TravTalk India Online Magazine
Alitalia is offering a revamped tool for group bookings in India, called ‘Group Connect’, reveals Nicola Bonacchi, Vice President, Leisure Travel Sales, Alitalia. The platform offers increased flexibility, allowing agents to customise the conditions to be chosen based on a customer’s characteristics.
TT Bureau
Segmentation remains a key focus for Alitalia’s strategy for the India market, claims Nicola Bonacchi. “We are continuing our strategy of segmentation of business and leisure travel, and we are continuing the same for the India market as well. We have a dedicated team in the Indian market for corporates and we are focusing on high-end revenues and business travel,” he shares.
For the leisure market, Alitalia will continue to focus on the smaller travel agents as most of its business is done through them. In fact, 90 per cent of the business from India is done through the travel trade, claims Bonacchi. “Through Smart Trade, where we have tried to create a dedicated team for the small travel agent, we offer all the information that they need about Alitalia over phone. Today, we have Smart Trade present in 14 markets, with over 5,000 agents actively involved. We are trying to increase our penetration further and share why they should use Alitalia not only for Italy as a destination, but also for Rome as a hub to travel to North America and Europe,” he adds.
Group Connect allows travel agents to request an offer, get the quotation and the contract in real time, monitor terms and conditions, and change the reservation
Group Connect
Alitalia recently launched its B2B community platform in Italy, called Alitalia Connect, to offer a personalised relationship between Alitalia and its B2B customers like travel agencies, companies, and SMEs. Now, the Italian carrier is set to launch ‘Group Connect’, a web platform under Alitalia Connect in India on November 13. Bonacchi shares, “Group Connect is aimed to manage and speed-up quota- tions and group bookings. It allows travel agents to request an offer, book a group, get the quotation and the contract in real time, monitor the contract terms and conditions, change the reservation (increasing or decreasing the group), and enter passengers’ names in the system. The platform offers increased flexibility, allowing the agent to customise the conditions to be chosen based on a customer’s characteristics.”
India remains key
India is an important market for Alitalia, recording a growth of 31 per cent from January to September in terms of passengers and 26 per cent in terms of revenue. “The number one destination for Alitalia passengers from India is Italy (60 per cent), while 40 per cent go to the US and other European destinations. There is an increase in the load factor of the aircraft as well, with 87 per cent overall, 90 per cent in Economy Class and 77 per cent in Business or Magnifica Class. Currently, our target is to increase our penetration in the Magnifica Class to 90 per cent and for that, we are working with the high-end leisure and corporate sector, while maintaining the load factor in Economy Class,” Bonacchi asserts.
Another highlight for the Indian market is the introduction of Bergamo Airport. Explaining why it’s feasible for Indians, Bonacchi says, “Bergamo is connected to Rome with three flights a day and is close to many corporate offices of steel companies that are frequented by Indians. There is a huge settlement of Indian community in the region, making the transit through Bergamo appropriate for Indian travellers to Italy. Passengers have access via fast-track to security gates for all classes and a loading bridge for all Alitalia customers at Bergamo airport.”
