Category Archives: Technology

Swiss Tourism launched a new e-learning platform for the travel trade partners to help them with updated information on the Swiss public transport system and support them to sell the system better. This Swiss Travel System Excellence Program, an e-learning programme imparts up-to-date knowledge and thereby enables agents to support their clients in a confident and competent manner. Heidi and Peter take trade specialists on a virtual learning journey through Swiss public transport. In the process, agents can broaden their knowledge in an entertaining way and ac- quire essential public transport know-how to support their clients professionally and competently. Everything is quick and easy: the fascinating world of train, bus and boat is always at your fingertips. As multipliers central to the Swiss Travel System AG (STS AG), the worldwide network of trade specialists plays an important role. Trade experts are in direct contact with clients and sell the Swiss Travel System around the globe. The new Swiss Travel System Excellence Program imparts up-to-date knowledge and thereby enables agents to support their clients in a confident and competent manner. Maurus Lauber, CEO of STS AG, affirms, “We are convinced that this attractive platform will help trade specialists to sell even more travels by train bus and boat in Switzerland.” The Swiss Travel System Excellence Program is the only e-learning program worldwide to cover the entire public transport system of a country. In the individual courses, participants learn everything about the characteristics of the Swiss Travel System – from tickets and pass to premium panoramic trains to luggage transport. Thanks to the modular structure, learners choose for themselves which content they would like to explore in more detail. And it can …

Verteil and dnata Travel Group have entered into an agreement for powering the dnata Travel Group’s NDC adoption via Verteil Direct Connect (VDC) platform. The dnata Travel Group of companies will now be able to access airline NDC content across multiple business lines that serve the travel requirements of a diverse market. By virtue of integrating VDC APIs into its current technology stack, a full range of air content will be available in one place for the dnata Travel Group, thus making it easier for its agents to compare offers and provide its customers with the best value proposition. Using VDC, dnata Travel Group can now directly enjoy the benefits of value-added and differentiated products and services made available by the airline on its NDC channel. “As part of the dnata Travel Group’s NDC initiative, we are excited to partner with Verteil Technologies to bring NDC capabilities to our Corporate and B2B businesses. This new capability will enable our consultants to seamlessly search, book, and issue NDC fares and offers, and also conduct all post-issuance processes in order to support our customers,” said Geoff Wood, Senior Vice President, Destination Management and Supplier Relations, dnata Travel Group. “Our NDC initiative will ensure that our customers have continued access to the best available fares and enhance their capability to access airline ancillary products. It will also support our airline partners in efficiently implementing their NDC strategies in the UAE and GCC region. We continue to invest in innovative solutions to deliver best-in-class services for our customers and airline partners.” On this partnership, Jerrin Jos, Founder and CEO of Verteil Technologies stated, “Verteil is honored to be powering the dnata Travel Group’s NDC …

Kiwi.com and Sabre Corporation, a leading software and technology provider powering the global travel industry, announced a new strategic partnership. The agreement will see Kiwi.com leverage Sabre’s well-established global position to support its continued growth and expand its market reach. Since its foundation in 2012, Kiwi.com has grown into one of the most successful online travel businesses of the past decade, offering the content of more than 800 ground and air carriers from around the world. Already well-established in numerous markets, particularly across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), the company is looking to further improve its competitive position and advance its global market share. Sabre is the premier global distribution system (GDS) in the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region and will fuel Kiwi.com with unique content, competitive pricing, state-of-the-art business intelligence and online expertise. “We are looking to serve our customers even more effectively and deliver a seamless experience, which will set us up for success once the travel industry enters a phase of recovery,” said Gilles Karlé, Chief Strategy Officer at Kiwi.com.  “Sabre is the right addition to our partnerships to help us increase our footprint across the globe; we appreciate its responsiveness amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as its continued investment in innovative technology.” “To fuel recovery, travel tech companies like Kiwi.com need access to the broadest range of content”, said Madhavan Kasthuri, senior director – online EMEA for Sabre Travel Solutions. “Kiwi.com is already a proven industry innovator that is delivering a highly sophisticated end-to-end experience to its customers. In addition, it is now providing increased choice and flexibility, which is crucial in helping gain peoples’ trust to travel again. We are looking forward …

