MIS Report On Information Systems Used By Travel Industry

Submitted To Prof.Anil Kumar

BY PALLAVI BIZOARA (2013186 ) NIDHI SHARMA (2013169) NIHAL MOIDU (2013170) PALLAVI GUPTA (2013187)

SECTION D
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
S.NO 1. TITLES TRAVEL INDUSTRY - INTRODUCTION PAGE NO 3

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EVOLUTION OF TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY

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CENTRALCOMMAND SOLUTION (ERP)

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DIFFERENT AIRLINES USING INFORMATION SYSTEMS ARKIA ISRAELI AIRLINES

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JETBLUE AIRLINES

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7.

DELTA AIRLINES

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8.

INDIAN SECTOR

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TRAVEL INDUSTRY

The travel industry is a global industry that meets the need for moving cargo, passengers, and information as efficiently as possible. Ground, sea, air, and space are all used by the travel industry to get things where they need to go. Numerous multinational companies play some role in this industry, whether they maintain infrastructure, build equipment, or supply personnel. This industry is usually in a steady state of growth except in very poor economic conditions. Passengers move on buses, aircraft, boats, and smaller vehicles like cars. The passenger travel industry includes a number of commercial airlines, train companies, and bus services as well as the companies that service them. Manufacturers of products for the travel industry work to supply the necessary equipment, while people like information technology professionals develop the infrastructure to support it. Airlines, for example, rely heavily on automated real-time systems to update bookings and manage flights. Information technology is a key part of the travel industry. Many companies use computer systems to handle information and must be able to transmit information reliably and securely between destinations. This is one part of the larger logistics industry that supports travel professionals. Without the ability to transmit, control, and secure information, many companies would be unable to offer the services their customers expect, from package tracking to secure ordering. Logistics also includes the development of packaging, inventory control systems, and related products and services. In many nations, professional organizations represent the industry. They work with legislators and other policymakers to establish a favorable business climate and address concerns like the threat of terrorism at ports. These organizations also engage in publicity campaigns and public outreach to make members of the general public aware of the services offered by the travel industry. They can also set and enforce standards and assist their member companies with issues like litigation and regulatory compliance.
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EVOLUTION OF TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY

It is said that NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF ALL INVENTION and we need to look no further than the travel industry to see this proverb in practice. Travel technology has changed over the years driven primarily by the stakeholders most affected by the use of the technology. Evolution can basically be divided into four distinct stages dating from the 1400s to the present day.

EVOLUTION

SUPPLY CREATION SUPPLY MANAGEMENT

SALES & DISTRIBUTION

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When we look at the history of travel technology ADVANCED and review the trends in the types of DISCOVERY technologies created during the four key stages, we see a shift from supplier centric technologies to consumer centric technologies. In the beginning, the goal was to make supply available. Once available, the goal was to get it that availability in the hands of those who controlled access to customers, the travel agents. When the internet arrived, the consumer direct access provided a new kind of travel agent to use the network effect to access a wider customer base. But it has also allowed suppliers to connect directly to those same customers providing them with both direct and non-direct booking options. Abundance of choice drove the creation of advanced discovery tools like metasearch, review websites, and alternative marketplaces. The advent of mobile has triggered new business models that, although still rely on the same availability and general underlying infrastructure, take advantage of new and quite different consumer behaviors. The next stage will be driven by personalization technologies and the ability for travelers to book travel components that best meet a combination of their location and preferences.

