GLG News by Transportation Software Experts

Chicke FitzgeraldChief Executive OfficerSOLUTIONZ HOLDINGS

Google's entry into travel - Extending the obsession with the air traveler

July 12, 2010

Analysis of:Facts about Google's acquisition of ITA | www.google.com

Last week, Google announced its acquisition of ITA, a Boston-based technology firm devoted to the development of technology to assist with the search and purchase of airline tickets.  They reported a price tag of $700 million in cash.I originally wrote about this transaction on April 23rd, in an article titled Travel Game Changer - What does Google's potential acquisition of ITA mean?

Chicke FitzgeraldChief Executive OfficerSOLUTIONZ HOLDINGS

Dare to Differentiate - Travel, Mapping and Content Industry Challenge

July 9, 2010

Analysis of:Stop the Obsession with the Air Traveler | distribution-solutionz.blogspot.com

The more competition you face, the greater the need to highlight the differentiation -- the unique advantage of your product or service -- in order to succeed in the marketplace.Successful companies in all industries have long engaged in head-to-head competition in search of sustained, profitable growth. They have fought for competitive advantage, battled over market share, and struggled to balance differentiation with both risk and available resources for development.

Chicke FitzgeraldChief Executive OfficerSOLUTIONZ HOLDINGS

Travel Game Changer - What does Google's potential acquisition of ITA mean?

April 23, 2010

Earlier this week, Bloomberg released a story "Google Said to Be in Talks to Buy Travel Company ITA".  They report that venture funded ITA may be seeking as much as $1b. Who is ITA Software and why are they appealing to Google?Whether this rumor is indeed true, what would this mean for the GDS & OTA industries?How would this acquisition impact Google?  Would it create new opportunity for Yahoo and Bing if Google's travel advertisers decide to boycot their new direct competitor?

Chicke FitzgeraldChief Executive OfficerSOLUTIONZ HOLDINGS

GDS - Private to Public and Back - eCommerce Pioneers continue their evolution

April 23, 2010

Amadeus IT Group SA (Amadeus) is one of the world’s leading IT solutions providers for the travel and tourism industry, offering transaction processing capabilities to travel service providers and travel agencies. On Tuesday of this week Amadeus announced plans to launch their IPO April 29th on the Madrid Stock Exchange.  They will seek to raise 910 million euros ($1.23 billion) to pay off debt. Amadeus competes head to head with Travelport and Sabre, both privately held. 

Chicke FitzgeraldChief Executive OfficerSOLUTIONZ HOLDINGS

The Future of the GDS as privately held companies

February 11, 2010

Analysis of:Travelport Defers U.K. IPO, Cancels Debt Tender Offer (Update1) | www.businessweek.com

Travelport cancelled its IPO and debt tender offer this week, citing "volatile equity market conditions".  Travelport started the share sale on Feb. 1 with a marketing process to sell between 383 million and 528 million shares at a price of 210 pence to 290 pence apiece. The IPO would have been the biggest in the U.K. since 2007, giving the company a so-called enterprise value of 8.8 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

Chicke FitzgeraldChief Executive OfficerSOLUTIONZ HOLDINGS

The downward trend on air ticket sales continues for the agency channel

January 22, 2010

Analysis of:Air Ticket Sales for 2009 were down 17.29% | www.arccorp.com

Year over year air ticket sales through the travel agency channel (both online and offline) declined 17.29% in 2009.  Total sales were $65.8b, with $29.9b from domestic fares and $25.6b from international fares (with the balance being taxes and fees).  There are 15,928 agencies in the US and 188 airlines.  The number of agencies declined 10% from 17,673 in 2008.  This is due to continued consolidation and to some extent, the closure of the low end agencies that cannot survive in today's economy.  The number of airlines grew from 173.  Who knew?   The number of transactions (aka tickets) only declined 5.48%.  International sales as a percentage of total declined just slightly to 39%.  The average price of an international ticket declined 16% to $700.47 and a domestic ticket declined 12% to an average of $298.93, which signals an increase in sales through the top 4 online sites.

Chicke FitzgeraldChief Executive OfficerSOLUTIONZ HOLDINGS

All three key metrics in hospitality are down for 2009 - No surprises there

January 22, 2010

Analysis of:US hotel industry ends '09 with double-digit RevPAR drop | www.hotelnewsnow.com

The three top metrics in the hospitality industry are revenue per available room (RevPAR), occupancy and average daily room rate (ADR).Revenue per available room fell 16.7 percent to US$53.71 during 2009, according to year-end reports from Smith Travel Research.The industry’s occupancy fell 8.7 percent to 55.1 percent for the year and average daily rate dropped 8.8 percent to US$97.51.  None of the top 25 markets showed any growth in these top 3 metrics.

Chicke FitzgeraldChief Executive OfficerSOLUTIONZ HOLDINGS

We need to better understand the entire automotive industry ecosystem

January 12, 2009

Analysis of:U.S. Drivers Keep Autos Longer, Shun Showrooms on Job-Loss Risk | www.bloomberg.com

I was on the phone the other day with a colleague from Freescale and I was frankly surprised to hear that the decline that they are seeing in their production/demand is due to the automotive meltdown.  Because I'm only peripherally involved in the industry (through GPS and indash infotainment), I really didn't think through that car manufacturers were a primary consumer of semi-conductors. 

Chicke FitzgeraldChief Executive OfficerSOLUTIONZ HOLDINGS

As oil continues its decline, can it prop up the travel industry's slumping profitability picture?

January 12, 2009

Analysis of:Oil Prices Hit $86 a Barrell | www.msnbc.msn.com

Jet fuel is one of the top 3 cost items for airlines. Since the summer of 2008, the price of oil has declined from $140 barrel to under $40 a barrel today.  This should be very good news for investors in airline stocks, as it should directly flow to the bottom line if airline ticket prices hold steady. Likewise, cruise lines' profitability is closely tied to this volatile commodity and the major players in the cruise industry could benefit from the continued decline in pricing. But right now, what we face is a need to stimulate travel, which is normally done through price reductions.  Will these suppliers pass on the cost reductions to consumers?

Chicke FitzgeraldChief Executive OfficerSOLUTIONZ HOLDINGS

The travel ecosystem is shifting, beginning with the GDSs and online players

January 8, 2009

Analysis of:Expedia Vet Takes Orbitz Helm, Sabre Vet Takes Travelocity Wheel | www.btnonline.com

Both Orbitz and Travelocity this week announced new leaders at the helm.  Both have cut costs substantially due to reduced revenues and profitability.  Orbitz now has a technology savvy, operationally capable, marketing focused executive who is talking already about social media, which implies new models afoot for the OTA.  Orbitz had been outpaced by Expedia and Travelocity in the advertising model/social media capabilities, but does it really help them to do a "me too" offering to match Trip Advisor and iGoUGo? Just weeks ago, Amadeus founding CEO Jose Tazon stepped down in favor of his number two, David Jones, who had been the de facto day to day leader for some time, as Jose managed board and investor relationships with their private equity owners, BC and Cinven. Sabre puts its own COO at the helm of Travelocity, not replacing him in the Sabre organization, but instead splitting his job amongst his peers.  Is it time to go from 3 GDS companies down to two? 

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