TMCnet News
Travelport reaches another significant milestone for its merchandising capability; Fifty airlines now signed up to participate in Travelports Rich Content and Branding technology(M2 PressWIRE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Langley, United Kingdom -- Travelport, a leading travel commerce platform providing distribution, technology, payment and other solutions for the $7 trillion global travel and tourism industry, today announces another significant merchandising milestone as Air India has become the 50th airline to sign up for Travelport Rich Content and Branding the third component of Travelports industry-leading Merchandising Platform. Travelport Rich Content and Branding is a highly progressive technology which enables airlines to more effectively control how their fares and ancillaries are visually presented and described on travel agency screens, bringing them more in line with the airlines own website experience. The solution has received significant support and interest from airlines since its introduction earlier this year. Fifty airlines have now signed up to participate, including leading carriers such as Delta, Avianca, Sun Country Airlines, Peruvian Airlines, Ryanair, British Airways, Iberia, easyJet, SilkAir, Hong Kong Airlines, Hainan Airlines and United Airlines. When launched on Travelport Smartpoint agency desktops later this year, Rich Content and Branding will allow travel agents to access rich content and extended descriptions aggregated into their usual booking flow to better inform and encourage customers purchasing decisions around fares and ancillaries. Speaking at the Global Business Travel Association in Los Angeles this week, Kurt Ekert, Chief Commercial Officer, Travelport, commented on this significant achievement, We are extremely pleased with the industry recognition and support we have received on our Merchandising Platform. The signing of fifty airlines for our Rich Content and Branding technology is a testament that our airline partners fully support and share our views on the way forward in how fares and ancillaries are presented to travel agents. Being able to leverage graphical content and providing a holistic brand experience will be a key factor for airlines to successfully differentiate themselves. At the same time, access to rich content allows travel agents to be more informative about product features and benefits, enabling them to influence customers purchasing decisions and increasing up-sell and cross sell opportunities. Notes to editors The Travelport Merchandising Platform was unveiled April 2013 and since then has attracted considerable industry interest. The platform offers three components: Travelport Aggregated Shopping, an industry first, consolidates, within the same screen, shopping results from traditional carriers who connect through ATPCO with those from other no-frills carriers who prefer to connect with Travelport via an API connection. The new technology negates the need to shop and compare across several screens and allows travel agents to compare efficiently in the same booking flow. Travelport Ancillary Services allows travel agents to sell airline ancillaries such as pre-allocated seating, meals and bags, within their existing workflow rather than by booking on an airline website. Travelport Rich Content and Branding enables airlines to market and retail their products more effectively through customization of product display and content. For more information on Travelport Merchandising Platform and Rich Content and branding, visit: http://www.travelportmerchandisingsolutions.com/ For media enquiries or to set up an interview, please contact: Travelport: Susan Lin, PR Manager, Asia Pacific, Travelport E-mail: [email protected] Tel: +61 2 9391 4038 About Travelport (www.travelport.com) Travelport is a leading travel commerce platform providing distribution, technology, payment and other solutions for the $7 trillion global travel and tourism industry. With a presence in over 170 countries, approximately 3,600 employees and 2013 net revenue of $2.1 billion, Travelport is a privately owned company comprised of: Our Travel Commerce Platform, through which we facilitate travel commerce by connecting the worlds leading travel providers with online and offline travel buyers in our proprietary business to business (B2B) travel commerce marketplace. As travel industry demands evolve, we are utilizing our Travel Commerce Platform to redefine the electronic distribution and merchandising of airline core and ancillary products, as well as extending our reach into the growing world of travel commerce beyond air, including to hotel, car rental, rail, cruise-line and tour operators. In addition, we have leveraged our domain expertise in the travel industry to design a pioneering B2B payment solution that addresses the needs of travel intermediaries to efficiently and securely settle travel transactions. We also utilize the extensive data managed by our platform to provide an array of additional services, such as advertising solutions, subscription services, business intelligence data services, and marketing-oriented analytical tools to travel agencies, travel providers and other travel data users. Our Technology Services, through which we provide critical IT services to airlines, such as shopping, ticketing, departure control and other solutions, enabling them to focus on their core business competencies and reduce costs. We manage reservations, inventory management and other related critical systems for Delta Air Lines. Mark Hamilton Senior Manager, Corporate Communications, Europe T +44 (0) 1753 288342 M +44 (0) 7827 830482 [email protected] www.travelport.com . (c) 2014 M2 COMMUNICATIONS |