From M/Cyclopedia of New Media
Travelocity is an online travel agency operated by travelocity.com. It provides information and booking opportunities for flights, hotels, cars, rail, cruises, vacations and last minute deals. Travelocity is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sabre Holdings Corporation (Wikipedia, 2005).
History
When Travelocity was launched on March 12, 1996, by Sabre Interactive (Sabre Holdings, 2005) it became the first website to allow customers themselves, without the help of a travel agent, not only to access Sabre’s fare and schedule information, but also to reserve, book, and purchase tickets. The company was funded as a Sabre development project and Terrell B. Jones, the Chief Information Officer at Sabre, was put in charge of developing the online booking system that would become travelocity.com (Gast, 2003).
Significant Events:
1999
- Travelocity was nearing its forth consecutive year as the top online travel website (Gast, 2003).
- October: Travelocity announced it would merge with the third largest online travel company, Preview Travel (Gast, 2003).
2001
- April: Travelocity celebrated five years of online travel leadership, and its first profitable quarter (Gast, 2003).
2002
- Travelocity and Otto Versand, a global leader in direct marketing and Europe’s top direct marketing firm, launched Travelocity Europe, a multi-channel travel company (Sabre Holdings, 2005).
- Travelocity acquires Site59, a leading online seller of last-minute merchant model air, hotel, and rental car inventory (Sabre Holdings, 2005).
- Sabre Holdings purchases the outstanding shares of Travelocity it did not already own, making Travelocity a wholly owned subsidiary of Sabre Holdings (Sabre Holdings, 2005).
2003
- Travelocity introduces Travelocity Business (Sabre Holdings, 2005).
- Travelocity introduces Total Trip (Sabre Holdings, 2005).
- Travelocity acquires World Choice Travel, a hotel room consolidation and distribution businesses (Sabre Holdings, 2005).
2004
- Travelocity Europe business launches its French consumer travel web site, Odysia (www.odysia.fr)(Sabre Holdings, 2005).
- Travelocity acquires Las Vegas-based All State Tours. Inc., a leading distributor of show tickets and tours (Sabre Holdings, 2005).
Current Issues
Travelocity has evolved in a similar manner to most online ecommerce websites - through product innovation, customer feedback, and competitor pressure - and continues to develop with the interests of customers the priority (Gast, 2003). As of early 2005, many members of the management team of Site59 now hold senior management positions at Travelocity (Wikipedia, 2005). Also, in July, 2005, Sabre Holdings acquired lastminute.com, one of Europe’s leading online travel sites (Sabre Holdings, 2005). This acquisition added approximately 2000 employees to Travelocity’s business unit.
Future Developments
Travelocity is looking at moving its focus from developing new products and services, to making the ones it already has more reliable and easier to use. In order to do this, major changes will be made to the website and they way business is conducted.
Branches of Travelocity
Travelocity Europe
Travelocity Europe is a multi-channel travel company. Since its introduction in 2002, it has become one of the leading European consumer direct travel agencies (Sabre Holdings, 2005).
Travelocity Business
Introduced in 2003, Travelocity Business is a full-service business agency that is operated by Travelocity. Its purpose is to manage travel and reduce costs for companies and provide them with more choices (Travelocity Business, 2005).
Awards
Some of the awards Travelocity has won over the past few years include:
2004
- Sabre Holdings wins “World’s Leading�? Awards for GDS, Travel Technology and Internet
2003
- World Travel Awards - World’s Leading Internet Travel Site
2002
- Computerworld Honours Program - 21st Century Achievement Award - Transportation
- Data Warehousing Institute - Best Practices Award for CRM
- Effie Awards - Gold
2001
- Webby Awards - Winner of Best Commerce Site
- World Travel Awards - World’s Best Travel Internet Site
- SIIA Awards - Best Travel Product or Service
Further Information
For further information on Travelocity, see also:
Competition
Online travel agencies in competition with Travelocity include:
References
- Wikipedia (2005) "Travelocity," retrieved on October 9, 2005, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travelocity
- Travelocity Business (2005) "Overview," retrieved on October 10, 2005, from http://svc.travelocity.com/info/info_main_biz/0,,TRAVELOCITY:EN|BIZ100,00.html
- Gast, M. (2005) "Travelocity.com: A Glimpse Through History," retrieved on October 9, 2005, from http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/article.php?story=20031222221110443&query=Travelocity.com%3A+A+Glimpse+Through+History
- Sabre Holdings (2005) "Sabre History," retrieved on October 9, 2005, from http://www.sabre-holdings.com/aboutUs/holdings/history.html
- Travelocity (2005) "Travelocity Awards," retrieved on October 9, 2005, from http://svc.travelocity.com/about/press/0,,TRAVELOCITY:EN|AWARDS,00.html
Contributors to this page include:
Roxanne Hawes 12:12, 16 Oct 2005 (EST)
