Today's technology driven information age is bringing about paradigm shifts in whole industries, and in the way business is conducted. Travel management organizations must be in a position to meet the evolving needs of their customers during an era in which the industry is experiencing change on an unprecedented scale.

Now pure market forces rule in a fully deregulated environment where travel services have evolved from a few distribution channels to multiple competing channels of suppliers. Travel management companies have had to restructure: Where once they served as an intermediary or agent, representing primarily the interests of customers, they now serve those customers directly as their own with a full range of travel and related services. Meanwhile, Airlines are consolidating their travel company relationships to work closer with fewer firms of certain proven capabilities, therefore impacting volume contracts (costs to customers) and product offerings.


With technology becoming more directly accessible, the wealth of information immediately available has helped the travel customer become smarter. The challenge with the Internet and global communications is how to maximize its virtual benefits in the right combination with real resources.

MTS TRAVEL' vision for technology use is to deliver more critical information faster, in a differentiated manner, that enables increased accuracy in decision making for customer benefit. The Internet is already advancing MTS TRAVEL' ability to provide a wider selection of service options and the recently expanded mtstravel.com is offering greater customization for travelers' expanding needs.

On the other hand, the nature of information management in airline industry transactions unavoidably creates restrictions for MTS TRAVEL to more effectively process data. This challenge, along with a range of issues brought forward by Y2K, has spawned a corporate-wide strategic initiative in the company's information management that will continue in the next years.

MTS TRAVEL is advancing seamless connectivity (including web-based information) across its travel service centers that will open up data processing and management to a range of expanded customer service options. MTS TRAVEL in 2001 is an $80-million travel management firm reengineering to be a smarter, more efficient, more responsive organization into the future.