GDS news from Travelport, Amadeus, Sabre, Abacus - April 2012

Product news, releases, projects and more from the global distribution systems during April 2012 - all here, in one easy read.

More recent updates first:

Friday 27 April 2012:

Sabre boosts cruise content for agents by way of partnerships with Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania Cruises. The two brands (both under the Prestige Cruise Holdings umbrella) will push inventory through Sabre Travel Network from June 1 2012, bringing the number of cruise operators on the system to 14. Both Regent and Oceania product is available to beta testers on Sabre Cruises and through the Sabre Cruises API.
TnoozLIVE – Episode Two [VIDEO]: Big Data Special, Mobile, Search and more
Airlines aligned against mandatory GDS distribution
Facebook IPO signals disruption ahead for online travel distribution
Sabre Hospitality casts crystal ball on stuff that is really being developed

Wednesday 25 April 2012:

STA Travel and Amadeus sign new content agreement. The deal sees agents in 29 markets in which STA operates use the Amadeus GDS to access travel content as well as continue to run a number of back-office tools such as the e-Travel Management online booking tool and a e-ticketing system which was created specially for STA.
Amadeus and SNCF agree terms for an extension of their distribution agreement. Alongside the distribution contract, which will run until the end of 2012, the pair have unveiled plans to debut a new third party tool known as Amadeus Agent Track, a new rail booking service for travel agents. The system allows agents to access the rail operator's schedules and inventory as well as integration into agent back-office systems.
What happened to American Airlines-Expedia direct-connect pact 1 year later?
Gadgets gone mad – the bedtime story

Monday 23 April 2012:

Amadeus launches Cruise Shopper service for agents in the US and Canada. The software gives agents the ability to sell cruise product via their websites as well as manage bookings. Amadeus says 90% of the world's cruise product is available via the service, a tool targeting travel agencies, franchises and agent consortia groups.
Sabre gives GetThere customers access to new benchmarking tools. The programme allows agents to analyse aggregated travel data from hundreds of corporations, including travel from all GDSs covering both large and medium sized corporate travel management companies. The idea is to give customers a better understanding of data around air, car, hotel and traveller compliance, vendor strategies and advance purchase benchmarking.
Amadeus and IcelandAir renew IT agreement. The ten-year deal sees Amadeus provide the Iceland carrier with a string of services such as reservation and departure control system Altéa, as well as revenue management tools, e-ticketing servers and an ecommerce suite for online sales.
Travelport agrees major partnership with Japanese GDS AXESS, JAL says goodbye to Sabre
Asia hotel prices – April to June 2012
Amadeus breaks through in North America with Southwest split-decision
European hotel prices – April to June 2012

Thursday 19 April 2012:

EasyJet extends and expands distribution package with Travelport. The deal will give any Galileo-connected agency or user of Travelport Universal API access to EasyJet booking services, expanding the existing focus on business travellers to leisure customers. Agents will also be able to tap into EasyJet's suite of ancillary services as part of the agreement.
Expedia and Amadeus signed a new content and technology agreement. The multi-year deal, which expands on a relationship dating to 2005, sees Expedia using Amadeus fare-search tech and global supplier content in North America as part of its wider distribution strategy to obtain air fares and other products, including some global supplier content, from multiple GDSs. Sabre remains Expedia's primary GDS in the region.
Travelport unveils Child Albany Travel as a tester for its Universal Desktop platform. The selection comes as part of a renewal of the agency's technology and distribution agreement with Travelport, covering access to air, hotel, car rental and cruise product via the Apollo platform.
Amadeus signs content deal with Inntopia. The partnership sees the reservation platform for snowsports selected to power the ski channel on Amadeus Vacation Link, a platform for Amadeus-connected agents in North America. Agents will have access to ski packages and accommodation rentals as well as summer services and products provided in the same destinations.
Sabre will provide distribution services to Dahlan Tours and Travel. The Jordan-based agency will use the Sabre GDS for air, hotel, rail, cruise and car rental bookings, as well using Sabre technology to power the brand's new TravelSheikh website.
Travelport joint venture eNett signs virtual card service with EasyJet. The agreement sees travel management companies, agents and corporates in Europe given the ability to use the eNett Virtual Account Numbers system to make payments to EasyJet for bookings and services. Agents secure an incentive of 0.4% per booking for using the eNett system.
The future of search marketing for the travel industry
Women and travel technology – an Asian perspective

Monday 16 April 2012:

Travelport gives agent customers in Asia-Pacific access to Journey Reporter tool. The system allows connected agents to identify destinations and airport of business travellers based on a customer's product selection. The service is billed as a reliable method of locating customers during crises and is already being used by some agents in Europe and the Middle East.
Making technology progress relevant in travel – dead easy, dead slow or just dead but why?
Semantic web: context for the rest of us
Can a travel startup change the way hotels think about rates and distribution?

Thursday 12 April 2012:

Alamdar Travel and Tours picked by Travelport as handler of Galileo GDS in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is the first time Travelport has used a GDS distribution in the DRC and follows recent efforts to increase the company's presence in emerging countries throughout Africa. The total number of states within the African network to 47, jumping from 30 in early-2011.
Kanoo Travel signs distribution agreement with Sabre Travel Network in the Middle East. The multi-year agreement sees Sabre picked as the Bahrain-based agency's primary GDS. Kanoo will also use the Sabre Red Workspace platform in its branches throughout the region.
Travelport says it has attracted 50 new agency customers to its Rooms & More accommodation service in 2012 in the UK. It claims bookings in the UK have increased on average by 17% each week in the first three months of this year.
TnoozLIVE – next episode: travel tech news and a Big Data special

Tuesday 10 April 2012:

Amadeus and Accor renew long-standing technology agreement. The hotel group will use the Amadeus Revenue Management service, a web-based solution that makes rate and inventory recommendations to maximise hotel revenue contribution, using advanced forecasting models combined with historical and future booking data.
Does a good digital strategy ensure profits for hoteliers?
Another rumour quashed then – Amadeus backs growing anti-Google lobby
Travel startups and celebrities – strategic value or PR puff?
Why the future of online hotel marketing is cloud-based utility computing

Thursday 5 April 2012:

Sabre unveils ex-Rosewood Hotels executive to become chief operating officer for its Hospitality Solutions division. Alex Alt, a former-McKinsey consultant, was vice president for global development and strategy at Rosewood and joins in late-April 2012. He has worked at Sabre before, however, as a manager and senior analyst in the financial planning and analysis group from 1996 to 2000.
WestJet divide — Airline taps Datalex to replace Sabre on website
Unravelling some of the complexities in online travel
Google the brand everyone loves to hate in travel – now GDS group supports complaints

Tuesday 3 April 2012:

Poacher turned Gatekeeper (or the other way round) in the world of airline distribution as Theo Panagiotoulias leaves American Airlines for Sabre to become its new vice president and general manager for the Asia-Pacific region. Panagiotoulias was previously vice president and managing director for AA in Asia-Pacific, based in Japan. He will now run operations for Sabre from Singapore.
Travelport is celebrating today after reaching what it claims is a "merchandising milestone". The Alpha version of a new platform has allowed a travel agent in the Netherlands to upgrade an economy class seat on KLM using the new industry standard Electronic Miscellaneous Document through the GDS, rather than manually via the carrier's website.
Carry-on bag fees: Allegiant Air readies its innovative approach to travel
What happens in a minute on the web? [INFOGRAPHIC]

Monday 2 April 2012: