This is a roundup of product news and announcements for travel DISTRIBUTION in tourism and hospitality for June 2014.
Friday 27 June 2014:
Fastbooking launches a new booking engine
- Fastbooking, the French market leader in B2B booking tools, has launched Attraction, which is a next generation platform to maximize hoteliers' direct sales. It works with metasearch, Google Ads, a hotel's own website, and intermediaries like TripAdvisor and the online travel agencies.
Sabre enters Azerbaijan market
- The US-based GDS and tech giant will open its first office in the country in the capital of Baku. Operations will be headed by Gabil Allahverdiyev (owner of Headstart Consulting in Azerbaijan) and director of business development, Natig Nabiyev (director and owner of APG Azerbaijan).
Wednesday 25 June 2014:Amadeus gets BSP certification in China
- This approval means that Amadeus is one step closer to allowing authorised travel agents in mainland China the ability to fulfil the entire billing and ticketing process of travel products offered by foreign BSP airlines. Recently, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) allowed authorised international airlines to be bookable via Amadeus in China.
Amadeus launch travel agency solutions in Taiwan
- The new solutions include: 1) Amadeus All Fares Plus - web based, low-fare search and comparison solution for travel agents to search, compare and book GDS and non-GDS content in a single display; 2) Amadeus e-Faresheet - enables airlines to electronically distribute fares to travel agencies with multi-lingual support; 3) Amadeus Auto Ticketing- web-based ticketing solution that enables travel agencies to standardise and simplify the ticket issuing process.
Amadeus Gulf partners with
Mohebi Aviation- The agreement will enable Mohebi Aviation to access Amadeus Gulf's air and non-air content, over 250,000 hotel properties, and 36,000 car rental locations.
Tuesday 24 June 2014:Travelport agrees new distribution package with United
- The long-term agreement will include the traditional distribution of inventory, fares and schedule to Travelport-connected agents (online and offline), but will see the carrier join its Merchandising Platform for the first time. United will also use the Rich Content and Branding element of the platform, allowing it to detail offers, services and other ancillary products to agents in the same way as its existing online platform.
Datalex expands to Far East with new China office
- The Ireland-based ecommerce and retail distribution company will have its Chinese operations based in Beijing.CEO Aidan Brogan says the decision to open an office in China will spearhead its strategy to expand into new markets around the world. The company already has the likes of major carrier in the region, Air China, as a client.
Friday 20 June 2014:Abacus lures Jet Asia Airways to the GDS world
- The five-year-0ld carrier will be joining third party distribution for the first time in its history with the Abacus agreement, scheduled to run for two years. the Thailand-based carrier specialises in charter flights around South East Asia but is planning to launch a network of scheduled routes from Bangkok and the island of Phuket during 2014.
SiteMinder opens office in US
- The hotel distribution provider will base its Americas headquarters in Dallas, Texas, in a bid to rapidly expand the company into new markets. The move follows SiteMinder's $30 million capital raise from Technology Crossover Ventures in January this year.
Thursday 19 June 2014:Amadeus bolsters SAP partnership
- Enhancing an existing 15-year relationship, SAP will integrate its Cloud For Travel and Expense platform into the Amadeus e-Travel Management system. The new system will be sold under the Amadeus brand to agents to give them a complete booking, expense refunding and travel management tool.
Tuesday 17 June 2014:Travelport hires ex-British Airways IT boss
- Mike Croucher joins as chief architect, responsible for delivery of global IT architecture across the company. Prior to the new role, Croucher was head of IT delivery and head of IT architecture and delivery with BA. No stranger to GDSs, he has also worked with Galileo GDS before creation of Travelport, as well as roles with Ericsson and Scandinavian Airlines.
Sabre to sell new
United ancillary
- United's Economy Plus seating will be available to US travel agents as part of the agreement with Sabre, with sales starting today. The carrier claims to have more "extra legroom"-style economy seats than any other airline in North America.
Amadeus signs with
Attar Travel- The Saudi Arabia-based agency will use Amadeus for access to flights, car rental and hotel bookings, with a particular interest in regional carriers as part of the Arab Air Carriers Organisation. Attar has been in business for more than 60 years.
Wednesday 11 June 2014:Travelport gets new branding and vision
- Coinciding with its plan to list on the public markets in the US, Travelport has outlined a new strategy to move from its traditional GDS terminology. Split into two major entities, Travelport has its Travel Commerce Platform covering distribution, merchandising and related services (covering Air and Beyond Air, such hospitality), alongside Technology Services for shopping, fares and departure control systems.
Abacus gives
Hunnu Air e-ticketing
- The Mongolian carrier, the second largest in the country, will now be able to use Abacus's technology to distribute tickets to agents in the important "feeder" markets in Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and Taiwan. Charter flights to and from South Korea are also scheduled to be included shortly.
Sun Country Airlines grabs
Travelport for Rich Content and Branding
- The tool to enhance how an airline's services and content appear on agency desktops, part of Travelport's Merchandising Platform, will be used the Minnesota, US, based carrier. Sun Country serves destinations in the US, Latin America, Mexico and the Caribbean.
Monday 9 June 2014:American Airlines signs distribution pact with FarePortal brands
- The agreement, the first for an online travel agency group since American merged with US Airways, sees FarePortal sites CheapOAir and OneTravel receive access to the two carrier's content and ancillaries. The multi-year agreement includes distribution of Choice Essential, Choice Plus, Main Cabin Extra, Preferred Seat and ChoiceSeats products across both OTAs.
Wednesday 4 June 2014:Sabre secures CityJet distribution deal
- The long-term agreement between the London City Airport-based carrier sees it provide fares, schedules and inventory to all Sabre-connected agents. The airline, which runs flights to Belgium, Holland, Ireland, France and Italy, also recently started distributing via Travelport, also for the first time.
Amadeus launches Ticket Changer in APAC
- The system allows agents to manage customer bookings when re-pricing, refunding or re-issuing tickets. It works for 94 airlines around the globe and automatically calculates and guarantees fares, taxes or penalties applicable to each passenger.
Tuesday 3 June 2014:Hainan Airlines taps for Travelport for merchandising
- The China-based carrier will use the Rich Content and Branding element of Travelport's Merchandising Platform when it is launched later this year. Connected agents will be able to get a better visual representation of Hainan's services and ancillary products, comparable to its existing online presence. Hainan, created in 1993, currently serves around 90 cities on both domestic and international routes.
Amadeus and
Garuda Indonesia sign distribution agreement
- The agreement will enable Amadeus travel agencies to access Garuda Indonesia’s fares, seat availability and schedules via the Amadeus system.
Monday 2 June 2014:IATA adds three NDC pilots
Sabre renews distribution deal with
Accor- Sabre connected travel agencies will continue to have access to more than 3,500 properties from the 13 chains in the Accor portfolio, such as Ibis and Sofotel. The group will also extend its existing advetising programme within the Sabre marketplace, pushing offers and product to agents using the system.
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NB2: Travel distribution image via Shutterstock.