Over twenty major hotel companies sign up to Amadeus' commission management solution

Madrid, 7 March, 2007: Amadeus, a global leader in technology and distribution solutions for the travel and tourism industry, has received strong support for its pioneering hotel commission management solution. Over twenty major hotel chains and representation companies to have signed up to the service in the past months, including Accor, ACC-Ninfos, Atel France Hotels, Exclusive Hotels, Golden Tulip Hotels, Inns & Resorts, Derag Hotel & Living, Top International, Hotusa Hotels, Keytel, Otedis, Reconline AG, Sol Meliá, Supranational, Thistle Hotels, Travelclick (including Barceló Hotels, Grange Hotels and Luxury Resorts) and Trust (including Abba, WorldHotels, Steigenberger Hotels, Graves Hotels and Resorts, Mövenpick Hotels and Small Luxury Hotels).

Amadeus Worldwide Commission Manager (AWCM) is a web-based tool which offers travel agents a single point of information on hotel bookings and the status of commission payments. The solution is currently being piloted in Germany, Russia, Central and West Africa, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela and Ecuador. The full launch is planned in 2007. Travel agents will be able to use AWCM to effectively track and retrieve payments, without looking for this information on a number of websites. This brings more value to travel agents booking hotels on Amadeus.

"The hotel industry is permanently looking forward to innovative payment commission solutions. Guaranteeing an efficient commission payment to our travel agency partners has always been a strong commitment of Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure and Ibis brands" said Denys Sappey, Senior Vice President of International Sales Accor Hotels, "In this perspective we are delighted that Amadeus has stepped up to provide more transparency in the existing solutions and offer our full support to their pioneering initiative."

Richard Wiegmann, COO of TRUST.WIZCOM by Travelport, which among other things provides hotels with connectivity to global distribution systems, says, "TRUST International welcomes Amadeus' commission tracking. We strongly believe that paying commissions transparently and on-time will increase travel agencies' confidence in electronic hotel distribution - and therefore bookings."

"We have made it easier for travel agents to enter their commission payment information directly into our Voyager central reservation system using the Voyager Com module. TRUST International is happy to have enabled our Voyager Com clients to participate in Amadeus Worldwide Commission Manager," Mr Wiegmann adds.

Pierre Matuchet, Head of Hotel Distribution, Amadeus, commented, "We are very proud that AWCM has received such strong and quick support from the industry. We believe that its success is due to recognition amongst travel agents and hoteliers that AWCM makes a real, decisive contribution to the industry, solving business management issues and is fast-becoming a standard."

Notes to the editors

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. For the full year ended on 31 December, 2005, Amadeus reported revenues of EUR2,418.3m.

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