Electronic Data Systems is one of the industry’s perennial high scorers. Through a complex web of consulting agreements and financial relationships, the Plano, TX, company is aligned with some of interactive travel’s most successful players.
So when I heard the news that EDS launched a Web site for the 1998 World Cup, which is being held in my backyard next year – the French border is a two hour drive – I wanted to know more. How did EDS leverage the relationships with its travel agencies and CRSs on the France ’98 site?
Todd Oken, EDS Global Sports’ World Cup Internet project manager, generously offered me a play-by-play on the project. As he explained it, his employer approached the French Organizing Committee about building a site for the international soccer tournament a year ago. Event planners wanted a way “to communicate with a worldwide audience for a full year before the World Cup, and to meet objectives such as selling tickets and filling stadiums,” he said.
The resulting France ’98 site is quite impressive. The pages are being published in two languages: English and French. Some media information is also available in Spanish. Oken’s team of 25 designers has handled the work with an uncommon kind of cultural sensitivity, for which I think they deserve recognition.
Consider the seemingly simple task of formatting text for French, a language where there is a space before colons, question marks, and exclamation points, and a space between a quotation mark and text. “This obviously affected document entry,” said Oken, “but it also had a technical implication: the spaces caused browsers to separate punctuation marks from accompanying text on preceding or following lines. Special code had to be inserted in the HTML to prevent this separation.”
The France ’98 site is a class act. Except for one thing.
Asked about the cross-marketing opportunities presented by the soccer site, Oken’s tone turned serious. “During the first phase of the Internet site, the travel services have been limited to information about France and each of the host cities, but no reservation capabilities,” he said.
What about all those suppliers EDS works with? How could anyone pass up the chance to reap a dividend from these travel industry relationships?
“Due to the fact that the France ’98 site is owned by the French Organizing Committee, and they have an exclusive relationship with a French tour operator, EDS has been unable to leverage its many relationships with travel agencies,” Oken said. “Travel and tourism services are a target for future phases of the project, subject to agreements that the committee has in place.”
Don’t look for a link to the French tour operator. “Unfortunately, at this time, that company does not have an online presence,” said Oken.
I feel bad for EDS. It has accomplished something on the Web that only a very few corporations are capable of, yet its hands are tied with respect to taking full advantage of the accomplishment. It can’t even sell tickets to the tournament. (“Tickets are not being sold over the Internet site at the request of the French Organizing Committee.”)
I’m not privy to the details of EDS’ contract with the French. And I’m not so sure that the stakes are all that high in terms of potential travel generated through the site. But as more special events sites like France ’98 debut on the Web, the issue of cross-marketing opportunities is not likely to vanish.
Far from it.
I suspect EDS won’t be the last company shackled by the apparent shortsightedness of a customer.
Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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