train travel distribution the next wave...gds travel agencies with small rail revenue smart tab...

Enjoy Europe

Travel by Train! 1

TRAIN TRAVEL DISTRIBUTION

"The next wave"

Rail Europe 4A

I – Train Travel ‘101’

II – RE4A overview

III – Rail / Air comparison

IV– Distribution key success factors

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I Train travel ‘101’

Key Rail figures

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Km’s of high speed

line in operation in 2011

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Why is train travel so interesting?

High speed rail network is booming in Europe and all over the world

Market studies show that for trips below 5 hours, train travel dominates

air travel

Trains offers more comfort and freedom of movement for business and

leisure customers including wifi on some service, reduced waiting and

travel times, at seat catering options, quiet areas & kid zones to name

just few..

Train goes from city centre to city centre, avoiding traveling to/from

airports

Train travel is more eco-friendly

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Perception of rail travel by customers

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I Train Travel ‘101’

Evolution of European Railways & Distribution:

European Railways in existence since 19th century

All operating independent legacy systems

20th century resulting on more traffic across Europe both domestically and

internationally

Opportunity for railways to evolve more sophisticated distribution platform

Internationalisation of distribution arrived with SNCF(French Railways) and SBB

(Swiss Railways) engineer new distribution system called Euronet offering real

time booking options

1 stop shop for all rail sales across Europe

Euronet plugs into all European carriers systems providing a genuine ‘European’

offering to both domestic & international markets

1995 SNCF in conjunction with SBB launch RE4A

4A’s stand for continents of Asia, Africa, Americas and Australasia

RE4A premier rail distributor for all European Carriers globally

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II – RE4A Overview



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II RE4A overview

ID card:

Date of birth: 30th of June, 1995

Shareholders: 50% SNCF (French Railways) / 50% CFF (Swiss

Railways) –

Staff worldwide: 86

Territories/markets : 4A’s of Asia, Australasia, Africa &

Americas

140+ sales agents in 50+ countries

36 consumer websites

Products: European Passes & Point to Point tickets including

seat reservations + non European Rail (Amtrak [USA], JR

[Japan], Korail [Korea], ViaRail & Rocky Mountaineer [Canada],

GSR [Australia])

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The General Sales Agents (GSA’s) are the heart of the RE4A activity:

Experts in the sale of train ticket in each of their markets

Professional and trained to use ‘Euronet’ – the worldwide train

reservations platform (Training both face to face in Paris & Online and

through Educational tours throughout Europe…)

GSAs are customer-oriented and are experts in their markets

RE4A distribution can rely on strong partnerships with renowned travel

agencies:

Flight Centre Rail Plus

JTG THOMAS COOK

H.I.S TUI

MIKI CARLSON WAGONLIT

GTA etc…

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II RE4A overview

A wide product range:

1. European products:

Train tickets: TGV (France), Eurostar (UK-France/Belgium), Lyria (France-

Switzerland), Thalys (France/Belgium/Netherlands/Germany), Elipsos

(France-Spain), Trenitalia (Italy), Deutsche Bahn (Germany), Renfe (Spain),

SBB (Switzerland), ATOC (UK), SJ (Sweden) and more

Rail Passes:

• Eurail Passes and reservations (only for non Europeans)

• "National" Passes: Swiss Pass, France Rail Pass, German Rail Pass…

• Others such as "Swiss Packages", combination tours etc.

2. Non European products:

North America: Amtrak (USA), ViaRail & Rocky Mountaineer (Canada)

Asia: Japan Rail, Korail, Rail Australia, IRCTC (Indian Luxury Trains)

3. Direct connections in Europe for larger ranges and lower fares:

SNCF (France) - including Eurostar, Thalys, TGV Lyria etc.…

ATOC (UK)

RENFE (Spain)

Imminent: DB (Germany), and NTV and Trenitalia (Italy)

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II RE4A overview

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II RE4A overview

EURONET

Sales

Channels

Euronet Desktop Application Euronet Web Services

Rail Booking Engine

Distribution

Channels

Carriers'

Inventories

Business logics / Real Time connections / BI & Reporting

Product Access / Commission / x-rate management

Shops

Call Centres

Portals

Trade websites

Public websites

Mobile Apps

GDS

A powerful distribution system:

Key figures - 2010:

Sales Volume: 136.9M€

Pax: 1720 000

Booking: 367 000

Net result: 4M€

after tax

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II RE4A overview

2012 (Est.):

200.1M€

2 628 000

550 000

6M€

Year B2B v B2C

2007: 95% v 5%

2009: 85% v 15%

2011: 80% v 20%

2012: 75% v 25%




IV– Rail distribution & key success

factors

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III Rail / Air comparison

Worlds apart...

