YTB a Game Changer? Continued

Happy Thanksgiving

If you eliminate the MLM part, which I abhor , the concept of eliminating the middleman by becoming the middleman is quite inventive and must by definition bring down the cost of travel for those that dicide to buy the travel from themselves instead of that middleman.

If cleverly, and by that I do not mean sly or dishonest, executed and focused on the customer, I believe this is a wonderful opportunity to have fun and make some money at the same time.

I believe this model is a game-changer in the long run, just like the original Travelocities of this world. And will bring prices down if only initially by getting cash back. It does run the risk that everyone reduces prices and then the game is up and then the only differentiator that remains will be personal superior customer service.

What the internet has typically done in most instances has been to eliminate middlemen who did not bring any value to the value chain of a product and consequently did not deserve to be paid anything.Travelocity, Expadia and all these search engines have an advantage (value added) over the carriers and hotels in that they scour a huge database of hundreds of airlines and thousands of hotels over a particular route/destination and create the impression that the customer was offered best deal to be found.In reality the Airlines' and Hotels' own portals often offer cheaper fares and rates than the search engines. But using the General Travel Portals saves the traveler the time it would have taken him/her to go from Carrier to Carier and Hotel to Hotel and thus add value.

I know Travelocity and et al now also offer excellent 800 service to their VIP customers and thus add value there, but then so does everyone else nowadays even FRED!

So THE benefit YTB offers over the competition is the OWNERSHIP of the travel portal for an Individual, Small Corporation, Sole Proprietor, Organization, Church, Wanna Be Travel agent, Like myself.Provided they do the math and reach a break-even point of over $6K in travel spend and it is a healthy blend of travel (not just airline tickets), the value proposition makes economic sense and is a good one that is offered by no one else.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/309243/cfos_embrace_online_travel_booking/index.html?source=r_technology

Above is a link that I am sure you are already aware of that shows that the trend to online booking is unstoppable.

YTB if operated responsibly would add another twist to this online trend.It is a little like Netflix versus Blockbuster. Blockbuster never really recovered..

YTB, A GAME CHANGER?

Remember NetFlix? Read on.

As I said yesterday, Breaking the MOLD is not easy!

TRAVEL WEEKLY (11/20/2007)Club 33:

The most influential people in the travel industry "Travel Weekly's list of the 33 most influential people in travel is notpopulated by folks with fancy titles who pull the right strings and make the industry behave as it should.
It's not about that sort of influence. It's filled with people who, often working in isolation, had ideas thatveered from the status quo and succeeded so spectacularly that theindustry jumped out of its rut and followed. They're the ones who, when they set their own agendas, set ours as well.

We didn't give people much credit for their great deeds of yesteryear.If they're on this list today, it's because they've influenced thecourse travel is taking in 2007, and we think they'll be just as influential in 2008.

Kim Sorensen, CEO, YTB Travel Network

Sorensen went, in a matter of weeks, from a virtual unknown in the industry to its favorite target for vitriol (from traditional travelagents and some suppliers) or admiration (from his tens of thousands of referring agents and, behind closed doors, some suppliers). He hasdemonstrated some grace under fire, admitting his organization is stillmaturing, and we suspect that he and YTB will be around for many years, all parties to examine what constitutes a legitimate seller of travel and challenging suppliers to assess how, and with whom, they wish to do business."

It Is Not Easy to break the Mold!