Worldspan names new VP of supplier services

ATLANTA -- Vela McClam-Mitchell has been appointed by Worldspan to the position of vice president and general manager, Worldwide Travel Supplier Services. In her new post, McClam-Mitchell is responsible for building Worldspan's portfolio of travel supplier participants and delivering enhanced value to this key customer base. 

McClam-Mitchell succeeds Jesse Liebman, who is taking the newly created position of senior vice president, Strategic Projects. Liebman is leading Worldspan's long-term initiative to restructure the business model by which the company prices its global distribution system (GDS) services and the contributions of its distribution partners. 

"Our travel supplier customers, who are becoming increasingly oriented to electronic commerce, will benefit greatly from Vela's leadership experience in both e-commerce and supplier distribution," said Paul J. Blackney, president and chief executive officer for Worldspan. "Chief among her responsibilities going forward will be to define for the supplier community the cost-saving and other advantages of our new pricing model as it emerges, securing their trust and their confidence in this forward-thinking new strategy." 

Before being named to her new position, McClam-Mitchell served as vice president of Worldwide E-Commerce Business Development for Worldspan. She was responsible for the company's e-commerce business and consumer travel products, including business development, product programs and developing strategic relationships.

Quick mover market

"Travel suppliers now work within a 'quick mover' market that is constantly evolving. Suppliers are seeking creative technology to assist them in managing their various channels of distribution while controlling costs and maximizing revenue," said McClam-Mitchell. "We are committed to developing the enhanced technology that helps our customers discover more about where their business originates. We will continue to upgrade our system and work with our distributors to ensure we keep our cost of distribution low for our suppliers, thus enhancing the value we bring to all our customers in the travel distribution chain." 

From January 1999 until July 2000, McClam-Mitchell was staff vice president for E-Commerce for Corporate and Consumer Markets. During this period, Worldspan developed key relationships with a number of leading e-commerce and wireless Internet suppliers. Earlier, McClam-Mitchell served as director of associate sales and marketing for Worldspan, where she oversaw worldwide sales and marketing efforts for Worldspan's products and services for hotels, car rental companies, cruise lines and tour operators. 

Before joining Worldspan in 1993, McClam-Mitchell was director of national and industry sales programs for Northwest Airlines, responsible for the carrier's sales and incentive development program for domestic travel agencies.

McClam-Mitchell holds an MBA from Pepperdine University and a Master of Science from Howard University in Washington, D.C., and has completed an executive development program in strategic management at the Wharton School of Business. 

Worldspan provides global electronic distribution of travel information, Internet products and connectivity, and electronic commerce capabilities for travel agencies, travel service providers and corporations worldwide. 

Pricing model

Earlier this month, Worldspan announced plans to restructure its pricing model to better reflect the value of the global distribution system (GDS) and its distribution partners and to disseminate more equitably the costs of distribution. Current GDS pricing models require travel suppliers to bear virtually the entire cost of electronic distribution. Worldspan is evaluating possible alternatives to this design.

“The system is clearly broken,” Blackney said. "Today’s business model has suppliers paying ever-increasing booking fees -- due in large measure to ever-increasing incentives to distributors. This situation is driving many suppliers to consider developing alternative distribution systems, incurring a burdensome cost and diverting their focus from their core business. We need to find a solution for them. It is our obligation to our customers -- both suppliers and distributors, to our shareholders, and to our industry to find and implement a solution that will benefit all these constituents."

He said the goal of Worldspan’s new pricing model initiative is to ensure that suppliers and others involved in the distribution process receive clear and recognizable value for their purchase of GDS services.

Fact or perception

"Whether it is fact or perception, if customers believe they are not getting appropriate value for their expenditures, they have a powerful incentive to find an alternative," Blackney said. "We cannot afford to push suppliers, travel agencies and other distributors to alternative solutions. We will deliver a win-win-win solution for suppliers, distributors and Worldspan."

Other GDSs have announced short-term plans supposedly designed to assist travel agencies, but Blackney contends these would-be solutions “don’t deal with the basic problem.”

Worldspan's three lines of business are travel supplier services, e-commerce, and global distribution systems for the worldwide travel industry. The Worldspan reservations system provides nearly 21,000 travel agencies and other users worldwide with travel data and booking capabilities for hundreds of the world's leading travel supplier services. Worldspan is the market leader in e-commerce for the travel industry, processing more than 50% of all online travel agency bookings. The company maintains world headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. Worldspan is owned by affiliates of Delta Air Lines.