Amadeus, a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, is showing a year’s worth of innovation over the next two days at the Business Travel & Meetings Show in Earls Court, London. Despite the downturn Amadeus has continued to invest heavily in new technologies that help travel businesses respond to changing travel needs and make cost and efficiency savings at a difficult economic time.

The 2010 event will see Amadeus focus on corporations and the business travel challenges they face. Last week, for example, Amadeus announced an alliance with Concur to integrate Concur expense management with Amadeus e-Travel Management. The partnership will aid improved travel and expense reporting for clients and is set to make a significant impact on corporate travel.

This is the latest development in an e-Travel Management enhancement programme that ran across 2009 which included:

  * The latest version of Single View, which boasts enhancements to the air booking display, improving user experience; while rail bookings can now be made through the Evolvi integration
  * Ticket Time Limit functionality, which allows email reminders to be sent directly from Amadeus e-Travel Management to the customer when an on-hold booking is due to expire, improving efficiency and preventing the cancellation of bookings without warning
  * MasterPricer Expert was integrated into Amadeus e-Travel Management allowing administrators to choose between two pricing options for cost saving optimisation

  * Amadeus Mobile Partner, released in June 2009 enabling travellers to download their trip list and approve trips all through their mobile phone
  * SMS Traveller, allowing companies to quickly and easily send a single, timely message to many travellers at once about, for example, a security incident

Amadeus also made a significant investment in improving business processes in smaller UK agencies across 2009. The launch of Ticket Changer, Fare World and e-Cruise brought increased process automation and addressed the inefficiency challenges many agents face.

According to a customer study conducted by Amadeus in November 2009, leisure and business travel agents currently spend up to 80% of their time processing bookings. Ranging from the initial information search, booking, and itinerary amends, right through to the final ticket issue and the general administration, Amadeus recognised the impact on business productivity and made the following technology available:

  * Ticket Changer – to save agents time when modifying existing bookings; shortening the process from the standard fourteen to four steps, it has halved the time taken and enabled agents to increase customer focus
  * Fare World – an innovative ticket platform that gives travel agents the ability to find consolidator, low cost and published air fares through one search, allowing them unrivalled access to information, delivering the most cost effective option, helping to secure sales
  * e-Cruise – to help travel businesses capitalise on the growing demand for cruise holidays. The online platform allows cruisers to search and complete bookings online with little assistance from an agent

For further information and to see these product innovations live visit stand 150, Earls Court 2 (www.businesstravelshow.com) or visit Amadeus UK online at: http://www.amadeus.com/uk/uk.html .

Amadeus UK Managing Director Tim Russell is also set to take part in panel sessions at Travel Technology Europe 2010, which runs concurrently to the Business Travel & Meetings Show at the same venue on topics including the economy and consumer trends for 2010 and beyond.