Amadeus e-Travel sees sharp rise in corporate bookings
Amadeus e-Travel sees sharp rise in corporate bookings
Amadeus e-Travel, the global leader in online travel solutions and the e-commerce unit of Amadeus, today announced that online travel bookings made by its corporate customers through e-Travel® Aergo, the flexible, one-stop, online booking solution for managed travel programmes, grew by 76 percent globally during 2004.
With tens of millions of euros budgeted for research and development in our online solutions in 2005, Aergo continues to be the world's leading corporations' self-booking tool of choice. Over the past twelve months, e-Travel has attracted a number of new clients including, amongst others: Oil and gas giant Total; Thales, an international electronics and systems group that serves the defence, aerospace, services and security markets, Siam Cement, Thailand's largest industrial conglomerate; and Bavaria-Lloyd Reisebuero, who undertake the corporate travel arrangements for the BMW Group.
Additionally, e-Travel has been working with a number of Government organisations worldwide to help them manage their travel programmes and drive adoption post implementation. The CNFPT (Centre National de la Fonction Publique Territoriale), an organisation entrusted with the management of training for government officials in France, chose Aergo to manage the business travel of its 2,000 employees in a cost and time effective way. Governments in Denmark and Sweden are also using Aergo.
e-Travel customers enjoy some of the highest adoption rates (percentage of trips booked online versus traditional phone bookings) in the industry, assisted by e-Travel dedicated adoption consulting programmes. Following the success with e-Travel online bookings in the US, the Oracle Corporation, has successfully rolled out Aergo in 10 European countries with up to 80% adoption rates.
Rounding out e-Travel's portfolio solutions for corporate travel management is SAP Travel Management powered by e-Travel, which in 2004 experienced a 50 per cent growth thanks to growing adoption and new corporate customers who have signed up for this solution and fully integrated it into their enterprise resource planning (ERP) landscape.
Ian Wheeler, Vice President Marketing and Acting Managing Director, Amadeus e-Travel, says: "Over the past twelve months e-Travel has seen a significant increase in the volume of bookings by corporations and we expect to see this trend continuing. Travel managers are increasingly under pressure to manage their travel spend, which is resulting in changes in how travel is brought and supplier relationships are managed."
"As internet penetration increases and people become more used to booking online, e-Travel is seeing business travellers increasingly moving towards using the web for booking simple itineraries. At the same time, travel managers are increasingly stepping back from the logistical elements of booking employee travel, which enables them to concentrate on their company's travel policy and negotiating special deals for their employees."
With the increased adoption of online travel tools, e-Travel is also seeing growth across other traveller support solutions they offer. With real-time access to travel itineraries a must for travellers, e-Travel experienced growth of 46 percent on Checkmytrip.com whilst amadeus.net, the only free unbiased website from airline schedule information, experienced growth of 53% during 2004.
