艺龙公司优先推广网上订票 限制呼叫中心

　　在线旅游服务商Elong.com将在未来几年中侧重推广其网上订票服务，而不是扩大其呼叫中心服务，上周末（5月17、18日——译者注）该公司一位高级官员对Interfax说。

　　“艺龙（最近）在对网站进行改版，以便提供更方便的网上订票服务，”艺龙高级总监薛蔚在参加南京的2008旅游电子商务大会时说。

　　薛蔚说，为了吸引顾客预订旅游线路，艺龙公司将向在线用户提供优惠服务和其他奖励措施。同时，艺龙将限制扩大其呼叫中心业务，该公司认为，未来几年，网上订票会越来越受欢迎。

　　薛蔚说，侧重发展网上服务还可以帮助艺龙公司降低其呼叫中心的发展和运作成本。

　　不过，根据iResearch去年年底公布的一项调查，超过半数的中国消费者还是喜欢使用呼叫中心而非网上订票服务。这些数据导致携程网——艺龙公司的主要竞争对手，集中发展其呼叫中心服务。

　　携程网的上海呼叫中心目前配备了3000名工作人员，该公司还将在2010年底之前，在江苏南通兴建第二个呼叫中心，该呼叫中心能够容纳7000名工作人员。

　　相比之下，艺龙在北京的呼叫中心只有500名工作人员。
携程网是中国2007年最大的在线旅游预订服务供应商，根据iResearch的数据，其市场占有率约56.3 ％ 。艺龙公司第二位，占13.7 ％。

　　原文出处：Interfax 记者：陈莎莎

原文：

Elong to promote online booking over call center service

Shanghai. May 19. INTERFAX-CHINA - Online travel service operator Elong.com will focus on promoting its online booking service over the next few years, instead of expanding its call center service, a senior official with the company told Interfax over the weekend.

"Elong.com [recently] relaunched its Web site in order to offer more convenient online booking service," Xue Wei, senior director at Elong.com, said on the sidelines of the 2008 Tourism E-Commerce Conference in Nanjing.

In order to attract customers to book travel plans online, Xue said Elong will give online users preferential services and other incentives.

At the same time, Elong will limit the expansion of its call center operations, as the company believes online booking will be an increasingly popular trend over the next few years, Xue said.

Xue said the focus on online services can also help Elong cut down on its call center development and operation costs.

However, over half of Chinese consumers still prefer to use call center services over online booking services, according to an iResearch survey released late last year. Such data has led Ctrip, Elong's chief rival, to concentrate its efforts on developing its call center services.

Ctrip's Shanghai call center is currently staffed with 3,000 operators, and the company will build a second call center capable of holding 7,000 operators in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, by the end of 2010.

By comparison, Elong's call center in Beijing staffs around 500 operators.

Ctrip was the largest online travel booking service provider in China in 2007, with a market share of 56.3 percent, according to iResearch figures. Elong followed in second place with 13.7 percent of the market.