Amadeus and Concur enter into a global strategic alliance
Worldwide customers to have greater choice and increased value as a result of the partnership
Sydney, 3 February 2010: Amadeus, a leading global technology and distribution partner to the travel industry, and Concur (Nasdaq: CNQR), a leading provider of on-demand employee spend management solutions, announced that they have entered into a long-term alliance to bring key technologies together for a combined travel and expense management solution to extend their core offerings. This includes the integration of travel bookings from Amadeus e-Travel Management (AeTM) into Concur® Expense, as well as unique integration of Amadeus core distribution technology into Concur® Cliqbook Travel – the first time Amadeus has provided this type of technology to a third party. Both companies are currently working towards delivery of the solution in 2010. Announced at Fusion, Concur’s annual customer conference in Boca Raton, Florida, the alliance is an extension of the companies’ vision for offering end-to-end T&E solutions and gives Concur and Amadeus customers even greater choice for integrated travel and expense management solutions. Through the strategic alliance, Concur and Amadeus continue their commitment to global and local market leadership and set a new level for providing global distribution and content. “Concur is a clear leader in the Employee Spend Management space. We are thrilled to be partnering with them to offer enhanced service to our clients and to have been chosen as their partner within the industry,” said Philippe Chereque, Executive Vice President, Commercial, Amadeus. “This partnership enables Amadeus to provide clients with an integrated system to make their travel and expense reporting process easier and allows us to expand our market reach and drive increased adoption. We have tremendous respect for Concur’s vision and product strategy and believe there will be great value for joint customers.” This alliance supports both companies’ long-term growth objectives. On Amadeus’ part, the agreement is the latest move in its strategy to create a global and end-to-end travel and spend story for its global customer segment. In addition to Concur's acquisition of Etap-On-Line in August 2009, the partnership supports Concur's broader strategy of local and global market leadership. Customers will be able to select the integrated travel and expense management solution that best meets their requirements and which helps them better manage employee spend.
“Amadeus is a global leader, with a strong reputation and ability to uniquely meet client travel requirements,” said Steve Singh, Chairman and CEO, Concur. “Our partnership with Amadeus expands our market reach and affords our clients greater choice and flexibility for managing corporate travel and expenses on a global basis. This is further validation for Concur’s industry leading vision and a testament to Concur’s commitment to be a global technology platform for customers and partners. We look forward to working with Amadeus to drive greater innovation in the market.”
- ends -
About Amadeus
Amadeus is the chosen technology partner for providers, sellers, and buyers of travel. The company provides distribution, IT and point-of-sale solutions to help its customers adapt, grow and succeed in the fast changing travel industry. Customer groups include travel providers (airlines, hotels, car rental companies, railway companies, ferry lines, cruise lines, insurance companies and tour operators), travel sellers (travel agencies) and travel buyers (corporations and travellers). Solutions are grouped in four solution categories – Distribution & Content, Sales & e-Commerce, Business Management and Services & Consulting.
Amadeus has central sites in Madrid (corporate headquarters & marketing), Nice (development) and Erding (Operations – data processing centre) and regional offices in Miami, Buenos Aires and Bangkok. At market level, Amadeus maintains customer operations through 71 local Amadeus Commercial Organisations covering 219 markets.
The company is majority owned by WAM Acquisition, whose shareholders are BC Partners, Cinven, Air France, Iberia and Lufthansa. Amadeus employs over 8,900 employees worldwide, representing 105 nationalities.
Solutions for Corporations
Amadeus’ vision is to provide next generation travel technology that encourages collaboration amongst all players within the travel industry. To realise this we are investing in technology that will allow the seamless integration of content, data and systems whether they are part of Amadeus or whether they are from third party suppliers. Over the coming years, Amadeus will expand its unique approach to Corporate Travel. By providing the technology solutions that span before, during and after all travel steps, the existing Online Booking tool is evolving beyond trip booking to provide the Total
Trip Experience for Corporate Travellers. The move towards mobile technology is an integral part of the vision of what the travel experience should be.
Amadeus' corporate travel solution, Amadeus e-Travel Management, helps corporations manage their global travel programmes more efficiently and cost-effectively. The solution helps business travellers plan, personalise and purchase their trip while remaining compliant with the global travel policy. Over 3,500 corporations worldwide use Amadeus e-Travel Management to integrate all the elements of their programmes into one intuitive and easy-to-administer solution. Customers include Kraft Foods, Phillip Morris International, Nokia Siemens Networks, Volvo, Nordea Bank, Cemex, Daimler, France Telecom, Bosch, Total and Thales
More information about Amadeus is available at: http://www.amadeus.com