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RA

IL • Train travel is 90% or more for domestic use

• Train operation and distribution do not follow a common standard

• Train travel is mainly operated by national carriers with very limited competition

• There is no full carrier alliance making multi carrier trips complex

• Average ticket price is low (below 100€) AIR

• Air travel is quite international

• Air travel and distribution are very standardized

• There are lots private players and competition is important on most routes

• Airline alliances/code shares/interlines ease management of complex itineraries

• Average ticket price is high for international routes

Average of 111,000 train per day in Europe

Average of 26,000 flights per day in Europe *Air estimates eurocontrol Feb 2011

*rail estimates rail carrier websites

III Rail / Air comparison

Structural differences

Rail distribution is not standardized

and relies on very specific systems

Product offer is very heterogeneous

and difficult to master

Low average coupon price is a

challenge for profitability

Domestic focus of operators leaves

little room for international distribution

specificities

Agreement/connections with several

carriers required to offer sufficient

destination coverage

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Why rail is not fully integrated on

GDS

GDS solutions have been developed

only for train carrier domestic market

through custom-made/expert

connection

The lack of standards:

makes the development costly and

specific for each carrier

requires important product and

process support

Train carriers (except limited number)

are not IATA compliant (carrier code,

accounting code, BSP enrolled etc…)




IV– Rail distribution & key success

factors

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Euronet Desktop

1400+ accounts

Web services

21 GSAs

35 B2C websites

Rail Booking Engine

17 GSAs GDS

949 travel agencies

White Label

15 partners

GSA

IV Rail distribution & key success factors

More than 90K travel agents connected

Euronet

desktop

► Solution for call centre's, shops or specialty desks

► Advanced functionalities available + administrative

/ accounting access

► Easy deployment but important training required

► Tool for GSA’s and selected sub-agents

Represents 25% of sales in total but decreasing

IV Rail Distribution & key success factors

White Label

► Online B2C solution for non merchant partners

► White label of RE4A B2C sites with basic

customisation

► Easy deployment and integration

► Tool for marketing partners with strong brand but

no focus on rail sales

Represents less than 2.5% of sales in total but

expect growth over the next 5 years


GDS

► Travel agencies with small rail revenue

► Smart tab integration on Amadeus/Travelport

selling platform

► Easy deployment

Represents less than 2.5% of total sales but can

expect this sales channel to grow in the next 5

years


Web Services

► Solution for big players with important IT

capacity/priority

► Advanced functions available, high level of

customisation

► Medium to complex deployment (2 to 6 months)

and regular maintenance activities by IT staff (1

version upgrade per year)

► Minimum 1 M€ online rail sales a year

Represents 40% of total sales


► Solution for mid sized company with

limited IT capacity

► Main booking functions with basic level of

customization

► Easy deployment (2 weeks to 1 month)

and low maintenance

►Minimum 100 k€ online rail sales a year


Rail Engine


B2C (consumer) websites

Every RE4A market is covered by a consumer

Website and social media tools including local

face book pages, blogs, twitter accounts etc

Fully market oriented websites:

Local selling currency

Local language

Local fulfillment

• Fulfillment by GSAs or,

• Directly fulfilled by RE4A

representative offices


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Online Solution for Consumers


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• Touch the biggest customer base by supporting all sales channel possible

• B2B and B2C/ Offline and Online

Multi channel solution

• Reach critical size to absorb fix marketing and IT costs

• Keep an agile and low cost organization

Low cost

• One stop shop for rail product

• Manage Europe as a global destination Multi rail content

• Invest in education/training of point of sales to create real expertise

• Simplify product ranges

Be a real expert

4 key success factors for distribution


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Multi channel solution

• One stop shop for rail product

• Manage Europe as a global destination Low Cost

•Reach critical size to absorb fix marketing and IT cost

•Keep an agile and low cost organization

Multi rail content

• Invest in education/training of point of sales to create real expertise

• abstract product heterogeneity

Be a real expert

Multi-channel global rail one stop shop

Call centre/TA

Web B2C

Web B2B/white label

GDS/WS/Rail Engine

Dedicated/ specialised rail systems

Integrated IT from point of sales to back office and settlement

Agile organization

Multiple direct connections

Top 5 European content (SNCF, ATOC, RENFE, DB, TI + others)

North America and Asia

Specialised product team

Global training and helpdesk facilities

Local marketing and sales offices

And the solution is

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What is the future of Rail

Distribution 10 years from

now???

Thank you….

Questions????

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9 representative offices covering RE4A territories and supporting a wide

B2B distribution network (150+ sales agents):

II RE4A overview

Representation offices (and opening date)

• Tokyo (1998)

• Seoul (2005)

• Mumbai (2005)

• Buenos Aires (2006)

• Sydney (2007)

• Hong-Kong (2008)

• Bangkok (2009)

• Dubai (2010)

• Singapore (2012)

, Singapore

train travel distribution the next wave...gds travel agencies with small rail revenue smart tab...

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