpson also told Best Western properties that opportunities existed to grow the business received from the corporate sector as travel is a controllable expense for a corporation and many companies are moving toward travel compliance as a way of saving costs.
ADVERTISEMENT
Held from August 10-13 at the Alice Springs Convention Centre, the Convention was attended by representatives from Best Western Australia’s 250 hotels, motels, resorts and apartments across Australia.
Ê
——-