New version of Amadeus's self-booking tool for corporations launches with enhanced hotel booking capabilities

• Latest version of Amadeus’s e-Travel Management uses new hotel mapping technology based on Microsoft BING™ maps

• Other new benefits include instant ‘BookNow!’ facility, a clearer page layout and streamlined booking flow

Madrid, Spain, 6 September 2010: Amadeus, a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, today announces the release of version 13.2 of its flagship e-Travel Management solution, the self-booking tool for corporations.

The new version, which is available globally, includes a range of enhanced features including a completely revamped hotel shopping module which uses a wholly new Graphical User Interface (GUI).

The interface, which embraces the look and feel of Web 2.0 and takes advantage of a new and central mapping system based on Microsoft BING™ maps, allows the user to easily and intuitively visualise, search and navigate through a range of hotel selections; comparing locations, amenities, policy compliance, availability and prices. The new interface also provides a ‘BookNow!’ feature that instantly adds the hotel to the travellers’ itinerary. It further benefits from using the same ’Hotel Shopper’ technology as Amadeus Hotels Plus, the successful hotel-selling tool for travel agencies.

The updated version of the Amadeus e-Travel Management solution also unveils a new multi-availability feature, providing the opportunity to preview different rooms available in a given hotel. The availability is displayed directly, meaning the user can avoid navigating to the single availability screen first, streamlining the entire process.

Furthermore, additional filters have been installed to the interface in order to help users narrow down their choice more quickly allowing them to get the best deal possible. The whole booking process has also been sped up from start to finish, with more data fields pre-filled automatically.

Jean-Noel Lau Keng Lun, Head of Product Management for Corporations at Amadeus comments: “This latest version of Amadeus e-Travel Management will revolutionise the way business travellers search for and book hotels and will ultimately save them both time and money in the process. We believe that version 13.2 will empower corporations to take greater control of their travel policies whilst at the same time ensuring that the utmost care is given to travellers and travel bookers by making it inherently easier for them to search for and book their business hotel accommodation.”

Julia Heesterman, EMEA Travel Manager, Microsoft comments: "As Microsoft is a user of Amadeus e-Travel Management across multiple European markets, we are delighted to see the implementation of BING maps as a standard feature globally. Incorporating technology advancements such as BING maps which are used frequently by the end-user, provides familiarity when using the corporate booking tool – something that can only help encourage future usage throughout the business travel community".

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Notes to the editors

About Amadeus

Amadeus is a leading transaction processor and provider of advanced technology solutions for the global travel and tourism industry.

Customer groups include travel providers (e.g airlines, hotels, rail, car rental, ferries, etc.), travel sellers (travel agencies and websites), and travel buyers (corporations and individual travellers).

The group operates a transaction-based business model and processed more than 670 million billable travel transactions in 2009.

Amadeus has central sites in Madrid (corporate headquarters and marketing), Nice (development) and Erding (Operations – data processing centre) and regional offices in Miami, Buenos Aires, Bangkok and Dubai. At a market level, Amadeus maintains customer operations through 72 local Amadeus Commercial Organisations covering 195 countries.

Amadeus is listed on the Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia stock exchanges and trades under the symbol “AMS.MC”. For the year ended 31 December 2009, the company reported revenues of EUR 2,461 million and EBITDA of EUR 894 million. The Amadeus group employs over 9,300 employees worldwide, with 123 nationalities represented at the central offices.

To find out more about Amadeus please visit www.amadeus.com.

To visit the Amadeus Investor Relations centre please visit www.investors.amadeus.com.

About Amadeus e-Travel Management

Used currently by over 4,000 corporations, Amadeus e-Travel Management processes over 4.5 million passenger number records (PNRs) every year.

Contact details

Amadeus
Corporate Communication / Corporate Marketing
tel: +34 91 582 0160
fax : +34 91 582 0188
e-mail : mediarelations@amadeus.com