* Example of ERP used by travel industry The CentralCommand Solution

Two companies UNIT4 and Sabre partnered in 2002 to create CentralCommand, combining travel accounting and enterprise resources planning to offer an ERP solution for the travel industry. Sabre CentralCommand with Agresso is the only travel industry software offering a fully integrated end-to-end business information system for travel agencies and travel management companies (TMCs). It combines Sabres expertise and focus on travel with UNIT4s powerful back office financial management tools, known generally as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).CentralCommand provides the detailed level of reporting needed by growing travel management customers who have complex settlement, billing and reporting requirements and the operational tools to optimize business processes. *Why Do Travel Companies Need Agile Travel Industry Software? In todays environment, TMCs need every advantage to compete with pressure from mega-agencies, online travel companies and regional players. Continuing to use dated technology and tolerate inefficient process will likely spell doom for those companies, especially as competition intensifies and economic conditions continue to falter. Most traditional agency back office systems, originally created by the GDS (or others) to automate ticket settlement were designed in decades past. A disparate set of disconnected

systems, these tools fail to provide the more sophisticated business information and analysis enjoyed in other industries: Information is scattered across spreadsheets and stand-alone systems Report generation is a cumbersome, often manual task Systems are brittle and lacked adaptability Many travel companies today are wasting time on error correction and manual tasks wasting money on unrecognized vendor commissions limiting their ability to grow and respond to industry developments

*How can CentralCommand add value to business? This fully integrated travel industry software provides a vastly superior business tool, allowing TMCs to: Increase revenue: Use powerful reporting capabilities to develop targeted marketing programs using historical data. Identify unrecognized vendor commission and automate service fees. Reduce staffing and overhead costs: Reduce manual intervention, double entry and error corrections through improved automation and workflow, reduction of data entry between separate systems. Reduce costs: Reduce the number of disparate systems, eliminating manual interface and redundant data correction. Optimize sales efforts: Create notifications and reporting that will allow you to respond and refocus sales efforts based on market conditions. Improve customer satisfaction and retention: Provide customers with detailed and accurate reporting that meets their specific needs. Reduce your response time to customer requests due to a single source of data; Respond to evolving business needs: Identify trends with real-time access to business critical information, forecast revenue and costs, track productivity by supplier, branch, agent or customer and update the system easily and inexpensively as changes in circumstances require.

*Different companies working in airline industry using different information systems:

(1)ARKIA ISRAELI AIRLINES Airline Management Information System (2)JETBLUE AIRLINES Open Skies Information System, Maintenance Information System, Aviation Training Management System, etc.

(3)DELTA AIRLINES Operational Information System, Mid-tier Enterprise System (4)CONTINENTAL AIRLINES

*DIAGRAM SHOWING INFORMATION SYSTEMS USED BY AIRLINE INDUSTRY

ARKIA ISRAELI AIRLINES

*Airline Management Information System at Arkia Israeli Airlines "Automation has played an increasingly important role over the past decade in all phases of air transport operations. It will become a critical element of survival in the next decade when the airline industry will be dominated by those large carriers which have the resources to expand their business bases and attain the efficiencies needed to compete in a free-wheeling marketplace." The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 provided U.S. airlines the freedom to experiment with a variety of new, creative pricing and marketing strategies. Air-lines previously used relatively simple and inexpensive internal reservation systems which, along with lower airfare rates, became a key to their competitive success and share in the air travel market. But as a result of constant changes associated with the deregulated environment of the 1980s, airlines recognized that their reservation systems, developed during the regulated years of the 1960s,' could not keep pace. They also recognized that the lack of a good reservation system was a competitive dis-advantage. SABRE of American Airlines, APOLLO of United Airlines, PARS of TWA required heavy capital outlays to develop their software, are massive and difficult to maintain, and are based on relatively outdated information technologies. There are many small airlines (e.g., commuter airlines) that cannot afford to invest in these systems.
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The new system, AMSYS (Airline Management System), uses contemporary hardware and software technologies and applies them to a small airline at affordable costs, and enables the company to grow along with the technology. AMSYS is more than an airline reservation system. In addition to reservations, it is a planning, costing, and controlling system. It is also an interactive DSS, which is used for sensitivity analysis ("what if" questions) of important parameters, for scheduling aircraft, crews, and general personnel, and for assessing and determining schedule and fare changes. AMSYS is an important strategic asset for the company and an important weapon in an increasingly competitive market.

