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Mobile Travel Commerce - a Bigger Deal than Online Travel?[April 11th 2000] Organisations providing services to business or leisure travellers are being forced to face up to the challenge of mobile travel commerce by the innovative approach of start up companies which are changing traditional business models and creating a need for strong partnerships. This was a key message from the "Mobile Travel Commerce - a Bigger Deal than Online Travel?" one-day workshop organised recently by the Global Mobile Commerce Forum (GMCF) in Cannes, France.The mobile Internet is likely to be the most important distribution channel for building customer relationships in an industry which is already undergoing dramatic restructuring in response to the onslaught of new technologies. Don Haddaway, Head of Global Telecommunications Thomas Cook Holdings, confirmed that his company planned to enter this market, stating: "We are good at what we do - but to stay good, we need to harness emerging technology." Forecasters predict that in 2003 over half of all Web accesses will be from a mobile device, by which time consumers will be comfortable with m-commerce. According to Toby N. Cross of startup Zishi Ltd and Chair of the GMCF Travel & Transport Visions Group which organised the event: "In 2003 around a quarter of all mobile Internet users are likely to use their mobile phone to access travel services such as booking flights, finding local hotel accommodation, sourcing last minute holidays or purchasing rail tickets. These are all services that are particularly suited to both business and experienced leisure travellers. This mix of mobile transactions is likely to result in mobile travel commerce revenues overtaking online travel." The key questions, claimed Mr Cross, were: Where will travellers purchase mobile travel services - from their mobile operator, from mobile retailers, from handset manufacturers or from travel suppliers like airlines? And, who will own and manage the customer relationship? Delegates heard representatives from Ericsson, IBM, SAS and Thomas Cook describe how they were tackling the challenge of mobile travel commerce by fostering better customer relationships, strengthening branding, addressing the issues of security and payments, as well as being innovative in the use of new technologies, such as Bluetooth. At the end of the day, the consensus from all sides of the industry was that companies involved in travel must face up to the challenge of mobile commerce if they are to survive. Forming strategic alliances and strong business partnerships are a must since no single player has all the business competencies required to go it alone. Note The Global Mobile Commerce Forum (GMCF) is a diverse group of companies working to shape the future of mobile commerce, giving members the
opportunity both to understand key business issues in a fast-moving environment and to work with leading players from all sides of the
industry.
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