Are online travel sites lagging behind?
The travel industry needs to transition to a market-driven business model to stay competitive and offer greater value to business travelers, according to the American Small Business Travelers Alliance (ASBTA), a national alliance that provides valuable services and functions focused specifically on the travel needs and interests of small business owners. “Making major changes to a decades old industry isn’t going to happen in a vacuum,” said Chuck Sharp, ASBTA President. “It’s going to require airlines and the travel manager community to be on the cutting edge of emerging technology in search of advanced distribution tools that will cut costs and improve the customer experience.” Airlines, particularly large carriers, are well aware that they need to work toward making changes that will lower costs, help them stay competitive with low-cost carriers, and improve service offerings to travelers, particularly business travelers. One area of focus should be on online travel sites, which lag
