Computer Reservation Systems Research Articles

Travel Distribution: Virtual Reality for Airlines?

Abstract Travel Distribution, that is, the way the cosumer gets his/her ticket for boarding an airplane, has evolved over the last fifty years from a simple two-way transaction to a sophisticated trade-off between more than two parties. Thus, the mere telephone call between a traveller and an airline has been replaced by a complicated electronic link among airlines, travel agents, corporations and consumers. The backbone of all this has been the various CRS’s (Computer Reservation Systems) whose the haydays of the 70’s and 80’s have given place to sceptisism as we approach to the end of this millennium.

The Impact of IOS-Enabled Business Process Change on Business Outcomes: Transformation of the Value Chain of Japan Airlines

:This paper explores the relationship between IOS-enabled business process change and business outcomes. A generic framework for analyzing IT-enabled business process change is applied to a case study analysis of Japan Airlines (JAL). Drawing on a resource-based view of the firm, we investigate the ways in which IOS not only contributed to JAL’s improved competitiveness but also enabled it more fully to leverage its strategic value chain as an engine of growth and a new source of competitive advantage. Our focus is on JAL’s strategic use of the AXESS Computer Reservation System and Electronic Data Interchange, developed with a clear strategic intention to support JAL’s emerging strategies on customer service, sales, value chain logistics coordination, and cost reduction. JAL’s collaboration with the IOS-transformed virtual value chain firms significantly contributed to JAL’s business growth and competitiveness. JAL’s time-based competitiveness has been improved through its IOS-enabled interfirm joint product innovation cycle time reduction.

More than a failure? The computerized reservation systems at French Railways

Presents part of ongoing research into French Railways (SNCF) and the introduction of Socrate, a computerized reservation and ticketing system. SNCF bought Sabre from American Airlines in order to build Socrate; one of its aims was to transform commercial activities through the instigation of a new philosophy of selling, based on a technological investment, importing techniques, such as yield management, used in the airline industry. Seeks to understand the links between the strategic and political aims and the technical choices, as well as how actors interpret and appropriate technical tools. Argues that Socrate is an integral part of the problematic adoption of a new rail transport model based on the deregulated airline industry.

Lack of CRS Accessibility May Be Strangling Small Hoteliers, the Lifeblood of European Tourism

This paper identifies the fragmented nature of accommodation provision in Europe, the majority being in small units. The increasing use by travel agents of Computer Reservation Systems (CRSs) to book hotels is also identified, by the provision of hitherto unpublished statistics. The criteria are detailed by which agents judge the effectiveness of a CRS. Two CRSs which have specialized in small units are described. The needs of both the supply and demand sides are noted and ways in which these may be met are explained. It is suggested that since small hotels are seldom featured on the major Global CRSs, these hotels may lose market share.

The Emergence of Electronic Market Systems in the European Tour Operator Business

Recent developments in computer reservation systems and associated new trading patterns may bring about important changes to the (West) European travel and tourism industry in general and the tour operator business in particular. The new trading forms are deriving from the establishment of electronic market systems, for example, as a result of the merging of global airline reservation systems with hotel, car rental and other booking systems. Electronic market systems may well provide new opportunities for some tour operators as well as threaten the competitive position of others, and overall, may make it necessary for tour operators to seek new ways to ‘add value’ to travel and tourism products.

Information Advantage and the Development of Direct Selling strategies in the Airline Industry

The development of computer reservation systems (CRSs)has led to changes in airline marketing strategy and channel power relationships. The increased capabilities of the airlines will, in time, alter their relationships with travel agents. Traditional mass marketing efforts of airlines will give way to very specifically tailored offerings to individual customers. This paper discusses the development of computer reservation systems in the airline industry, their capabilities, and the possible responses of travel agents.

Database Marketing for Competitive Advantage in the Airline Industry

This paper examines the development and role of database marketing in the travel industry in general and in the airlines in particular. The airline industry has effectively merged its information with that from other travel services to better serve consumers and to increase marketing efficiency. Computer reservation systems, frequent programs, and yield management are integrated through database marketing to gain competitive advantage in the marketplace.

