Hutchison Priceline signs technology and distribution partnership with Amadeus

Madrid, Spain, 26 October: Amadeus, a global leader in technology and distribution solutions for the travel and tourism industry, today announced its first pan-regional agreement with an Asian online travel agency: Hutchison Priceline. Amadeus will provide Hutchison Priceline with access to its comprehensive air, hotel and Hotel Multimedia content. Amadeus will support Hutchison Priceline in its current Asian markets: Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, and its expansion plans.

Hutchison Priceline plans to use the Amadeus Master Pricer suite to access flight content. Amadeus Master Pricer Standard will allow Hutchison Priceline’s customers to view up to 200 low-cost, availability-checked fares for a given date in a single transaction. Amadeus Master Pricer Calendar will allow Hutchison Priceline’s customers to easily view a range of low-priced, availability-checked domestic and international flight and price options from multiple airlines in a calendar format. Hutchison Priceline will also have access to Amadeus’ international hotel content with over 68,000 locations as well as Hotel Multimedia.

The Master Pricer low-fare search and Calendar tools, and Amadeus Availability Server, which uses advanced algorithms and intelligent technology to optimise availability data, are currently the world’s leading international low-fare search technology applications, used by many international online travel agencies around the world. By enhancing the shopping experience these solutions will help Hutchison Priceline convert shoppers into buyers, thus significantly improving the conversion rate and increasing sales.

Hutchison Priceline is operated by Hutchison-Priceline (Travel) Ltd, which is owned by US-based Priceline.com Inc, and the Hong Kong-based multinational conglomerate, Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. "We were very pleased by the technology offered by Amadeus," says Tony Ma, Chief Executive Officer, Hutchison-Priceline, "and we are confident that this technology will allow us to offer our customers a better shopping experience and faster access to the best fares and rates, as we continue to build and expand our business across the Asian region."

PhocusWright expects the Asian online travel market place to grow by 30% a year to USD25.6 billion by 2007. "Amadeus is committed to providing the best technology for online travel agents and consumers and our strategy in the online travel agency sector is to develop our success in the European market, where we have over 60% of the market, to the fast-growing Asian markets,” says Gillian Gibson, Vice President, Multinational Customer Group, Amadeus, “Clearly this partnership with one of the best names in online travel takes that commitment forward significantly."

Notes to the editors

About Hutchison-Priceline
Hutchison-Priceline (Travel) Limited is a joint venture between Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL) and priceline.com Inc with high level of commitments from both companies. HWL brings to the alliance its unparalleled brand, huge customer base, vast management experience, and in-depth knowledge of the Asia-Pacific region. Priceline.com boasts a strong Internet brand, brings unique technology to the mix, and shares outstanding e-commerce experiences. To serve different needs of customers, Priceline® provides unique online booking models, "Name Your Own Price TM" and "Make Your Own Choice". "Name Your Own Price TM" allows customers to save money by booking air tickets and hotel rooms with their desired price. "Make Your Own Choice” lets customers select preferred airlines and hotels. At Priceline, customers can also enjoy special offers, such as car rental, provided by partners.
Hutchison-Priceline (Travel) Ltd works with large and quality suppliers in the travel industry. These include 400 international airlines and more than 68,000 hotel properties around the world.

About Amadeus
Amadeus is the chosen technology partner for providers, sellers, and buyers of travel. The company provides distribution, IT and point-of-sale solutions to help its customers adapt, grow and succeed in the fast changing travel industry. Customer groups include travel providers (airlines, hotels, car rental companies, railway companies, ferry lines, cruise lines, insurance companies and tour operators), travel sellers (travel agencies) and travel buyers (corporations and travellers). Solutions are grouped in four solution categories – Distribution & Content, Sales & e-Commerce, Business Management and Services & Consultancy.

Amadeus has central sites in Madrid (corporate headquarters & marketing), Nice (development) and Erding (Operations – data processing centre) and regional offices in Miami, Buenos Aires and Bangkok. At market level, Amadeus maintains customer operations in 76 countries covering more than 215 markets. The company is owned by WAM Acquisition, whose shareholders are BC Partners, Cinven, Air France, Iberia and Lufthansa. Amadeus employs nearly 6,700 employees worldwide, representing 95 nationalities. Amadeus’ revenue for the six months year ended 30 June was EUR1,381.6m.

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