This is a roundup for product news and announcements for travel DISTRIBUTION in tourism and hospitality for March 2016.
Thursday 31 March 2016:
Travelport extends Bangkok Airways deal
- The multi-year agreement will give Travelport-connected agencies full acecess to the Thailand-based low cost carrier's fares, ancillary services and schedules. The agreement also includes participation in Travelport's Rich Content and Branding platform.
Wednesday 30 March 2016:Etihad extends Amadeus deal
- Etihad Airways and Amadeus have renewed their full content agreement, giving Amadeus-enabled travel agents continued access to the carrier's full inventory of flights, seats and other services.
Cabforce signs
eTraveli- The online travel agency group will use Cabforce to provide ground transportation content for bookings on its portfolio of websites. The deal with Cartrawler-owned Cabforce will include Supersaver, Flybillet, Seat24 Travel and Goleif.
Skyscanner lands at
Dublin Airport- The Irish capital's airport will use Skyscanner to power flight search tools on its mobile application, with plans to extend the service to its desktop website st some point in the future. Skyscanner will also provide data from its Travel Insight product, giving the airport detailed information into passenger planning and search preferences as it looks to build on its ambitions to become a major hub in Europe.
Monday 28 March 2016:Expedia is testing an integration of Wingz airport transfers into its booking flow
- It is not yet visible on the flagship online travel agency site. But soon, at select US airports, travelers will see an option to reserve private ground transport via Wingz, the airport ride-sharing startup with a flat-rate model that parent company Expedia Inc has taken a 14.9% stake in.
Thursday 24 March 2016:Thor launches Agent Connection
- The Travelport-owned travel service company will give agencies direct access to the GDS for booking of flights, cars, hotels, cruise and activities via the Agent Connection platform. Agencies in the US will be the first to receive the platform, with the UK and Canada next on the planned roll-out.
Tuesday 22 March 2016:Hong Kong Express signs with Amadeus
- The low cost carrier says the content agreement will give it access to the Amadeus network of travel agencies as it looks to expand its network of flights in Asia. The airline currently flies to 20 destinations in the region, including Japam, South Korea, Thailand and China.
WebJet brand
Lots of Hotels picks
Travolutionary- Travolutionary's platform will power LOH's consumer-facing service of more than 300,000 properties worldwide. LOH was launched in 2012 as a subsidiary of the WebJet online travel agency.
Monday 21 March 2016:Amadeus adds Taxi Tender
- The pre-arranged airport taxi service will now be available to Amadeus-connected travel agencies, sitting alongside flights and hotels in the booking workflow. The Dutch company operates services in 5,000 cities in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia and works by calculating the fare to the user and then auctioning the ride amongst local taxi and transfer companies.
Thursday 17 March 2016:As Spain heads toward scrapping its sharing economy restrictions, Gopili arrives with multimodal including peer-to-peer options
- The France-based multimodal travel search engine, which focuses on transport options for domestic and European journeys, has opened for business in Spain. So far, Gopili is the only site and mobile app integrating train, bus coach, airplanes, and “collaborative transport”, which means ride-sharing platforms BlaBlaCar and Amovens. The latter two companies have faced headwinds, but the Spanish regulator has just recommended that the country loosen its restrictions on the services.
Sabre signs
VivaAerobus for distribution
- The Mexican low cost carrier will enter the Sabre GDS as part of the agreement, giving agencies in Mexico, Latin America, North America and the Caribbean the ability to sell VivaAerobus tickets. The integration is expected to be completed by the summer of 2016.
Travelport captures two TMCs
- Aviatur in Colombia and Marine Tours in Greece have both seleected Travelport to provide GDS connectivity to find air, hotel and other travel products. Aviatur has more than 70 agencies on its network, whilst Marine Tours is one of the leading TMCs in Greece.
Wednesday 16 March 2016:HRG gets Cabforce transfers
- Agencies connected to the HRG platform will be able to use search and book ground transfers and taxis from the Cabforce system as part of the deal. The CarTrawler-owned service has inventory in 500 destinations in over 70 countries.
Ski.com on-piste with
Umapped- Brands such as Travel Leaders, Signature and American Express will be some of the first partners to receive Umapped-hosted live, interactive itineraries and product features from Ski.com, including recommendations on the best places to stay at resorts. The service will be available on mobile devices as well as desktops.
