Exploring big data strategies at the Travel Distribution Summit Europe

During the Travel Distribution Summit Europe in London, I could not fail to notice a remarkable interest in big data and analytics across all corners of the travel industry, from hoteliers to OLTAs and technology providers.

A true data Big-Bang is looming. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), more data was generated this year, than in the previous 5,000. And this figure is expected to multiply exponentially. This is where big data can help: by leveraging vast quantities of data, we can walk hand-in-hand with customers to guide them through this unstructured landscape, bringing together all the disseminated data and making it meaningful, so that they can make the most suitable choices.

The traditional Business Intelligence approach involved storing specific data to respond to specific questions, such as: “What type of product sells or does not sell in a particular region?” But the new capabilities made possible by big data are providing new and additional information on a much wider range of issues, some of which businesses may not have explored before. For instance, big data analytics can show an airline that a particular air route is not very profitable but that there is a lot of profit to be made from hotel, car rental, or ancillary services at the route’s destination.

We have created the Travel Intelligence business unit to help our customers leverage advances in technology and analytics to transform these huge amounts of raw data into useful actionable information. Our goal is to work with our customers to enhance the traveller experience while improving the profitability of their business.

In this new framework, customers, suppliers and partners will be able to conduct business analytics easier and faster than ever. Amadeus is supporting this transformation by providing a complete business intelligence platform that can be up and running with minimal time and effort. Our solution is based on the latest cloud computing and analytical technologies.

Customers will be able to share information with anyone in a browser or on a tablet and any system…anywhere. The solution is open and scalable – operating in a secure, hosted environment.