*Description of Arkia Airlines (a)The Old System- A manual reservation system was in use until the installation of AMSYS. The reservation clerks at each location sat at a round table on which a carousel contained charts for each leg of the flights. Each chart listed the names of the reservations for the particular e g. When a call came in requesting information or a reservation for a specific flight, the clerk would look for the correct chart, which at times another clerk would be using and record the name on the chart. A pencil and eraser were used to record, update, and delete names. Since a manual system was used, each of the various geographically dispersed reservation offices was assigned a certain number of seats for each flight which the clerks were all-owed to sell. That procedure could not provide management with the true status of the flights because each office was allotted only part of the available seating. In many cases an office finished selling its allocation and rejected potential passengers, while other offices still had seats to sell. There were many other problems, such as double booking (booking by the same passenger for a number of flights) and the inability to relate outbound and inbound flights of specific passengers. As a result of these problems and the inability to cope with the increased number of passengers, there was no alternative but to develop or acquire a computerized information system to assist operations and management in reservation scheduling, planning and controlling. (b)The Evolution of the New System- AMSYS was developed from 1982 to 1985, and its first version was implemented in 1983. Fifteen person-years were invested in the development. The system runs on a multi-user NCR Tower-32 super-microcomputer operating under UNIX. It has a network of 33 terminals, soon to grow to 48. AMSYS is connected to SITA, the airlines worldwide message switching network, and thus can interact with information systems of other carriers. Ahituv and Neumann (1986) list five reasons for a finite information system life cycle and the needs for embarking on a new one. These apply in the case of Arkia: Increase in input quantities. In recent years, passenger traffic in

Israel has increased at a phenomenal rate. This has placed a tremendous strain on the handling capacity of the manual system. The old manual system used by Arkia could not cope with the volume of transactions. As the number of flights increased, the load factor decreased because it was not possible to react quickly to changes in demand, which, in the case of the domestic operations, occur on a daily basis. Advances in technology, rapid advances in software and hardware technologies affect the economic feasibility of a computerized information system. This made it possible for small airlines like Arkia to develop and install their own computerized systems rather than relying on service bureaus, software houses, or on linking with other airlines' reservation systems. The four alternatives were considered:1. Continue with the existing manual system (do nothing) 2. Tie in to a system hosted by another carrier 3. Acquire a system from other airlines or vendors 4. Develop a system in-house Adopt Phased Development: In order to assure the successful completion of the project, Arkia adopted a phased development approach. This approach is a step-by-approved-step process for developing applications (Borovits, 1984).

JETBLUE AIRLINES

*Introduction: JetBlue was established in February 2000 by David Neeleman, who serves as its CEO. The U.S. airline industry has seen mainly bad times due to industrys deregulation in the 1970s.

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Situation became worse after the terrible events of September 11, 2001. In 2001, the industry lost $7.7 billion, but JetBlue had a profit of $38.5 million on revenue of $320.4 million. *Information Systems used by JetBlue: (a)Open Skies: This software was developed by David Neeleman. It is a combination reservation system and accounting system, and supports customer service and sales tracking. The company avoids travel agents. Booking a flight through travel agent costs airlines $20 per ticket. It saves office space rent and electricity by using reservation agents who work from home. The company pays a flat fee of $25 per telephone line per month for these telecommuting agents. This reduces its handling cost per ticket to $4.50. Because all tickets are electronic, there is no paper handling or related expense. (b)Maintenance Information System: JetBlue maintenance workers use a maintenance information system from Dash Group to log all airplane parts and their time cycles, that is, when the parts must be replaced and where they can be found. The system reduces manual tracking costs. (c)Aviation Training Management System: JetBlue doesnt keep paper records while training pilots and other employees. It uses aviation training management system that provides a database to track each employees training record. It is easy to update and efficient for record retrieval.

