British travel agencies wanting to create their own online booking Website can now source TravelStoreMaker.com’s proven Internet Booking Engine (IBE) and support services from global travel e-commerce leader Worldspan. The two companies have signed a licensing agreement to market TravelStoreMaker.com’s IBE to Worldspan travel agencies in more than 30 countries in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia. Said Graham Nichols, Worldspan vice president and general manager - Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia: “TravelStoreMaker.com’s IBE is one of the most robust and competitive products available today. We chose this IBE solution because of its proven range of functions, cost-effectiveness and the fact that it is available in 15 languages and can process a variety of currencies and payment types. This means agencies can receive bookings 24 hours a day from around the world, significantly extending their revenue opportunity. Worldspan is delivering yet another powerful solution to enable agencies to take advantage of the benefits of travel e-commerce.”

TravelStoreMaker.com chief executive officer John Hazlewood added: “Travel agencies require a simple-to-use and cost-effective online solution. Worldspan’s decision to market our product and services shows confidence in our capabilities, and promotes the fact that we have created a state-of-the-art solution for the travel industry.”

The TravelStoreMaker.com IBE enables real-time air, car and hotel bookings by linking directly to Worldspan’s GDS inventory of over 200 million fares, 465 bookable airlines, nearly 62,200 hotel properties and over 25,300 car rental locations.

The IBE manages itinerary search, planning, and integrated published, private and consolidator airfares, with fare rules shown in user-friendly formats, ranked in price order. Fares can be displayed by passenger type, base fare per passenger, as well as by total price. Frequent flier privileges are accepted and preferred seats and meals can be ordered online. Rapid implementation of the IBE with the look and feel of the travel agency’s Web site enables agencies to get online quickly and securely. Credit card verification helps reduce fraud, and each booking is automatically sent to the parent agency for processing and ticketing.

Paolo Pezzoli, founder and President of Wireless SpA in Italy described the IBE as an easy-to-use, adaptable and cost-efficient solution for his business model. “Wireless can rely on TravelStoreMaker.com’s dynamic approach for customising the solution to satisfy customer expectations. We’re very happy with their customer service, rapid response times and quick implementation of new system requirements,” he added.

Software development and an agent’s toolkit further increase efficiency benefits, and TravelStoreMaker.com and Worldspan provide expert customer support around the clock.
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