JEDDAH — More than $130 billion in additional airline revenue annually by 2020 could be unlocked, Amadeus IT Group — an IT provider for the global travel and tourism industry — said recently at the unveiling of its vision for a traveler-centric global travel ecosystem that will meet the demands of a complex and evolving travel shopping environment. It said the increasingly broad range of travel products and services available, as well as the proliferation of channels open to the customer, represent a significant opportunity for airlines to enhance both revenues and profitability. Industry estimates showed that airlines are already earning $50 billion in annual revenues through the sale of ancillary services, primarily through their direct channels. Amadeus research showed that a further $53 billion could be secured by 2020 by adopting an omni-channel strategy for these ancillary sales. In addition, new innovation in travel technology can bring a further $77 billion in the same time frame. Amadeus believed this will be achieved through the personalization of the traveler offer throughout the entire journey, delivered through every channel by systems that are open, intelligent and dynamic. With deep collaboration across the travel industry, new business opportunities will be created. By bringing together providers and participants across the travel industry at each key touch point in the traveler's journey, unique customer insights will be leveraged to deliver offers and services that are personalized, relevant and timely. “The global travel industry, and the way in which consumers experience it, is changing so dramatically that it requires a fundamental change to the way in which travel is sold and how the traveler is served,” said Luis Maroto, Chief Executive Officer and President of Amadeus. “With our industry insight and experience, our unrivalled R&D capacity and our global subscriber network, Amadeus is uniquely placed to bring the industry together in a global travel ecosystem that will bring huge benefits to both airlines and subscribers, offering significant potential to the industry to unlock greater value from its products and services.” Three key elements will underpin Amadeus' merchandising vision: 1. The development and roll out of a new Global Merchandising System that will enable airlines to create their offering dynamically, to provide consumers with the most relevant offer at any given time, through any point of sale of any channel, direct or indirect and through any device 2. The evolution of our retailing and distribution systems to enable the efficient and effective delivery of enhanced airline content at the point of sale, whether in the direct or indirect channel with a focus on agents' needs to foster adoption 3. Full integration of both the new Global Merchandising System and Amadeus' retailing and distribution systems with the Amadeus Altéa PSS Suite, delivering a truly joined-up and end-to-end traveler journey across key touch points such as servicing, delivery, disruption management plus ticketing and fulfillment. The Global Merchandising System will strengthen the industry's broadest portfolio of products and services; including the market's most used PSS, Altéa, as well as the industry's biggest distribution platform, and an e-retail suite used by more than 110 of the world's airlines, both of which will be enhanced to improve the user experience for subscribers and travelers alike. Deployed in conjunction with Amadeus' powerful Travel Intelligence tools, consulting and services capability and real-time revenue accounting and loyalty solutions, it will provide subscribers and providers with a single consumer view covering the complete travel experience. “The introduction of dynamic and flexible merchandising tools for airlines will give them the opportunity to deliver a unique and personalized customer experience for each traveler and in doing so could unlock significant revenues,” said Julia Sattel, Senior Vice President of Airline IT at Amadeus. “Each customer values something different in their travel experience and Amadeus can help airlines to become intimate with their customers' needs and deliver them the experience that they want, increasing both their loyalty and value.” The Global Merchandising System, seamlessly delivered through Amadeus' direct retailing and distribution systems — the world's largest indirect airline sales network, will draw on real-time intelligence and information from both the buyer and the seller to facilitate the delivery of a personalized offer to each individual search, bringing the right offer more quickly, and clearly offering greater transparency, choice, convenience, and efficiency. It will enable airlines to realize their retailing and merchandising vision by giving them the ability to control the price, placement and promotion of ancillary content across all channels. — SG
