The primary objective of the SATINE project, a STREP project in the 6th Framework Programme, is to develop a semantic-based interoperability framework for exploiting Web service platforms in conjunction with Peer-to-Peer networks in tourism industry.

SATINE infrastructure, as a whole, will provide a solution for all companies in the travel industry, generally small-to-medium level enterprises, for easily publishing and selling their tourism services as well as providing them access to a rich collection of business collaborators.

A variety of business opportunities for the companies in the travel industry will be enabled by this new platform, where the travel agencies and service providers will collaborate with each other. The companies will not need to provide every type of travel service or make agreements with respective suppliers through traditional means of communication; the service alternatives will be found on the fly through the P2P network and the service registries located within. The business transactions will be issued through the business rules set by the travel agency and the provider party. The traditional ways of communication among partners, will be replaced by automated information exchange among applications, through Web service invocations. Negotiation between parties and decision making during selection from a large list of alternatives, will be much more easier, faster and reliable.

Through reselling and subcontracting, companies will provide new solutions for their customers. It will be a possibility to construct package services which are comprised of sub-services provided locally by the initiator company and sub-services revealed within the network. Negotiation on the service that will be purchased as well as customization of service properties on the fly are other possible types of enhancements in the e-business for the Travel Industry.

The service user companies, like travel agencies, will find a way to reach the service providers, without the need for using a 3rd party centralized distribution system, e.g. GDS, by joining the SATINE network. Each peer, i.e. the service providers and users, will communicate and negotiate with each other, based on the business rules they set. This will make it possible to present specialized services such as tours and transportation services. Through the semantic capabilities of components found in the SATINE infrastructure, once a service and its attributes are mapped to the respective travel based ontologies, the provider will be able to advertise its service, and make it available for the usage of other travel companies as well as the end users that have joined the network. The utilisation of ontologies in service descriptions will make it easier for the travel companies, to adapt their current systems to operate in the SATINE network.

It is certain that, the GDS companies will not become redundant in the near future, as of now a large number of travel e-commerce and intranet applications are integrated with these systems; and travel agencies have been provided with specialized applications and networks by these GDSs, for their operations. Nevertheless, as the benefits of peer to peer communication and negotiation become clear, the dominance of these companies over the on-line travel business is expected to diminish in time.

It is believed that the main thrust of the business model of SATINE lies in the B2B opportunities enabled by the new communications structure, hence in the collaboration among parties taking part in the Travel Industry.