Sabre Corporation and Akbar Travels announced a new long-term, strategic partnership agreement to further expand Sabre’s footprint in the Indian subcontinent while driving operational efficiencies to increase productivity and profitability for Akbar. Under the extended and expanded agreement, Sabre will continue to be Akbar’s preferred global distribution (GDS) partner in India, ensuring that the firm, which is the largest travel company in India in terms of IATA-approved branches, staff numbers and business turnover, can continue to access real-time, rich content from hundreds of thousands of airlines, hoteliers and other travel providers through Sabre’s intuitive Sabre Red 360 interface. “For many years, Akbar has utilized a broad portfolio of Sabre technology and solutions to leverage growth, streamline operations, expand our geographic reach and differentiate our own services within our markets,” said K.V. Abdul Nazar, founder, chairman and managing director, Akbar Group. “So, we’re not only delighted to continue to benefit from Sabre’s robust and scalable solutions but also proud to build on our successful, shared history by further extending Sabre’s world-class products and services in the Indian subcontinent through the new partnership agreement between our subsidiary Benzy and Sabre.” “Our new agreement and renewal with Akbar is testament to their confidence in Sabre’s technological solutions,” said Todd Arthur, Vice President, Sabre Travel Solutions, Agency Sales, Asia Pacific. “There’s no question about the extent to which the entire travel ecosystem has been impacted by the ongoing pandemic. However, what is also not in any doubt is the commitment of both Sabre and Akbar Travels to continue to invest in technological innovation for the future of our companies, our shared relationship and the recovery and growth of the travel industry as a whole …

Sabre Corporation announced a strategic long-term technology partnership with Louvre Hotels Group, Europe’s second-largest enterprise hotel group counting almost 1,600 hotels across 54 countries and a subsidiary of Jin Jiang International. With this new agreement, Louvre Hotels Group will benefit from SynXis Central Reservations and its industry-leading reach with connections to almost 900,000 travel agents and nearly 700 online channels across the globe, including hundreds of online travel agencies (OTAs) and metasearch engines. Louvre Hotels Group will be able to pursue its ambitious plans to expand its hotel portfolio footprint and global distribution reach while benefiting from improved operational efficiencies. “This partnership with Sabre is a priority to sustain our ambitions, especially in this global context. We constantly develop our network across the world with our brands from 1 star to 5 stars. Therefore, we want to deploy innovative distribution strategies with robust technology solutions, to provide cutting edge solutions to our investors and franchisees while ensuring technical and operational efficiency for our hotels,” said Pierre-Frédéric Roulot, CEO at Louvre Hotels Group. “For us, Sabre Hospitality Solutions is offering the best combination of innovation, platform, security, scale and service.” “In today’s evolving travel and hospitality industry, it is critical that hoteliers have a unified, highly-flexible technology platform that allows them to drive commercial performance, enable operational excellence, and do this on a reliable platform that just works,” said Scott Wilson, president of Sabre Hospitality Solutions. “Sabre’s industry-leading solutions will extend Louvre Hotels Group’s distribution reach with the speed of innovation, performance, and stability inherent in an industry-leading platform while providing the ability to create highly differentiated experiences for both its brands and its guests.”

Travelport launched a bold and distinct new visual identity, which has been created as part of the company’s first-ever end-to-end rebrand. “Travelport has transformed”, said Greg Webb, Chief Executive Officer. “We are now fully focused on what we do best – connecting buyers and sellers that share our passion for delivering exceptional travel experiences. We are also embracing our strengths – our agility, our independence and our ability to make the bold long-term decisions needed to simplify travel’s complex ecosystem. Our new brand reflects all this – who we’ve become, through our investments in the right people, products and technology and our vision for the future, as we get ready for a year of significant advances for Travelport. We’re proud to show it to the world today and are looking forward to following it up very soon with the launch our next-generation platform, which will change the game in travel retailing.” “This is a holistic rebrand”, said Catto. “While we’ve kept the essence of what makes Travelport great, we’ve refined our vision, what we stand for, how we act, how we look and how we market our business. Most importantly, this is a new promise we’re making to our customers; we’ll work harder for you than anyone else to build a better, simpler and smarter future for travel retailing.” Travelport’s new visual identity can already be seen on its website and social media channels, which now include Instagram. The full rebrand of all assets, including products and office spaces, will be completed in the coming months.

