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Svein Erik Søgård, Country Manager at Travelmarket AS Norway, shares insights into the travel industry and the future of corporate travel. Discover Travelmarket's history, services, and the impact of low-cost carriers on air travel.
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Name: Svein Erik Søgård • Country Manager Travelmarket AS Norway for 10 years • In the travel industry 20 years • BA Business Travel & Tourism, University of Hertforshire • Lecturer in Transport- & social Economics at Norsk Reiselivshøyskole
Information about Travelmarket • Founded in 1996 as the first ”travel portal” in Europe • 40 employees (main office Denmark, dep. Norway and Sweden + 6 developers in the Ukraine) • Finance - Yearly revenue of NOK 28 mil. – positive operation and cash-flow - Equity Capital NOK 18 mil. • Listed on the OMX/Nasdaq stock exchange in Copenhagen
Three divisions • Travel search engines – travelmarket.com (B2C) • International travel search engines with flight and hotel • More than 1 mil. users per month in the travel search engines • Software and website solutions via Travelmarket Interactive (B2B) • More than 250 customers with website solutions worldwide • Microsoft Gold Partner • Travelmarket Partner • Integration of our travel search engines on 3rd party sites. References such as pleasure.dk (Børsen), dba.dk (ebay), rejseliv.dk(Berlingske), osl.no (Oslo Airport), res.se (Res)
Norsk Flyprisindeks™ • Established August 2009 • Service for the consumer • Shows the development of prices over time • All companies included
History • Huge changes in the airline industry the last 20 years • Previously dominated by state ownership and high regulation of airspace • Free cabotage within the EU in the nineties opened the market and the first LCCs appeared • Dramatic consequences for many traditional government owned companies. LCC big success on short haul • Internet became the new form of distribution
What influences the prices? • Competition • Capacity • Cyclical fluctuations • Seasons • Demand • Capacity and availability of aircrafts • Level of cost, both internal and external
The future • First LCC long haul was Freddy Lakers ”Skytrain” between New York and London at the late 1970s • First long haul LCC already operating – AirAsia between London and Kuala Lumpur with daily departures as from march 2009. • LCCs are looking at long haul • Norwegian and FEEL Air • Long haul prices under pressure in the future? • Large challenges: feeds, airports Source: Frost & Sullivan, global growth consulting company
The corporate traveller in the future • What effects the choice of flights and tickets? • Company size • Economy • Itinerary, easy or complicated • Time consumption, direct or connecting • Bonus schemes, lounges, fast tracks • Access to prices and tickets, travel agencies or meta searches and the development on the internet.