Buyers must look at every aspect of their travel management requirements when comparing traditional and internet agencies (ITAs), Jim Tweedie executive vp president North Europe for Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), said.
Speaking at the Travel Distribution Summit Europe in London, he said they also needed to compare like with like “something they often fail to do.”
He added: “There is a widespread misconception - boosted it has to be said by my colleagues from online suppliers and ITAs - that goods and services offered via the Internet are automatically less expensive than those marketed and sold by more traditional means and by so-called more traditional companies.”
Mr Tweedie said there was now a range of distribution channels, products and services which was what customers wanted. “Purchasing professionals today need to make a careful and dispassionate evaluation of the role and performance of the intermediary.
“The focus need to be on the key elements of ‘cost and control' and ‘value and service'. It is only by carrying out this kind of assessment that an accurate evaluation can be made,” he said.
But he warned that travel management in the “wrong hands” could be “dangerous” and cost the company time and money.
“I believe that there are differences between us – TMCs and ITAs. I also believe that that is no bad thing. There is room and a place for both. It is good for our 21st Century ‘discerning consumers' to have a choice,” he said.
At the two-day Summit which was attended by 1,400 people, Tiffany Hall, BA's head of global sales and distribution, said the carrier planned to launch dynamic packaging on its website this year.
This would enable travellers to book hotels and rent cars as well as book flights.