Helping travel players build "byte" castles in the digital era

Who hasn't enjoyed building sand castles on the beach as a child? Sand is flexible, moldable, and any form is possible – much like the raw material we all work with – data.

Data is much like sand in that, at times, it’s difficult to manage. But when managed effectively – it can be extremely illuminating and that is why we incorporated the amazing art of Didi Sand into the opening ceremonies of the fifth edition of the Amadeus Technology Forum, held this month in Barcelona and Madrid. Didi’s creations are spectacular metaphors of the possibilities effectively managed data can bring to us.

Building off this theme, we took advantage of the Amadeus Technology Forum to present our new solutions such as Amadeus Click & Sell and to showcase improvements in our current portfolio.

The Amadeus Technology Forum was also a good place to stop and think about those tourism and travel trends that are transforming the industry.

And we were lucky enough to have some outstanding speakers, introduced by Amadeus Spain General Manager Paul de Villiers, who commented on the transformation that the travel industry is experiencing right now.

Ángel David López Managing Director of Everis Business Consulting, assured us that we are witnessing the rebirth of retail, that needs to be transformed so that customers can enjoy the shopping experience in the real world: "the buying process should integrate innovative online and offline components to promote not only purchases, but also to boost sales and cross-selling”. "Remember that travel is an aspirational product”, he said, “and that it is a huge opportunity to offer an enjoyable experience”. Eric Lehoucq, expert in planning and multi-channel strategy, explained the advantages of differentiation and positioning when defining an online strategy. “Even the smaller agencies can be well positioned on the Internet if they are able to provide quality and differentiated content". Ángel Gallego, VP WEMEA Amadeus IT Group, gave a very interesting talk about trends in air travel distribution. “We are witnessing a revolution in the travel industry. Many haven’t realized it yet, but the power is now in the travellers´ hands. The travel industry is expanding, the same as the universe”.

The event closed with a presentation by Genís Roca, Managing Director of RocaSalvatella, who is not only a specialist in Internet and digital environments, but also an archaeologist! That is probably why his speech helped us to better understand the real dimensions and scope of Internet as a revolution in so many ways: “Firstly, the Internet was a network of engineers, afterwards, a network for companies and firms. Nowadays, we are all living the Internet as a network that connects people, but the Internet for things is yet to come. Imagine when your car will drive you to the closest parking space thanks to your GPS”. And he advised: “The crucial thing is the data. Some people think you need to sell to get the data, but actually it is the information that helps you to sell”

Do you see? We are living in a historical moment – aren't we lucky to experience it?

With all this data Amadeus can help travel players shape their own "byte" castles which in turn will help them succeed and thrive in today’s competitive marketplace.