Amadeus Plans to Keep Agents in Mobile Loop

Amadeus is testing technology that will allow travel agents to service a customer booking regardless of where the booking was made.

For example, a customer might make a booking via her mobile device, but her agent can perform any post-booking services and consultation.

Keeping the customer
“The agent will not be carved out through technological weaknesses,” said Eberhard Haag, executive vice president of global operations for Amadeus IT Group. “The mobile channel will be available to the agent’s customer, but the agent will keep the customer.”

He said the new technology is “beyond pure prototype and is in test mode with some customers.”

Report address services issues
The new technology is part of an evolving vision of how best to serve travelers. That vision is discussed in a new report from Amadeus titled, “From Chaos to Collaboration: How Transformative Technologies Will Herald a New Era in Travel.”

The report was commissioned by Amadeus and produced by the Futures Co., a consultancy formed in 2008 through the merger of The Henley Centre, HeadlightVision and Yankelovich.

The report, based in part on surveys of travelers in both developed and emerging countries, was designed to start a discussion that would encourage travel providers to collaborate more to better serve the customer.

‘Door-to-door’ experience
Andrew Curry, co-author of the report, said the single thing craved by 89% of the travelers surveyed was a “door-to-door” experience. They don’t want to waste time trying to figure out where to check in at the airport or where to find transportation to the hotel.

Curry said travel sellers could collect that information and offer it at the time of the sale, “getting you everything you need at the same time, and sending the app to your phone.”

New technology will enable travelers to “rehearse” the journey as well, via links to online videos that walk them through the airport experience, for example.

An integrated solution
Rail transportation is on the rise in many parts of the world, due in part to environmental concerns. Flights that feed airline hubs will likely be reduced in favor of rail connections, Haag said.

“Travel agents must have an integrated solution” that can handle the transaction “from the train to the plane,” he said.

Amadeus has diversified into hotel and rail information technology, he noted, and “I think we are prepared to build this communication standard, to build interfaces between rail and air.”