Backed by SITA’s state-of-the-art technology, Bahrain International Airport’s (BIA) newly opened Passenger Terminal is better prepared to respond to the changing demands of travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ultra-modern facility positions BIA as the most advanced boutique airport in the Gulf, increasing its capacity to 14 million passengers per year. A key focus for Bahrain Airport Company (BAC), the airport’s operator and managing body, was to optimize the passenger experience and operations to quickly recover from the pandemic through 2021 and beyond. Using SITA’s Operations at Airports portfolio, the airport benefits from real-time insights, improved stakeholder collaboration, and increased agility to optimize operations. The solution includes SITA’s Flight Info Displays Systems (FIDS), providing a dynamic platform for communicating important information and managing the passenger flow. Roger Nakouzi, Vice President Sales, SITA, said, “Thanks to new SITA technology, Bahrain International Airport can leap forward and make operations resilient, agile, and safer for all passengers. The implementation allows for deeper integration of Smart Path throughout the airport and further installation of automated systems, future-proofing the airport for decades to come.” Mohamed Yousif Al Binfalah, Chief Executive Officer, BAC  said, “In addition to the new Passenger Terminal, the AMP includes several infrastructure development projects that will contribute to the realization of Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030, laying the foundation for a more sustainable and diversified economy. With SITA’s support, we have enhanced operational efficiency and are in a stronger position to meet the new standards and measures required during COVID-19.”

Akbar Travels Online B2B intelligence system will optimise to curtail work of its users, thus saving time, energy and money. New feature will facilitate more than 6000 agents across Middle East to action reissue/refunds accurately within minutes. The main reason is to ensure that from now on reissue or refunds of LCC tickets will happen in a flash! This will further enable travel partners to provide exceptional services and focus on other revenue making opportunities especially at this point of time. At the same time they are on the brink of rolling out AUTO reissuance of GDS tickets. This will be a game changer for travel partners associated with us, simplifying the reissue ,at their convenience instantly. Agents who had the opportunity to try out the new system are appraising  the new system with gratitude. Akbar Travels is now the largest B2B travel provider in the GCC with local presence in all 6 countries.  

As part of the trial project, SimplyGo is partnering with technology provider SITA. SITA’s advanced technology platforms and experience in border management, airport, and airline operations were crucial in distributing the SimplyGo platform across continents. For the first time, a small group of air travelers flying from Germany and Estonia to the United Arab Emirates has tested the health data platform and app SimplyGo in a live environment. Peter Bauer, founder of SimplyGo, said, “The trial demonstrated that SimplyGo technology supports travelers and airlines in adhering to health requirements and secure systems. The app is extremely simple for travelers to use. Just a few clicks and users securely store their COVID-19 test or vaccination information, making it accessible for airlines and border officials. There’s no paperwork or bar code at the check-in needed, all data is managed securely and highly protected from fraud. This trial is the first step in rolling out SimplyGo, to help restore confidence in air travel and to ensure a safer and more efficient air travel for all.” Jeremy Springall, Vice-President SITA AT BORDERS, said, “As the technology provider for the air transport industry we are working closely with governments, industry bodies, and border organizations globally to mitigate health risks of travel during the pandemic. SITA’s Health Protect ecosystem enables interoperability and acts as a bridge between health passport schemes, airlines, airports, and governments. It comprises a suite of solutions, including SITA Health ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization), SITA APP, and SITA Flex for in-airport passenger flow monitoring. Selecting the right combination of products and integrating with a health pass system like SimplyGo, ensures governments are aware of who is intending to travel and their health status. …

Staytus announced Hotel Chat, the first chat platform built exclusively for hospitality. The web-based service is designed to connect guests and hotels before, during and after the stay. Publicly accessible by all guests regardless of their personal messaging preferences, Hotel Chat is free of charge for hotels to use. Hotel Chat bridges the gap between guests’ demands for contactless interactions and hotels’ need for a simple, secure means of managing communications and delivering service digitally. From the hotel side, messages are received on a purpose-built platform designed for service. Messages can be viewed by an unlimited number of staff users. Staff can respond to guests in their native language and collaborate internally for a faster response. Hotel Chat also provides a secure, GDPR-compliant environment and no data is stored on staff mobile devices. This avoids potentially compromising guest data when using personal messaging apps such as WhatsApp or Messenger. “Our team loves the capabilities of Hotel Chat, which speed up communication between departments, help reduce workload, and also generate more guest engagement and guest satisfaction,” said Olivier Lenoir, General Manager, Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur. “More and more guests prefer to chat with their hotel. This growth trend started even before the pandemic,” said Troy Simoni, CEO, Staytus. “It’s about convenience and service. Excellent service is fast and personal, but doesn’t always need to be face-to-face anymore. People want to chat with real humans, not chatbots, and they want quick answers. These trends helped us design Hotel Chat. It’s made to be the world’s best chat platform for hotels and guests.”