DELTA AIRLINES

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*Operational Information System: Increased competition in the airline industry is stimulating the development of new applications of information technology, including a new strategic focus on electronic commerce at Delta Airlines. Traditionally, large enterprise computing at companies like Delta has relied on using clusters of mainframes running proprietary information systems software. Specifically, Delta's current system is comprised of a cluster of IBM S/390 mainframe computers running a specialized operating system called TPF (Transaction Processing Facility). This transaction system supports applications that run the core operations of the airline (henceforth termed an operational information system (OIS) - some of which have evolved over a period of more than30 years. The TPF system architecture has proven to be highly scalable and available, including through the Y2K bug scare. Unfortunately, the current operational information systems (OIS) used by Delta were designed for a specific business model and therefore, offer little flexibility to support new business models and processes. Specifically, the applications within the existing OISs maintain ownership of rigidly defined data sets, and their legacy data formats offer little opportunity for creating new relationships to other application data. This is true for applications internal and external to the TPF environment. Therefore, when developing new applications, concessions are often made due to limitations of the legacy information system. *Mid-tier Enterprise Information System: In response to these limitations, a novel strategy pursued by Delta is the introduction of additional, mid-tier enterprise information systems. These new information systems are integrated with the legacy OIS by `tapping' into it, actually using specialized bus snooping hardware in order to minimize disruption to the legacy OIS hardware and software. Using such taps, legacy data is mapped into alternative, evolvable formats and such data may be combined with new information not available in the legacy system or not easily accessible in the legacy system's environment. The new mid-tier OISs, linked with the legacy OISs, will be the basis on which Delta constructs new applications and improves current business operations, including improving the "Customer Experience". The key element to their success is the development of new mission-critical software/hardware infrastructures that support these efforts.

INDIAN TRAVEL INDUSTRY

Cox & Kings Services

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Cox & Kings deploy one of the most efficient information technology platforms in the Indian Travel Industry. They have developed a totally integrated front, mid and back office solution. Central Reservation System:- They have developed and implemented a comprehensive central reservation engine for travel products and services. Their web enabled centralized dynamic packaging system, covering all travel related services air tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, cruises, rail bookings, insurance, package tours and holidays, enables individual, corporate clients and agents worldwide to include all products and services which they want on a real time basis. Their booking engine, built on high performance technology, is quick in delivering real time business information. Customer Relationship Management System:-Their sophisticated CRM System is designed to analyze customer needs for better servicing and ensure repeat business for us. It generates reports identifying areas of opportunity and thereby helps in customizing to improve the efficiency of their products. Proprietary Software System:-Technology is important to speed up processing and to provide state of the art security. Quoprro Global has created proprietary software with technical and support agreements with Mastek, one of the leading IT software giant. The proprietary software system enables passport tracking, database creation, data upload and website maintenance, online appointment scheduling facilities with secure encryption of data at all stages. Virtual Office System:-One of the many things Cox & Kings guarantees its franchisees are unmatched technology and technical support. They, at Cox & Kings have developed comprehensive technology solutions, covering everything from an easy access virtual office system to automation support with in-house helpdesk and disaster recovery systems. One can access his/her office anywhere anytime. Imagine if your child is ill and you need to stay at home or your client calls you late at night after office hours. Well, you have the Cox & Kings advantage at your fingertips with their superb online access system. You'll also be provided with a quick and easy to use online database, which can be accessed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Disaster Recovery System:-Also, in case of any unfortunate instance, where one might end up losing valuable data/ transaction details, now the business can be back on its feet within a matter of minutes due to disaster recovery system. Management Information System for Biometric Process:-Being patrons of the technology ourselves, they possess the capability to cover both the behavioral and physical aspects of biometrics. Their Biometric Solutions solution covers various types of biometric techniques being deployed. Cox & Kings Global Services biometrics data capture process uses fingerprints
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and photographs as primary biometric identifiers. This is in addition to alphanumeric data on the visa application in order to enable processing with a reliable verification and identification of visa applicants. The system is designed to facilitate; visa-issuing procedure. Their management information system for biometric process facilitates to effectively manage biometric system and its performance such as analysis of risks involved, audit reporting, operational compliance reporting, vulnerability identification, ability to carry out manual data inspection, security surveillance systems and investigation workflow. Electronic Document Management System:-Cox & Kings Global Services electronic document management services to diplomatic missions involve electronic storage of documents in a secure environment, indexing and retrieval capabilities, thus eliminating the need for missions to store physical data. As part of service, Cox & Kings Global Services offers digital asset management, document imaging and record management. The services involve electronic scanning of documents and application forms as prescribed by the Mission. Cox & Kings Global Services will collect application forms from the Mission periodically and electronically scan each application form. Indexing of documents is done through unique document identifiers to facilitate retrieval. Document security is taken care through administrator rights management model and PDF creation to preclude alterations and unintended use. The metadata is transferred on a CD or USB drive along with the physical application forms which will be returned to the mission at regular intervals. Online & Offline Tracking System:-Cox & Kings needed a system that could track online and offline activity which would ultimately lead to an improved online marketing strategy and an improved customer experience. Following a detailed selection process, Cox & Kings chose to implement Response Taps call tracking technology. This was due to the emphasis on the accuracy of data provided and the range of features that would help them to achieve their aims. After implementing a small piece of code on the site, a unique telephone number began to display for each visitor. This dynamic telephone number provides each visitor with a unique identifier, enabling Response Tap to automatically track them as they clicked through the site when their visit resulted in a phone call. Response Tap can also track a multitude of variables including the keyword they used to enter the site if they used a search engine, the pages they looked at before, during and after the call, the date and time of the call and whether the call led to a sale. The system was easily able to integrate with existing analytics tools used by Cox & Kings. This enabled the company to see phone call conversions recorded by Response Tap within their other analytics systems, allowing them to analyze which ads were underperforming and which were proving successful. This gave them a much clearer understanding of marketing for each channel, making it easier to make strategic changes.