The impact of computer reservation systems on long haul travel

Today's long haul travelers require destination information before they travel to a destination, and also while they are at the destination. The increasing complexity of the tourism industry and the increasing sophistication and diversity of travelers, makes access to this information both more important and more difficult, especially for long haul destinations. Indeed there are substantial search costs for travelers to identify products in long haul destinations. More accessible information sources on a destination's facilities can reduce the substantial search costs that are incurred in the planning and organization of a long haul trip, and thereby facilitate market transactions in the destinations.

Computer reservation systems and public tourist offices

This article is based on a report commissioned by the World Tourism Organization (WTO) in 1992. The report's objectives are: to outline the background to and the current status of computerized reservations services as provided by the airline CRS systems, vendor (ie hotel group or tour operator) systems and destination databases; examine the main uses of these systems and identify current trends; and identify possible policy issues for public tourist offices from these developments.

Destination information systems

This paper discusses the role played by national and regional tourism offices in the provision and distribution of destination information. Issues in the structure and design of destination information systems using computer technology are discussed and contrasted with commercial computer reservation systems. Issues addressed include organizational and economic structure of the systems, typologies of information and data sources, quality control of the data, technologies used, and interfaces with other tourism industry electronic marketplaces. Five European destination information systems in Austria, Denmark, The Netherlands, Switzerland, and England are utilized to illustrate some of the important issues in the systems development.

Structure, Conduct, and Performance in the Deregulated Airline Industry

Unlike other disciplines, empirical studies in economics suffer from the characteristic that many results cannot be replicated through experimentation. Therefore, when unique natural experiments occur in economic settings, large numbers of applied economists are apt to analyze the data. The natural experiment generated by the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act in 1978 not only transformed the domestic airline industry, but also produced a cottage industry for economists as well. In the past dozen years, there have literally been hundreds of articles, books, reports, and editorials written about the airline industry. In most of these writings, the authors tend to agree that the benefits of deregulation have outweighed the costs.' Indeed, many of the favorable outcomes of deregulation predicted by observers of the airline industry have in fact been realized. Deregulation has enabled airlines to reduce operating costs, increase load factors, increase the availability of discount tickets, and increase the number of flights, all without a serious decline in service to small communities or safety. Although the designers of deregulation and economists in general appear to have predicted accurately the direction of welfare change, they did not predict accurately the present structure of the airline industry. Many of the fundamental attributes that now characterize the domestic airline industry, such as the hub-and-spoke method of delivery, complex pricing schemes, the dominance of many airports by single carriers, the importance of computer reservation systems, and the growth of loyalty-inducing devices such as frequent-flyer programs and travel agent commission overrides, did not exist in the regulated airline industry and were not predicted to emerge by proponents or opponents of deregulation. The failure of sophisticated observers to predict these developments demonstrates just how far out of line regulation had taken the industry.

Convergent validity in tourism research: an empirical analysis

In order to examine the convergent validity of several techniques, four measures were obtained of the influence of various attributes of computerized reservation systems in purchase decision making by travel agents. Measures were gathered at the individual respondent level. The four measures were: (1) elicitation; (2) selective ranking; (3) direct rating; and (4) conjoint measurement. In order that the convergent validity of this conjoint model with another technique could be assessed, data for a self-explicated multi-attribute model were also gathered. Correlations between the measures were generally low, although convergence at the aggregate level may have been higher than at the individual level. Caution should be exercised by tourism researchers in relying on single techniques of assessing attribute importance.

The Role of Computerized Reservation Systems in the Hospitality Industry. Frank M. Go. TourismManagement, vol. 13, no. 1, March 1992, pp. 22-26. Butterworth-Heinemann, 80 Montvale Avenue, Stoneham, MA 02180. £55 annual subscription for TTRA members

The Role of Computerized Reservation Systems in the Hospitality Industry. Frank M. Go. TourismManagement, vol. 13, no. 1, March 1992, pp. 22-26. Butterworth-Heinemann, 80 Montvale Avenue, Stoneham, MA 02180. £55 annual subscription for TTRA members

A model of competing interorganizational systems and its application to airline reservation systems

Interorganizational systems (IOS) are automated information systems that cross company boundaries. This article presents a descriptive model of competition between providers of interorganizational systems in a mature market. The model emphasizes the competitive role of switching costs in conjunction with user benefit functions which increase with the number of users. Also introduced is a notion of competitive position which aids in describing competitive risks and opportunities in a market. The case of airline computerized reservation systems (CRS) is used throughout the paper to demonstrate the model.

