Datalex a leading architect and provider of business solutions for the global airline and travel industry, has announced the formation of a strategic technology relationship that is expected to help drive the development and help set the standards for pioneering technology solutions for the tour and travel industry.
The terms of the agreement with FAR&WIDE Travel Corporation were disclosed today in Scottsdale, Arizona, at the annual conference of the United States Tour Operators Association. Central to the long-term relationship is the Miami-based leisure travel company`s selection of Datalex as its primary technology provider. Datalex products will support FAR&WIDE`s travel industry service goals through a powerful Web-enabled tour system for travel products and content.
Datalex CEO Neil Wilson said, “Datalex is excited at the announcement of being chosen as FAR&WIDE`s primary technology provider. Datalex and FAR&WIDE share a vision to enhance current travel and tour technology, developing the next-generation tour management system and setting standards for the tour industry.”
Cooperation is key to the strategic technology relationship for development and marketing of products and services that will meet FAR&WIDE`s needs for a global travel management system.
“We are greatly pleased to be able to announce this technology initiative—and more pleased that the plan is so comprehensive, so custom-designed, so applicable to all our companies worldwide, so attuned to the needs of our customers, and so very likely to raise the bar for all other technology initiatives undertaken in our segment of the industry,” said Phil Bakes, co-founder, chairman and CEO of FAR&WIDE.
Datalex will provide several components that will play an integral role in the development of FUSION, the name given by FAR&WIDE to its overall technology platform. A fundamental component is BookIt! Tour, Datalex`s premier global travel management system for tour operators and suppliers. BookIt! Tour will provide the flexibility required by FAR&WIDE to run multiple tour companies and tour brands from a single system configuration and database. It also will provide new and improved tools for planning and managing free itinerary travel (FIT) arrangements; escorted tour packages; group programs; cruises; air, car and hotel supplements; and inventory management.
Other Datalex technology products integrated into the solution includes BookIt! Consumer, a full-featured Java-based Internet booking engine that will enable member consumers to make travel air, tour, car and hotel reservations; BookIt! Pro, a Web-based call-center booking system that will link travel professionals to Central Reservations Systems (CRS) and Global Distribution Systems (GDS); and the ARIVA Customer Management System, which will provide tour operators with powerful analysis of travel statistics and customer intelligence for use in building superior customer service and target-marketing initiatives.
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