This is a roundup of product news and announcements for travel DISTRIBUTION in tourism and hospitality for August 2015:
Monday 24 August 2015:
Middle East Airlines gets rich with Travelport
- Travelport says it has signed Middle East Airlines as the latest carrier for airline merchandising technology. Lebanon-based MES will use Travelport Rich Content and Branding to enhance how it markets and sells its fares. The content is available via the GDSs Smartpoint 6.0 agency desktop system.
Wednesday 19 August 2015Sabre signs Air Seychelles as EAP grows
- Air Seychelles has moved its reservations, inventory and departure control functions among others to SabreSonic, becoming the latest Etihad Airways Partners (EAP) group airline to do so. Etihad Airways and Jet Airways already use SabreSonic, with Alitalia and airberlin also migrating to the platform.
Amadeus and
Lufthansa Group complete the family
- Lufthansa and Austrian have now implemented Amadeus Fare Families, joining the other two Lufthansa Group carriers, Brussels Airlines and SWISS. They are the first carriers to go live with ATPCo Branded Fares, a new industry standard, offering airlines the ability to file centrally or directly in the Amadeus system.
Monday 17 August 2015:Skyscanner to power FlyBe website search
- The metasearch engine will operate the airline's One Stop To The World service, allowing users to calculate options available for long haul destinations by flying and connecting from regional airports service by FlyBe. The results are filtered by possible itineraries, timings and convenient connections.
Expedia and
RezNext unite for India distribution
- The agreement will see RezNext hotels in India given wider distribution into the Expedia Inc ecosystem of consumer-facing brands. The connection will be in real-time and include room availability and booking functionality.
Tuesday 11 August 2015:TripAdvisor gets Langham Hospitality Group for instant booking
- The chain joins a growing number of groups that have made their properties available for travellers to book on TripAdvisor, rather than being redirected to the hotel's website. The group includes the Langham chain and Cordis brand of hotels.
Friday 7 August 2015:Travelport agrees new deal with Portman Travel
- The UK-based travel management company will connect to hotel and air inventory via the Travelport GDS, as well as use tools such as the Smartpoint desktop platform. Travelport API will be used to used to power Portman's mobile tools and search platform.
Amadeus extends distribution partnership with
LowCostHolidays- The online travel provider will use Amadeus as its "preferred supplier" for GDS services as part of the new agreement. Amadeus will also supply LCH with a number of additional tools such as Extreme Search and Web Services.
Travelport seals
Unister Travel package
- The German online travel service provider will access air and hotel inventory from Travelport for its suite of brands including Fluege and Reisen. Unister will also use Rapid Reprice and Search Control Console services.
Monday 3 August 2015Virgin Australia gets content rich
- Travelport has signed a new long-term distribution agreement with Virgin Australia as well as added its rich content and branding technology to the mix. The airline will now be able to display and market its products and services to travel agents in a more sophisticated way.
Dolphin gets active
- UK-based Dolphin Dynamics has linked up with Viator and integrated the tours and activities specialist's inventory into its selling platforms. STA Travel is the first Dolphin Dynamic client to take advantage of the partnership and will add Viator content to its existing tours portfolio.
LateRooms unleashes business travel service
- LateRooms says it is extending its current corporate offering with the launch of an integrate online solution for business travellers. The free service aims to bridge a gap it sees between online travel agents and travel management companies for a tailored accommodation booking service. LateRooms for Business will fully launch in the autumn but initial functionality includes a VAT solution as well as a My Account feature.
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NB2: Travel distribution image via Shutterstock.