Very few industries are evolving at the same pace as the travel sector today, and we’re seeing technology dramatically reshape the distribution space. Consumers today are accustomed to an increasingly personalized experience and no matter what the future of travel distribution looks like, we must make sure we keep the traveler at the center of the conversation.
At Amadeus, we see the future of travel distribution around the whole travel itinerary. While airlines are putting the passenger at the center of everything they do, hotels are doing the same, and so on for every component of the traveler’s journey. The key is to ensure travelers have a good experience throughout.
It’s against this backdrop thatAmadeus has evolved its distribution platform to bring together airline, hotel, alternative lodging, rail, and ground transport content all in one place. This includesfares through an NDC connectivity,which we are actively working on with airlines and travel sellers around the world through ourNDC [X] program. By doing this, the hundreds of thousands of travel sellers we support – such as, retail travel agencies, online travel companies, business travel agencies including travel management companies, and corporations – have all the travel content they need in the one place.
So, what really is theAmadeus Travel Platform ? Here are five things you need to know:
1. Integrating all content in the one platform: The Travel Platform enables airlines, hotels, car rental companies – in fact any travel supplier – to provide their content to the world’s largest global network of travel sellers and corporations, so that travelers can shop, and book travel the way they want. We offer an extensive range of content:
- 440+ airlines, including low cost carriers
- 770,000 hotel properties
- 90 rail operators
- 43 car rental companies & transfer providers
- 34 insurance provider groups
- 20 cruise and ferry lines
Additionally, only with Amadeus can travel agencies benefit from working on the same platform that airlines use, giving them unrivalled access to real-time fares and the content they need to serve their customers.
2. Open to different technology sources: Content comes from different sources and in different formats. Amadeus Travel Platform will aggregate content regardless of source and normalize the content so that it’s usable for travel agencies. Even with all the talk and the excitement about NDC, and our investment and effort with airlines to make NDC content available in Amadeus this year, the primary source of content for our travel sellers over the next few years will continue to be through EDIFACT. We expect NDC to gradually become the biggest source of content but this will take time and we imagine NDC, EDIFACT and other APIs sitting alongside each other for many years to come.
3. Access to the platform through different points of sale: Travel agencies and corporations can access the wide range of travel content on the platform through an array of channels and interfaces. You can also start a booking on one channel and continue on another, picking up exactly where you left off.
These include:
- Travel agency solutions such as our cloud basedAmadeus Selling Platform Connect
- Online booking tools likeAmadeus cytric Travel & Expense
- Over 1,000 different services andAPIs for front-ends andmobile
- Chat bots like Amadeus’ Amanda
These thoughtfully designed solutions greatly improve the booking and servicing experience for our travel seller customers as they show all the travel content they need in one screen. This means travel sellers can not only access an extensive range of content but also easily compare flights, prices and bundles from multiple sources – including NDC - easier and faster.
4. Intelligent algorithms: In the Amadeus Travel Platform, we use artificial intelligence and machine learning to gain insight into travelers’ experiences and behavior and to expand the search capabilities of our customers. We make big data available to travel sellers, so they can deliver personalized journeys, anticipate trends and monitor performance. We recognize our responsibility to hold and process this data and therefore we continue to invest in and prioritize security. On average we invest 16% of our revenues in R&D—over five billion euros since 2004.
5. Robust, cloud-based: We’ve freed ourselves from legacy mainframe systems and have adapted and evolved our existing IT framework to today’s cloud environment. The Amadeus Travel Platform is built on open systems, harnesses intelligent use of data and integrates new interfaces and architectures.
Today, we process 100K+ end-user transactions per second at peak. End-user transactions can include anything from a low fare search to a credit card authorization request. With NDC, we expect to see an increase of the number of search transactions of at least 100 times – which can only happen if you no longer work with legacy technology.
With the Amadeus Travel Platform as the technological backbone to ourvision to create a Live Travel Space, and with close collaboration of all travel players in the industry, we will be able to create a better experience for travelers at every point of their trip.
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This is the second blog post of our Amadeus Travel Platform series where we talk in detail about all the changes we’re making to bring the richest content to our community of travel agents, corporations and travelers. If you missed thefirst blog, you can read it here .
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