Singapore - Global travel content management company, OAG, has launched the first phase of its revamped travel planning software, OAG Travel Planner. The product, which has been in the market for five years, can build and save complex travel itineraries comprising worldwide flight, hotel and car rental data.

It is available in CD format or online at www.oag.com.

The information is updated monthly and the user licence per computer costs US$500 annually.

After a US$1 million revamp, the product has a new “overall look and feel”. Its user interface has been enhanced to run with programs such as Microsoft Outlook and OAG has adopted a new strategy targeted at the hotel industry. To market the product, OAG is planning a three-month campaign consisting of a series of roadshows in Singapore, Bangkok, Jakarta and Taipei.

There will also be direct marketing and sales calls to hotels. The company’s local agents in Australia, South Korea and the Philippines will also be planning activities in their respective markets.

Vice-president Asia, Mr Fred Seow, said: “The new focus is now on hotels. We had always concentrated on the corporates and neglected this particular segment.

“There was never really any exposure in the travel trade before because the product was developed for corporate end-users.

“When we started analysing potential segments, we realised many of the services or questions that hotel guests asked the concierge were already provided in the product. These included questions about trip planning and flight schedules.

“We are beginning a process of educating hotels about the relevance of the product. It is also useful at the front desk and the executive lounge because the information is 24/7 and it can be printed out in detail if guests need to have a list of flight schedules for example.”

The second phase will follow in the third quarter with foreign language capabilities.

Mr Seow said: “We are evaluating the possibility of providing a booking facility and moving away from being just a content provider. We are confident the response to the improved product will be positive.

“The number of flights are increasing by five per cent month-on-month globally and 10 per cent in the Asia-Pacific region where people are becoming more affluent.

“We have incorporated information about low-cost carriers into the product. “Because of these carriers, many in the region are travelling for the first time and hotels need to have the information to deal with the questions they would ask.

“We feel the developments in the product are quite timely given these trends.”

Globally, the Travel Planner has close to half a million paid users, and 40 per cent of these are in the Asia-Pacific region.

Its customers include HSBC, NOL, Morgan Stanley and PriceWaterhouse Coopers. With the campaign, OAG is aiming for double-digit user growth.

“Only fewer than a dozen hotel chains are using the product but we are hoping every major four- to five-star chain will start using it,” Mr Seow said.