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Thomas Cook
Reservation System:- Thomas Cooks reservations system was using Anites ATOP reservations system in favor of Thomas Cooks proprietary Tour Operator System software. Anite group was providing it the service for reservation. Thomas Cooks reservations system has enlarged group moving onto a brand new reservations system, Blue Sky iTour. This Blue Sky iTour platform, was be rolled out by IBM across the groups branches worldwide. Its browser based iTour system, uses Java and Oracle technology. It enabled all of Thomas Cooks high street outlets and businesses to access real time price information online for complex holiday packages, making the need for extensive, time-consuming enquiries to generate a final quote for customers a thing of the past. Thomas Cook has also overhauled its financial, payroll and HR systems, transferring MyTravel from its Oracle systems onto the SAP systems Thomas Cook (India) Ltd is the first travel agency and Galileo India the first CRS (central reservation system) company to have received the Approval from IATA, Singapore, having satisfied all their stringent norms in relation to safety & security of the traffic documents. This heralds the launch of Satellite Ticket Printing (STP) Technology, in India. Globally, STP is prevalent in the US, European and Far Eastern markets, with India now joining the ranks. Thomas Cook (India) Limited, along with Galileo India was also the first company in India to issue Electronic Ticket (E-ticket) for their customer, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

References: (a) http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240075530/ThomasCookcom-deployshosted-CRM (b) http://www.sitecore.net/Customers/Selected-Customers/Travel/Thomas-Cook-TravelGroup.aspx (c) http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/it-business/3346920/thomas-cook-toimplement-new-online-reservation-system/ (d) http://www.responsetap.com/uk/case-studies/travel/cox-and-kings (e) http://www.ckgs.com/our-services/attestation-services.html (f) http://www.sebi.gov.in/dp/coxkingsdraft.pdf (g) MIS Quarterly, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Mar., 1988), pp. 127-137

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