Adventure Central

Why you need a technology partner

STI recognizes that new frontiers have opened in travel distribution. There are changes in how you communicate and transact with your clients and many of those changes involve technology. As a result you need a trusted technology partner. We are pleased to be able to bring you savings on the use of solutions from our partner Adventure Central. Their quality software solutions for Tour Operators allow enterprises to significantly reduce costs, increase sales, and focus on what you know best - your business and your customers.

The source of sales in the travel industry is expanding from traditional channels to Internet-based channels - where sales exceeded US$26 billion in revenues in 2003. Most of these sales come from commoditized travel segments such as air and hotel. Many tour operators have tried to embrace technology but have had mixed results. Outcomes have ranged from virtually no change in their business, to moving over 50% of their business online in only two years - while dramatically reducing costs for such things as distribution, call center, and other marketing costs.

What made some successful and others not? We have found that success comes from taking two critical steps:

	Creating a single source of real-time inventory visible across all channels. Whether a sale comes from the phone, internet, fax, or walk in traffic - the inventory management system deducts the transaction from a single repository of inventory.
	Expanding transaction-enabled visibility of your products. Offerings that are tracked in an inventory management system can be displayed and sold through numerous channels Many of those channels can provide much more exposure than a single Tour Operator could ever hope to achieve alone.

Taking these steps makes the critical difference between those companies which leverage technology to provide true bottom line benefits and those that do not.

The Internet will not replace your traditional business; instead, your online efforts will complement your offline business allowing you to offer a better user experience to your clients. There is a common misconception that "high tech" means "low touch." The travel industry has always been a people business and that will not change. What Adventure Central's system allows you to do is both "high-touch" and "high tech." Their system allows users to compare trips, view itineraries, view video footage of both the trips and the guides, and the traveler can share their findings in real-time with their traveling companions. The purchasing process for eco-, responsible and adventure travel is a high-involvement decision usually involving several people and considerable research. Many customers start their search on the Internet; consider letting Adventure Central's technology help you reach and inform them.

Adventure Central's technology allows you to:

	Manage your inventory and your business in real-time, across all distribution channels, from one place.
	Display your inventory for sale and conduct online transactions ("e-commerce") very quickly after adding your inventory to our system.
	Distribute your trips through our global distribution system.
	Distribute through your own affiliate network allowing you to take transactions from your affiliates' sites giving you a "portable" booking engine.
	Reduce your collateral costs by sending out "e-brochures" in addition to, or in lieu of, your standard printed brochures.
	Track and manage your prospects and turn them into customers

Best of all, STI "Premium Partner" members are entitled to a 15% discount off of Adventure Central's services, and "Supporting Business" members are entitled to a 10% discount off of their services each year they are a member.

For additional information and a demonstration, please call 303-955-3077 x 2, email, or visit Adventure Central's web site.

CONTACT US!

SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL INTERNATIONAL
P.O. BOX 1313 BOULDER COLORADO 80306

PHONE: 800-276-7764

info@SustainableTravelInternational.org

BUSINESS HOURS: 8am-5pm MST