In an exclusive interview with Carmen Dils, the Chief Support, Operations, and Products at EURAM, we delve into the innovative world of EURAM Creative Packaging. This cutting-edge, web-based solution revolutionizes tailor-made travel by seamlessly compiling city data, accommodations, driving distances, and more onto a single screen. With customizable maps, personalized routes, and sample itineraries, EURAM Creative Packaging, powered by the Planisto Travel Platform, utilizes Hybrid Pricing to intelligently analyze provider availability and prices, presenting the best options for your customers.
Tell us a bit about you, what you do and your company and how you came to be part of TGX Network?
EURAM is a company of Belgian origin, privately managed and owned by key executives within the company. EURAM empowers the travel industry with the best available tools to provide the ultimate tailor-made travel experiences to the traveler. EURAM can be described as a hybrid company that creates a synergy between marketing and travel professionals and a highly qualified IT team to respond to the challenges of tomorrow.
Our technology focus is on putting together custom trips and offering the long tail of products. Developing connections with suppliers is particularly time-consuming which is why we have been using Travelgate for several years now. We have noticed that they also follow the latest technology standards and their range of products is constantly expanding. That reassures us.
How are you feeling overall about the global economy given everything that’s going on right now as it relates to travel?
The crisis has turned many things on their head and many companies have been forced to question their business model. This is especially true for the tourism industry, which is among the hardest hit. Stronger than before, a distinction will emerge between package tours and customized tours.
However, in both cases the consumer wants security before, during and after the trip. The challenge lies both at the level of who bears what responsibility and at the technical level of how this can be financially feasible given the low margins in the sector.
What were your original plans and intentions for Planisto and how have they evolved since you first started?
The plans for Planisto rose several years ago when customers asked us to use our technology for their own destinations or travel products. When we brought a new architecture of ECP online six years ago, we decided to make it available to third parties instead of offering new destinations ourselves. We named the project Planisto, which means journey in Esperanto.
Quite a challenging project but still we persevered from then on. When it became clear after a few weeks that the corona crisis would not go away any time soon, we decided to use all available resources to get PTP online. We succeeded and thanks to a continuous synergy between engineering and business experts PTP provides thought-thru solutions to real-world challenges. The lines between needs, insights, analysis, and developments continue to be extremely short. Using agile methodologies and continuous deployment practices, new developments can be immediately tested and changes or bug fixes can be rolled out with low risk and within the shortest delay. And all this for the PTP tenants financially accessible, extremely flexible, and user-friendly.
How can TravelgateX Partners benefit from the connection between TGX and Planisto?
Due to the exceptionally financially accessible and flexible entry, a technology suddenly becomes available to many more actors than ever before. This means that TravelgateX Partners with PTP can access more customers for an online connection so that both customer and supplier can generate more revenue.
Lastly, do you have any suggestions or challenges for the team at TravelgateX?
The challenge both for Planisto and TravelgateX is to be on the cutting edge of technology for our customers and to be able to offer it in a financially viable way.
