Headline: Holidays at the click of a mouse

NST
Date :28/09/2005
Page Number :24
Byline :R.S. Kamini
Type: News-Tourism

KUALA LUMPUR, Tues. -Booking holiday packages will be much easier when local tour and travel agents converge into Internet marketing soon.
The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) has embarked on a mission to help agents use new technology to boost business and make it convenient for travellers to search for good deals.
Matta vice-president (research and technology) Lee Choon Loong said in Malaysia, technologies such as the Internet were not considered exciting from the perspective of a typical travel company.
To enhance the usage of technology in the travel business, a Matta E-Business conference was held at Putra World Trade Centre today.
At the conference, industry players, including experts in electronic travel marketing, discussed many facets of e-business including domain names, website developments, online booking systems and Internet marketing.
Matta chairman Ngiam Foon said travel companies were seeking ways to reduce cost and enhance business, and one way was by using the Internet to market their products.
"With the Internet, everything is easy, fast and convenient for customers and agents, but only two-thirds of our 1,800 Matta members are technology-savvy."
From the conference, he said, members would learn how to use e-business effectively when responding to customer needs, reducing costs and achieving business objectives.
A speaker at the conference, Ron Andruff from New York, said change was taking place with more travel firms fully using Internet and email to provide travel information and services to their customers.
Andruff, chief executive officer of Tralliance Corporation, said it might take about a year or two for all Malaysian travel companies to adopt Internet marketing.
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