CRS

This paper describes the current and intended future use of computer reservation systems by Canadian travel agents. These systems now offer much more than simply the ability to reserve aircraft seats and accommodation, but a present there appears to be little use of the management functions available. However, there is an increasing awareness of how these systems might be used for both administrative and management functions within the agency, and as a marketing tool for “customizing” travel arrangements to meet individual needs. The type of use being made of these systems seemed unrelated to size of the agency, or the numbers of years they have been trading.

Barriers to contestability in the deregulated European aviation market

The deregulation of aviation in the United States and intercity bus transport in the United Kingdom initially resulted in substantial fare reductions associated with new market entry. Many new market entrants subsequently left the market and fares increased. International aviation in Europe has been operated by national airlines with price collusion and capacity sharing and a ban on new entrants. The normal economy fares charged on air services within Europe are the highest in the world. Therefore, there is significant scope for fare reductions when the European Community (EC) internal market comes into operation in 1993. Deregulation of market access will, however, leave unaddressed other barriers to contestability in the deregulated European aviation market. The structural barriers to contestability include hub airport dominance by the incumbent airlines, ground handling monopolies, and computer reservation system (CRS) bias. The paper proposes measures to ensure access to major airports for new entrant airlines on equal terms with incumbent airlines and the deregulation of the market for airport ground handling. The EC code of conduct for the neutral operation of CRS for incumbent and new entrant carriers is an important precedent. The strategic obstacles to contestability in a deregulated European airline industry are anticompetitive mergers and predatory pricing. In recent years national airlines have acquired several independent airlines in important European markets. It is recommended that such takeovers be prohibited because of their anticompetitive implications in the absence of competition between national airlines. The large networks of national airlines allow them to pursue policies of geographical price discrimination with reduced fares on contested routes and higher fares on uncontested routes. Price surveillance is recommended to explain fare differences between contested and uncontested routes. It is recommended that the EC competition policy exemption for price consultations between airlines be ended. Without measures to tackle the structural and strategic obstacles to competition in European aviation, its liberalization may have no impact on the present high-cost system.

The emergence of the real-time computer reservation system as a competitive weapon in the U.S. airline industry 1958–1989. A paper on strategic innovation

This paper develops a general framework for understanding how the innovation process can be effectively used as a strategic management tool. The strategic innovation framework is examined in light of the historical evolution of the U.S. airline computer reservation systems industry. The role of general managers in making ‘entrepreneurial choices’ is discussed.

The role of computerized reservation systems in the hospitality industry

The role of computerized reservation systems in the hospitality industry

The US tourism industry's view of EC '92

The single internal market initiatives of the European Community, due to be completed by 31 December 1992, reduce internal barriers to the free movement of people, services and capital. Interviews with executives of US tourism firms and government officials of tourism—related agencies indicate that US industry expects EC'92 to only marginally affect their operations in international aviation, airline computer reservation systems, tour packaging, and US hotel development in Europe. EC'92 is anticipated to foster a mild increase in the flows and activities that have characterized US—European tourism demand and supply patterns over the last several decades, rather than to be a dramatic break with the past. However, much is yet to be resolved regarding how the European Community will treat US tourism businesses and visitor flows over the next five to ten years.

L-CATA: A logic-based expert travel system

L-CATA (Logic-based Computer Aided Travel Assistant) is a logic-based expert database system, which asks the user to input his query specification, such as starting place, destination, constraints, rules and goals, etc., and outputs a list of flights meeting the traveller's specification; together with an alternative list which may not quite meet the user's specification but optimizes his goals. L-CATA is written as a deductive database system, and uses heuristic rules to prune its search of the database. Unlike other air-travel related expert systems, L-CATA does not attempt to model the traveller. Instead, L-CATA complements existing Computer Reservation Systems by providing comprehensive individually tailored advice and information to the traveller. There are several approaches to implement such a system. The logic approach is a very promising one, and the aims of L-CATA can be more easily achieved by using it. In this paper, we present a logic approach to the L-CATA expert database system, and provide a theoretical foundation for such a database system.