Tuesday 15 March 2016:Amadeus and Virgin Australia extend deal
- The multi-year agreement will give Amadeus-connected travel agencies the chance to search and book Virgin Australia flights, view schedules and seat options. The agreement comes a year after Amadeus and Virgin Australia signed a IT hosting package for the ALTEA system.
Snapdeal lands travel trio
- The Indian ecommerce portal will take content from bus ticket seller RedBus, reviews via Zomato and travel services from Cleartrip as part of the agreement. The integration of the trio is said to be a pilot project and will work on a commission basis for Snapdeal.
Friday 11 March 2016:Sabre brings Airberlin
- Germany’s second largest carrier has integrated Sabre’s Branded Fares. Agents can now see and book an array of airberlin group carriers’ brands that come with a fare and range of services that cater to different traveler needs, such as a bare-bones economy package to a full-service ticket. Airberlin already has been selling ancillaries like prepaid seats and baggage in the Sabre GDS.
Wednesday 9 March 2016:RoomCloud enables hoteliers to access the Google commission program
- The Italy-based hotel tech company says that in Europe it is among the first companies to offer the Google Commission Program, which allows the hotelier to advertise their property on Google and pay only a commission cost (no pay per click, like Google's old model).
Groupon uses
Skyscanner for flight search
- The deals provider has integrated Skyscanner's B2B offering into the Getaways product, giving users access to full flight search capabilities. The tool will be available initially to customers in the UK, with other markets expected in the future. Other brands taking the Skyscanner service so far include MSN and Conde Nast.
Dohop expands to the Middle East
- Dubai-based BizGate has been enlisted to push the travel search service's into the region, including developing an Arabic version of the website. Dohop was launched in 2005 in Iceland and includes the Self Connect technology to allow users to look for flights with the option of manual check-in at internchange points during a route.
Tuesday 8 March 2016:Qatar advances with Farelogix NDC
- Qatar Airways has completed the first phase of its NDC pilot with Farelogix and is moving onto the production phase, giving all travel agencies in the Qatar Airways network who use Farelogix the ability to present customised and personalised offers to its customers.
Roomorama links up with Tujia
- Singapore-based vacation rental aggregator Roomorama has signed a deal with China's Tujia.com. adding its instantly bookable properties to the Tujia platform. Tujia, which operates as a domestic and outbound tour operator, is looking to "boost its competitiveness against Airbnb in areas where Roomorama has better inventory".
Meeting Market expands
- Expedia's MICE portal Meeting Market has added Meetago to its platform of partners. Meeting Market is making its Instant Book technology and hotel inventory available on meetago. The partnership will initially focus on their home market of Germany but plans are in place to roll it out across Europe.
Thursday 3 March 2016:Amadeus and Travix partner on Fare Families
- The online travel group will start offering Fare Families on its portfolio of websites, with content from all participating airlines on the system available to consumers. Brands included in the Travix group include CheapTickets, Vayam and BudgetAir.
RedBalloon gets
Livn tours content
- The tours and activities GDS will supply content to the Australia-based online gift site as part of the agreement. Real-time availability and booking is provided for more than 12,500 tours and activities, including products from G Adventures, Pro-Dive and Intrepid Group.
Wednesday 2 March 2016Emirates ranks CarTrawler
- CarTrawler has been named as the exclusive ground transportation provider for Dubai-based airline Emirates. As well as its core car hire products, CarTrawler's taxi, shuttle, rail and private transfer services can also be booked via emirates.com.
Travelport bags
SAS- Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has become the latest airline to sign up for Travelport Rich Branding and Content. Elsewhere, Travelport-connected agents are now able to book SAS ancillaries such as paid bags and inflight meals.
Tuesday 1 March 2016:Amadeus renews LATAM Airlines Group
- The full content agreement between the pair will give Amadeus-connected travel agencies access to the group's fares, availability and schedules. The merged group includes LAN Airlines and TAM Linhas Aereas in South and Central America.
SilverRail Technologies connects
Wanderu to
VIA Rail- The Canadian national rail passenger service will have its fare and tickets available on the Wanderu metasearch platform as a result of the Silvercore system built by SilverRail, using both desktop and mobile services. VIA Rail has services to 400 destinations across Canada and carries around four million passengers a year.
Amadeus launches online GDS
- The company has unveiled the Selling Platform Connect in the UK initially, with a bold claim to be the first provider to host a "first fully online GDS booking platform". The cloud-based service allows agencies to use "cryptic magic" commands to toggle between booking areas, as well as using existing language used by rival GDSs.
NB: Distribution image via Shutterstock.