Amadeus brings new-generation travel intelligence to agents worldwide - PC Tech Magazine

NAIROBI: Amadeus today announces the launch of a travel intelligence suite for agents worldwide to help them connect to a vast source of data, instantly reveal hidden opportunities in the marketplace, and benefit from rich insights for business growth and strategic decision-making.

Amadeus Agency Insight is a business intelligence suite of products and services developed by the Amadeus Travel Intelligence unit to help travel agencies, both online and offline, leverage Big Data technologies by transforming market and traveller data into unique and actionable insights around, for example, new routes and markets to address, travellers' search behavior, and performance against competitors.

Today marks the global launch of the first two modules in the Agency Insight suite: Search Analysis and Booking Analysis. Search Analysis gives agencies instant insight into their customers' travel intentions by analysing search data. This allows agencies to identify the most popular destinations, travel dates, and trip duration, in turn helping them tailor offers based on expected demand. Booking Analysis enables agencies to benchmark their market position and evaluate the competition, and also reveals trends on growing routes and airlines, which are invaluable insights when planning entry into new markets. Agencies can use the data to enhance sales monitoring, inform marketing strategies and improve supplier management.

"Deep understanding of the data and information we handle each day is critical to making good business decisions. Amadeus' approach to travel intelligence allows us to achieve this understanding and benefit from greater insight, without requiring us to maintain a staff of specialised data analysts. We are very excited to see data turned into actionable information on a near real-time basis, making decision-making faster and simpler," said Gerardo Concas, President of Costamar. Mr Concas added:  "This is key to effectively identify new revenue opportunities globally as well as to incorporate market and traveller insights into business planning, development and implementation."

In addition to Costamar, Makemytrip, Despegar, Tije, Delfos and Travelfast are amongst the pool of customers already using the Amadeus Agency Insight suite worldwide.

At the core of Amadeus Travel Intelligence offer is the Amadeus Travel Intelligence Engine, a new generation cloud-based Big Data platform uniquely built by Amadeus for the travel industry to enable travel agencies, airlines and other travel players make better business and operational decisions based on unlimited data-processing capabilities.

Unlike traditional business intelligence providers, the Amadeus Travel Intelligence Engine has been born in the age of Big Data, bringing total flexibility and speed. This also means that the Engine has no predefined architecture and can operate in various environments, including integration with traditional business intelligence set-ups.

Data can be gathered and analysed across the entire travel cycle (from inspiration, search, booking, in trip and post trip) putting the traveller at the centre of the eco-system and enabling greater personalisation as well as merchandising opportunities.

Pascal Clement, Head of Travel Intelligence, Amadeus, said: "In today's business, knowledge is power. Understanding how travellers search and book for travel is vital for travel players. Search Analysis and Booking Analysis will empower travel agents to leverage data and target the right travellers at the right time. From a business perspective, this also helps travel agents increase their value to their partners." He added: "Innovative insights emerge from the vast array of data that can be handled by our Travel Intelligence Engine, without which customers can only see part of the picture."

The Amadeus Travel Intelligence business unit was established to capitalise on Amadeus' 25 years of experience dealing with travel data and high performance technology, and to extract value for Amadeus customers from the one billion transactions Amadeus processes each day. The business unit looks to connect travel processes and leverage Big Data technologies to help travel players differentiate themselves within the market and enhance the traveller experience. Amadeus Travel Intelligence customers include travel agencies, airlines, corporations, and Destination Marketing Offices (DMOs). The Unit also addresses all the other key business segments of the travel industry.

Furthermore, as part of the Amadeus Agency Insight portfolio and designed specifically to meet the needs of travel agents in Sub-Saharan Africa, Amadeus has launched a Productivity Tracker, a regional module to help customers boost and measure their business activity. Productivity Tracker provides travel agents with an easy way to monitor, manage and optimise their own performance. Through a 24/7 live data feed based on Amadeus booking data, travel agents are able to analyse their own operations in real time, gain valuable insights and improve productivity. Currently Productivity Tracker is only available in Sub-Saharan Africa and is already being successfully deployed by over 20 travel agencies.