STA Travel is investing 'tens of millions of dollars' to consolidate its existing systems to a single web-based sales application.

The project, codenamed 'BLUEe', will replace a diverse range of front and back-end applications used in different areas worldwide, streamlining business processes and delivering a consistent way for customers to deal with the travel agent.

'BLUEe is our programme to completely replace all of our systems. It forms a major component of our strategy to deliver a single customer experience in all of our operating regions,' said chief financial officer Mark Adams.

'Since the company's outset, we've allowed our various operating divisions to be fairly autonomous and to develop their own systems solutions. But now that we've developed into a $1.2bn company with 450 branches across the world, the best way to go forward is to develop a single system for the whole group,' he said.

Work on the project began in 2000 when the company partnered with supplier Unisys to manage the development of the system.

An initial pilot rollout is expected to begin early next year in the UK, followed by a group-wide implementation due for completion in early 2005.

Bespoke tools from Travelwire are being used for the point of sale system, while Coda is providing back-office software for the company's financial management and business intelligence.

The underlying drive towards a single corporate IT system is not only based on the desire for group standardisation, but is an acknowledgement of the travel sector's need to evolve to cope with the rapidly changing industry.

A recent poll by travel technology provider Amadeus showed that the switch to direct internet-based sales in airlines is forcing travel agent commissions down to one per cent.

'We have to re-engineer our business to match the changes in the industry, moving away from just selling flights to providing value-added services and more comprehensive packages,' said Adams.

'When it's in place, business intelligence will enable us to have access to timely and accurate information on our business, which will be a significant step forward for us.'