SynXis Corporation
, a provider
of reservation management and distribution systems for the hospitality
industry and AgentWare
, a leader in Internet based travel technology,
announced today a partnership that will, for the first time, bring web-only
hotel rates and availability directly to thousands of travel agents. 

John Russell
, CEO of Hospitality Artists and immediate past Chairman of
AH&LA
was instrumental in igniting the alliance between AgentWare and
SynXis.  “This is revolutionary.  It`s time that travel agents had direct
web access to hotel and air inventory while capturing all information in a
single PNR. AgentWare has the technology to bring this inventory directly to
the travel agent`s screen, and SynXis has the integrated channel management
tools that allow hotels to fine tune their offers for this market.”

Hotels benefit greatly from this partnership because they will now be able
to offer web-only rates and promotions directly to travel agents.  These
promotions and rates were not previously possible due to the high costs
associated with traditional distribution. 

Travel agents will benefit in several ways.  First, agents will now have a
consolidated view of web only airfares, along with hotel information from
the over 2500 hotel properties world-wide using the SynXis technology.
Hotel bookings via the SynXis-fortified AgentWare Travel Console are
commissionable, providing additional revenue streams to the travel agent.
Finally, the ability to access hotel inventory that doesn`t reside in
traditional channels gives agents using the combined system a tremendous
competitive advantage over those agents that lack this technology.

“AgentWare and SynXis together offer significant value to travel agencies
and hotel brands alike,” states Les Ottolenghi
, CEO and Co-Founder of
AgentWare.  “A critical mass of travel inventory and travel retailers has
come together in this pairing.  SynXis is the preferred method for hotel
properties to become part of AgentWare`s widespread agency distribution
because they are the best technology fit and the most cost-effective.
Travel agents clearly benefit from the addition of significant
commissionable hotel room inventory.”

Both Synxis and AgentWare solutions use Java, XML and Web Services to
deliver a lower cost distribution method between hoteliers and travel
retailers.  AgentWare`s Travel Console and SynXis Agent are provided on an
ASP basis, significantly lowering the cost of ownership for clients. 

“We were so impressed by what AgentWare was already doing with web-only
airfares, that it seemed a natural fit to offer the same service for
hotels,”  said Elmer Coppoolse, Chief Operating Officer for SynXis.
“Because our systems were developed using the same technology we are able to
quickly work together on an integrated direct connect. Not only does this
new platform affirm the important role travel agents play, but it also
greatly reduces hoteliers distribution costs.”

Related stories on ITN:

(13/06/2002) AQUA to Integrate Agentware`s Web-Based Fares

(07/05/2002) WTSG Selects Agentware Web Fare Search Tool

(12/04/2002)  
AgentWare Introduces new Features

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