Amadeus Signs Agreements with Fareportal, Simplenight and HotelPlanner
Amadeus on Tuesday announced new distribution agreements with both Fareportal and commerce platform Simplenight as well as a new technology agreement with HotelPlanner.
The agreement with Fareportal, which owns the CheapOair and OneTravel online travel agencies, expands on Amadeus’ current partnership with the company to integrate New Distribution Capability-enabled offers. Fareportal has been integrating NDC content from individual airlines, such as an agreement with American Airlines last year, and the agreement with Amadeus provides access to NDC-enabled content on the Amadeus Travel Platform. Amadeus currently is working with more than 20 airlines to distribute NDC content, more than half of which currently have content available on the platform.
The agreement is “significant given the role online travel agencies play in advancing NDC and accelerating its adoption around the world,” Amadeus EVP of airline distribution, search and online, Sam Abdou said in a statement.
With Simplenight—for which travel is only one of several supplier types in its network—the multiyear agreement will integrate travel content and the end-to-end workflow from the Amadeus Travel Platform. The agreement “will further our goals in delivering a seamless booking experience for all of our customers worldwide,” according to Simplenight founder and CEO Mark Halberstein.
With hotel-only travel agency HotelPlanner, which counts group and corporate travel among its reservations services, Amadeus struck an agreement that will deploy Amadeus Web Services “to deliver advanced functionality to broaden our hospitality offerings, while improving operational efficiency and platform productivity,” HotelPlanner CEO Tim Hentschel said in a statement. Among HotelPlanner’s specializations is its Closed User Group product, which makes discounted, unpublished rates available to members including for business meetings and corporate travel.
Michael B. Baker www.businesstravelnews.com