This is a roundup for product news and announcements for travel DISTRIBUTION in tourism and hospitality for May 2016.
Monday 30 May 2016:
Amadeus renews Emirates agreement
- The Dubai-based airlines will allow its full inventory of fares and flights to be made available to all Amadeus-connected travel agencies. The partnership will include a committment to push more acilliary products and services through the intermediary channel.
Wednesday 25 May 2016Travelport and Aeroméxico have extended and deepened their relationship.
- The Mexican airline has re-upped its GDS deal, and has added Travelport’s merchandising technology as well as digital travel services from MTT. The new MTT deal will let it launch customer-centric iOS and Android apps, as well as other innovative digital travel services.
Thursday 19 May 2016:Mango gets juicy with Travelport
- The pair this week signed a multi-year distribution deal, giving connected agencies access to the South Africa-based low cost carrier's fares and inventory, as well as participation in the Rich Content and Branding service on Travelport Merchandising Platform. The South African Airways subsidiary serves both domestic destinations and in Tanzania.
Rome2Rio stops for
Distribusion bus deal
- The Germany-based bus ticket distribution service will initially allow Rome2Rio users to search for fares and schedules on the site. This will eventually lead to on-site bookings and follows the recent integration of SilverRail Technologies to provide rail content an on-site bookings.
Wednesday 18 MayMusafir hails India partnership
- UAE-based Musafir.com has linked up with MyTaxiIndia.com to help its travellers book a cab upon arrival in India. The tie-up is aimed at making it easier for travellers to get to Tier 2 cities where "road connectivity is not fully developed and remains challenging..."
Tuesday 17 MayAmadeus hits the Nordics
- Swedish OTA Airtours.se now has access to airlines using Amadeus Fare Families, allowing it to offer more options to its customers. Elsewhere in the region, Norway's Reisegiganten, has implemented Amadeus Ancillary Services allowing the OTA's customers the chance to book a bag at the same time as their flight.
MakeMyTrip adds forex
- MakeMyTrip is adding foreign exchange to its services for international travellers via a link-up with BookMyForex. Currencies can be ordered via the MakeMyTrip website and apps. BookMyForex can deliver the order in 200 cities across India and can handle travellers' cheques, pre-paid cards and wire transfers as well as currencies.
Monday 16 May 2016SiteMinder has an integration with HiRUM
- SiteMinder's Channel Manager has integrated with property management software PMS from HiRUM, whose software is installed at 1,200 Australian properties that manage more than 120,000 rooms. The combined tools will streamline online bookings for the companies’ mutual hotel customers to reduce the hassle of overbookings and manual management of reservations.
Friday 13 May 2016:Google takes Amoma connection
- The hotel distribution provider will plug into the Book On Google service so that its portfolio of hotels can be guests can secure instantly on the site. The addition of Amoma will bring the total number of hotels instantly bookble on Google to 230,000 in 19,300 destinations.
UTAir brands with
Travelport- The Russian carrier will participate in the Rich Content and Branding element of Travelport's Merchandising Platform, giving it the ability to showcase and display fares and products on agency desktops. UTAir is the main user of Vnukovo Airport in Moscow, with more than 160 flights a day.
Wednesday 11 May 2016WestJet distributes ancillaries through Amadeus
- Amadeus Airline Ancillary Services will display content from the Canadian airline to travel agencies. Products such as its reserved seats (including its Econo, Flex and Plus fare options) will be offered on the platform. Amadeus says that more than 110 airline customers have contracted its merchandising solutions.
Tuesday 10 May 2016:Distribusion gets Schmetterling deal
- The bus ticket distribution platform will be featured on the agency network's comparison site, CRS and back-office services. Schmetterling has more than 3,500 agencies in the consortium in Europe.
Travelport renews
Marriott partnership
- The new agreement gives Travelport-connected agencies full access to Marriott's portfolio of hotel properties around the world, including ancillary products. The group has 4,500 hotels in 90 countries.
Friday 6 May 2016:Air France-KLM brands with Travelport
- The airline group will use the Rich Content and Branding service on the Travelport Merchandising Platform to display its fares and ancillary products on agency desktops in the same as it does on consumer-facing websites. Travelport says around 160 carriers have now signed up to the service.
FlyBe distributes ancillaries through
Amadeus- Amadeus Airline Ancillary Services will now feature content from the European regional carrier for travel agencies. Products such as extra bags and others will be available on the platform, with Amadeus claiming a 100% increase on ancillaries sold for its airline customers during 2015.
Wednesday 4 May 2016:Expedia and Amadeus agree new deal
- Expedia Inc has renewed its existing distribution agreement with Amadeus, giving it access to content from airlines, hotels, rail and cruise operators. The deal now includes the Orbitz business, alongside existing brands such as Expedia, Hotwire, Travelocity, Egencia and Wotif.
Tuesday 3 May 2016:Amadeus signs Ukraine International Airlines
- The Kiev-based carrier will use the Amadeus Airline Ancillary Services platform to give travel agencies the opportunity to find and purchase additional products. Services include meals and bags.
HotelSkanner heads to the
DHISCO- The new Dubai-headquartered hotel booking site will use the DHISCO platform to power search for over 110,000 properties around the world, including photos, reviews, rate details and booking services. HotelSkanner is the consumer-facing travel service from the ExMarketplace media brand in the UAE.
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NB2: Travel image via Shutterstock.