Amadeus posts double digit growth

Amadeus, a global leader in technology and distribution solutions for the travel and tourism industry, has announced over the weekend that it has seen double digit growth in bookings in the Philippines over the past three months, signaling the recovery of travel volumes. Amadeus has also recorded strong results, gaining 5.5 percentage points of market share in October.
Albert Villadolid, general manager of Amadeus Philippines, said, “Amadeus Philippines has cemented its market leadership in the international flight segments, and at the same time  recently secured new domestic airline content, SEAIR and ZEST AIR,  in addition to Cebu Pacific.  As a leading provider of IT solutions in addition to the GDS, Amadeus has entered the Hotel IT space with the launch of the Amadeus Property Management System in the Philippines. Looking forward to 2010, we intend to leverage the new content, solutions, and new business areas so that our partners can pursue the opportunities that follow an economic upswing.”
David Brett, president of Amadeus Asia Pacific, said, “Despite a difficult year for the travel and tourism industry in APAC, Amadeus has managed to emerge in a very strong position. The region’s performance is testament to the hard work of our 1,400 employees and our focus on delivering cutting-edge technology that has a real impact on business results for our customers.  Amadeus invests heavily in R&D and has a strong understanding of each of the local markets. We have proven our ability to provide tremendous value to customers, especially in the midst of such a challenging business climate.”
In the realm of technology, Amadeus has blazed the IT trail with the launch of the Amadeus Travel Technology Innovation Centre (ATTIC) at the 16th Travel Tour Expo 2009. One of the solutions featured was Amadeus SMS, which enables travel agents to send travel information direct to the traveller’s mobile phone from anywhere in the world. The ATTIC at the 17th Travel Tour Expo 2010 will feature solutions such as AAIE, or the Amadeus Agency Internet Engine, which allows travellers to make real-time online bookings from a travel agency’s website, and Amadeus Property Management System (PMS) for hotels, which functions as a Customer Management System linking to the hotel’s inventory, tracking the point-of-sale of each hotel guest.
The Amadeus PMS was recently adopted by Enderun Colleges, the Philippine affiliate of Les Roches International School of Hotel Management in Switzerland and the Alain Ducasse Formation in France, as the primary operating system to train its students in the rigorous task of hotel inventory management.
Also in the field of education, Amadeus Philippines has partnered with San Sebastian College – Recoletos, and Far Eastern University, to provide Amadeus e-Learning as part of the Tourism and Travel Management programs of these educational institutions. Certification is globally recognized, and enables graduates to perform travel office functions on day-one of their employment. Education of the country’s future-users of Amadeus’ technology has been a primary growth driver since the establishment of Amadeus in 1997.
Travel agency partnership renewals in 2009 have included Triple 8 International Travel & Tours, a wholesale travel agency; alongside North Star International Travel, Windsor Travel & Tours, and Warner Barnes Travel – agencies that cater to the ticketing requirements of corporations, ships crew and the Overseas Filipino Worker markets.
The year 2009 has been a year of industry reflection, with travel providers looking to industry leaders to provide insight on trends and a vision for the future. Amadeus offered crucial insight into corporate travel trends with the report, “The Austere Traveller – The Effects of Corporate Cutbacks on Hotels”. In addition, the Amadeus Power Breakfast, was a forum that brought together the Seafarer specialist-travel agencies, to better understand this niche market which supplies 25% of the world’s ship’s crew. Most recently, the publishing of the “Amateur-Expert Traveller”, has identified the next generation traveller, who has evolved from internet information availability, and social networking practices.
Finally, in an effort to pay-it-forward, Amadeus has developed the IT infrastructure for MASSIVEGOOD, a project created by the Millennium Foundation for Innovative Finance for Health. The initiative will allow travellers to give a micro-contribution whenever they purchase travel services. All the proceeds of this project will go to the raising of funds, through a WHO-hosted organization, UNITAID, for the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis – three of the most life-threatening diseases in developing countries. MASSIVEGOOD has the potential to raise USD$1 billion in additional funding during its first four years of operation, and is slated to roll-out in the Philippines in mid-2010. Another socially-responsible initiative involves the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) that has signed an agreement with Amadeus, to provide data from its ICAO Carbon Calculator to enable Amadeus’ worldwide customer base to estimate the carbon footprint of their air travel.