Travel agencies using Advanta.Res or Meridia.Res, two leisure travel Internet booking engines from Sabre, can now change and customise their own sites online by using a Sabre tool called Site Manager.  The product lets agency managers install their Internet booking engines and make changes to the booking pages whenever they like.

Agents now have full control over their site’s design and content.  They can exclude travel providers, blacklist airports, set cancellation and service fees and generally determine what they wish to sell on their websites, how it looks and how they want to sell it.  Alterations are easily made and agents can test any changes before moving the site into production. 

Site Manager also lets agencies manage the link between their site and their external fares database, allowing them to control precisely which fares they display online.  They can also download traveller information and integrate this with their own customer relationship marketing (CRM) programmes.

“As online booking increasingly becomes an everyday part of a good agency’s service, so instant control of site content becomes more important”, said Alicia Gardner
, Sabre vice-president of sales and marketing.

Sabre
is actively encouraging travel agents to build an online presence.  In addition to developing the Sabre .Res suite of Internet booking engines, the company last year did a deal with Dublin-based interactive media agency Digital:CC, to provide an off-the-shelf website to travel agencies that want an Internet presence but do not have access to the necessary expertise.

Related stories on ITN:

(24/01/2003) Sabre to Focus on Agent Efficiency at BT2003

(11/12/2002) Sabre Offers Top Tips for Agencies

(01/11/2002) Sabre Seminar at WTM to Address Online Marketing for Agents

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