Keeping connected – the future of travel in Asia Pacific
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Travellers want a seamless journey. Access to reliable information on the go and a service that’s about them – personalised. If they use a travel agent, they expect a higher level of customer service that is about them and demonstrates great value that they can’t get anywhere else.
These are high expectations which can put pressure on travel agents; so how can they respond?
Smarter technology
Technology innovation in travel has been lightning fast and in some ways, the industry is always playing catch up. 30 years ago, airlines created and housed their own internal IT systems, but those same systems cannot match the demands of today’s customers.
Amadeus responds by constantly evolving and improving our technology, both for airlines and travel agencies. We offer Amadeus Altéa, a community-based IT platform for airlines, which uniquely delivers benefits to both our airline and travel agency customers alike.
The benefits of change is here
When an airline and travel agent choose to work together on the same technology platform, like Amadeus, it creates a new ‘travel community’ of the future.
A ‘travel community’ makes a lot of sense because the traveller wins. Both the airline and travel agent can access and make changes to the same travel record, minimising confusion and errors.
Travel agents agree. 86% of travel agents we interviewed in Asia Pacific agree that sharing the same technology platform as the airline meant less calls to airlines (99% agree), meant full visibility of the travellers journey (94% agree), and they can rely on the information in the Amadeus system such as last seat availability (95%) and fares (94%) .
And today 45% of Skyteam, 65% of Star Alliance and 67% of OneWorld alliance airlines globally, are using Amadeus Altéa so there are a lot of options for travel agents to choose from.
Not to mention, the instant confirmation that travel agents receive when making special service requests and including frequent flyer memberships.
And you know what? These benefits are even recognised by travel agents who don’t use Amadeus as their primary booking system. Is the ‘travel community’ of the future already here?
The future is much closer than we think
It’s no secret that travel agencies and airlines all over the world have been seeking new strategies to reduce operating costs and maintain customer loyalty – a difficult balance to achieve.
Technology is just one way to get the balance right.
The community travel model has the potential to revolutionise the way travel agencies work. It can mean cost savings and improved efficiency across the whole industry. There are always ‘buts’ and ‘what ifs’ to contend with. But ultimately, how much or how little this evolution benefits the industry is up to airlines and the travel agents and how well they work together as a community.
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