Amadeus Unveils New Productivity Tracker
by Barbara Peterson /
When a late-season blizzard roiled air travel in parts of the northeast recently, forcing cancellation of thousands of flights, it was yet another reminder to stranded passengers of the value of using a travel agent, sparing them hours of sitting on hold with an impersonal reservations line.
But for agents, the time spent sorting out a service disruption can be a drain on productivity if not managed property. Getting a better handle on that outcome is one aim of Amadeus’ new Productivity Tracker, a web-based tool that’s part of the Amadeus Agency Insight tool kit.
Amadeus says the product is aimed at letting agents see where their time goes, so they can act fast to spot and correct inefficiencies. It’s also designed to give agencies of any size a technological advantage in competing against OTAs and other disruptive forces in the market.
“Across the travel industry, innovation and disruption is happening quicker than we have seen for many years, and travel agencies must adapt accordingly,” said Pascal Clement, head of travel intelligence for Amadeus. “By providing them with actionable insights on their performance, they can sharpen their business processes and strengthen their position in a competitive market.”
In a foul-weather scenario, for example, agents could use the “traveler location” feature, which lets them quickly prepare detailed reports showing the exact location of all traveling staff from a particular company, along with flight, accommodation and contact details for each. A clickable map-based display lets agents locate individual travelers in specific hotels and then contact them directly.
In general, Productivity Tracker can monitor all aspects of an agents’ performance in real time, giving them access to a suite of 80 reports and dashboards on an ongoing basis, so they don’t have to wait for monthly reports to get this data. These include:
- A “bookings at risk” report, which provides agents with an instant view of any bookings made without issued tickets in the last seven days, ensuring these sales don’t get lost due to procrastination.
- A “consultant activity” report, which analyzes the bookings made and value of tickets issued by each agent, giving a clear view of each agents’ activity—which can help in negotiating a better service fee from clients.
- “Target tracking visualization” that tracks performance of an agent’s or department’s sales and segment performance versus supplier target.
- A “non-compliance” review that shows out-of-policy bookings and reservations, including the justification for the sale.
- A “corporate summary and corporate ratio” that provides a breakdown by corporate account of activity, including number of bookings created, cancelled and pending; net bookings; total travel spend; and average ticket