Regular updates to existing product and innovative new tech is the reason Amadeus’ solution was named Best Travel Agent Technology at this year’s NTIA Awards.
Speaking to KarryOn, MD Amadeus IT Pacific, Tony Carter, said by listening to customers the technology has successfully developed a winning-solution that ‘goes beyond any other solution in the market’.
“Our customers consistently tell us they want more time and money, they want to bolster their margins and strip out time-consuming tasks.”
Tony Carter, Amadeus IT Pacific MD
Nick Ward Head of SME Sales, Fergus Part, Head of Product, Head of Sales and Marketing David Katz and Diana Goghova, Manager – Front Office Applications.
“Working with our Development Team, our airline and travel agency customers, we created Amadeus Ticket Changer.
“It goes beyond any other solution in the market – it is completely touchless, fully guaranteed, handles EMDs and works across all channels. As a result, is it 4 times faster than manual processes and eliminates ADMs for travel agencies.”
What does winning this award mean for Amadeus?
This solution delivers more time for an agency to focus on improved customer care and delivering other valuable products and services. It also delivers the agency more money to invest in other resources such as marketing for example. This ultimately delivers greater sustainability for the travel industry.
We are thrilled with this industry recognition. It shows that you can transform the experience for both travel agencies and travellers if you tackle it in the right way.
What are some key trends in the industry right now?
We have firmly entered the Age of Traveller Power– where more people are travelling than ever before, travelling further with more specific reasons and with new channels to express their aspirations.
With a smart device in every hand, the traveller is well-informed and demands better service throughout the entire travel lifecycle.
These days, travellers are expecting to get, as much as possible, a perfect understanding of what their experience will be like prior to travelling.
We’re also seeing new travel segments become more pronounced.
Amadeus recently published a research paper, Future Traveller Tribes 2030, that defines six ‘traveller tribes’ or segments that will emerge by the end of the next decade.
With traveller’s needs constantly evolving and increasing pressure on travel providers to deliver a personalised experience, technology will remain crucial.
What’s coming up for Amadeus innovation wise?
We recently launched the industry’s first fully online and mobile travel agency platform. – Amadeus Selling Platform Connect.
Over 1000 users are already enjoying richer content, greater flexibility and improved productivity thanks to Selling Platform Connect.
We are further evolving our mobile solutions, particularly for the business traveller, which will converge the app experience across booking, itinerary and expense management and duty of care.
Our online shopping tools are also being enhanced to deliver significantly faster search and booking capabilities.
Our Travel Intelligence business unit are working to develop tools for our customers which can provide insights based on travel ‘big data’.
This will allow travel players to understand their customers better, make more informed decisions, optimise their marketing campaigns or even negotiate better with suppliers. Leveraging the huge amount of travel data out there will be a big step forward for our industry.
What is the industry’s biggest opportunity for tech right now?
Travel providers need to see the traveller as more than a set of demographics, and truly understand their wants, values and behaviours.
Tools that provide these insights will help players succeed and thrive in the future. Travel agents, airlines, hotels and even airports now need to embrace and adopt technology faster to do this.