Upfront

Amadeus introduces new distribution architecture

With the migration of 75,000 hotel properties, Amadeus, a global leader in technology and distribution solutions for the travel and tourism industry has launched a next-generation distribution technology platform. The open systems technology will accordingly allow Amadeus to introduce new search capability, as well as more advanced search capability in the future.

Amadeus' new distribution architecture also improves the search flexibility for travel agents, with hotels being categorised according to their various attributes, thereby allowing for greater precision for matching a hotel with individual customer requirements. The flexibility of the new architecture also allows Amadeus much greater freedom to introduce advance search features, for example making it possible to search for 'hotels in France which were highly rated by corporates'.

In addition, hotels will be able to seamlessly distribute available room/rates, price and descriptions in whatever language the travel agent requests. This information can then be displayed on the available-rooms screen so travel agencies can efficiently offer detailed descriptions of what a guest can expect from an available hotel.

The company is also piloting Amadeus Worldwide Commission Manager - a solution which tracks all the commissions that are due from participating hotels to travel agents.

Says Antoine Medawar, managing director, Hospitality Business Unit, Amadeus, "This a major milestone in the roll-out of Amadeus' next generation hotel platform which we will launch in 2008 and is designed from the ground up to help hotels reduce costs and increase revenue by centralising their technology infrastructure and preparing their businesses for the next wave in the online evolution of the travel industry."