This post is part of the 2015 Keynote Vote for The Beat Live, in Arlington, Va., Sept. 29-Oct. 1.
Topic: The TMC Of The Future: Moving To A Retail Model With No Fees
I am convinced that the airline fulfillment process is now a commodity.
TMCs have to transition to a world were revenue comes not from transaction processing but from other sources. $0 online fees are the first step.
New bold thinking must focus on out-of-the-box ideas, such as taking hotel, airline and car rental inventory. Leveraging credit card spending, managing frequent-flyer miles, merchandising travel and service products throughout the travel experience are all new sources of revenue that should be explored. Even changing our service-fee model to a retail all-in business model will give the industry a positive future.
Steve Glenn is Executive Travel CEO.