US trials could pip Travelport to the post
Travel technology provider Amadeus has announced the US debut of its next generation, multi-source distribution suite.
Called Amadeus One, the new desktop gives agents access to multiple distribution sources outside of Amadeus such as other global distribution services (GDSs).
The concept is similar to Travelport GDS's Future Desktop project, scheduled for release early next year, which also aims to provide agents with a multi-source platform.
Amadeus said it is still in negotiations with several US travel agencies and also expects to pilot the product early next year.
The rival products are also similar in that they both work with traditional ‘cryptic' text-based GDS commands despite both focusing on new graphical interfaces.
Amadeus said travel agents will still be able to use the older text commands through a Cryptic Magic translation feature.
Other features include more robust customer profiling and the mid- and back-office integration of customer travel policies.
Amadeus One is so far only being rolled-out in the US, and focuses specifically on business travel agencies and travel management companies (TMCs).
Vic Pynn, executive vp Amadeus Americas, said focus would move beyond the business travel marketplace into the wider travel industry.
Full US roll-out is scheduled for the second half of 2010 following successful trials.
So far Amadeus has not indicated plans for a European roll-out.
A spokesperson for Amadeus said: "The product was designed for the North American market and there are no immediate plans to roll it out beyond there at the moment."
Amadeus said it would look to "translate" Amadeus One's functions to other customers in wider markets once the US proved a success.
www.amadeus.com [1]