Amadeus Rail Forum Blog

Amadeus appoints ex-Wyndham CIO Jeff Edwards to lead expanding hotel division

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:09:26 +0000

· Edwards brings to Amadeus extensive global experience in hotel distribution and IT systems, an exceptional network and a strong track record in building successful business organizations

· New appointment underlines Amadeus’ further commitment to growing its New Businesses portfolio

Madrid, Spain, 2 February 2012: Amadeus, a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, today announces the key strategic appointment of hotel industry veteran Jeff Edwards to head up its growing hotel business.

Edwards, formerly Chief Information Officer and EVP Distribution of Wyndham Worldwide, joins Amadeus with a clear brief to quickly expand its burgeoning hotel division; which incorporates both distribution and IT services.

Prior to Wyndham Worldwide, Edwards spent more than five years at Micros Systems Inc where he held a variety of senior roles including President and Chief Executive Officer – Micros Fidelio, as well as Executive Vice President-Micros Distribution for North America. Both before and after his time at Micros Systems, Edwards was an entrepreneur who ran his own hotel and hospitality consulting business, creating numerous new enterprises whilst at the same time winning business from a wide range of leading hotel chains across the globe.

Francisco Pérez-Lozao, Amadeus’ Senior Vice President of New Businesses said of Jeff Edwards’ appointment:“Jeff is quite simply a fantastic appointment for Amadeus and frankly speaking, his record speaks entirely for itself. However, what most attracted us to Jeff is his unique experience on both sides of the commercial fence. As well as holding a senior position in a major global hotel chain and leading one of the most important IT providers in the hotel industry, he has also spent time running his own consulting business, which shows his ability means he is able to understand and breach the divide between supplier and customer with ease. Moreover he brings to Amadeus an exceptional network, a deep understanding of the hospitality industry, and a strong track record of building and developing a new business. We are very excited for Jeff to get started”.

Jeff Edwards, Amadeus’ VP of Hotels, commented: “I’m delighted to join Amadeus to develop the company’s hospitality business. I look forward to starting work with the excellent team of professionals that Amadeus has and keep delivering the technology solutions and distribution reach that have made Amadeus one of the most credible and reliable players in the hotel industry to date.”

Edwards officially joined Amadeus on 1 February 2012 and will be based in Madrid, Spain. With the addition of Jeff to the newly created New Business division in Amadeus, the company has completed the incorporation of three industry heavyweights – Thomas Drexler for Rail, John Jarrell for Airport IT and Jeff Edwards for Hotels - bringing unrivalled experience in the travel industry that will contribute to the company’s effort in diversifying the business.

– Ends –

Notes to the editors

Amadeus is a leading transaction processor and provider of advanced technology solutions for the global travel and tourism industry.

Customer groups include travel providers (e.g. airlines, hotels, rail, ferries, etc.), travel sellers (travel agencies and websites), and travel buyers (corporations and individual travellers).

The group operates a transaction-based business model and processed 850 million billable travel transactions in 2010.

Amadeus has central sites in Madrid (corporate headquarters), Nice (development) and Erding (Operations – data processing centre) and regional offices in Miami, Buenos Aires, Bangkok and Dubai. At a market level, Amadeus maintains customer operations through 73 local Amadeus Commercial Organisations covering 195 countries.

Amadeus is listed on the Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia stock exchanges and trades under the symbol “AMS.MC”. For the year ended 31 December 2010, the company reported revenues of EUR 2,683 million and EBITDA of EUR 1,015 million. The Amadeus group employs around 10,000 employees worldwide, with 123 nationalities represented at the central offices.

To find out more about Amadeus pleasego to www.amadeus.com.

To visit the Amadeus Investor Relations centre pleasego to www.investors.amadeus.com.

Contact details

Amadeus

Corporate Communication

tel: +34 91 582 0160

fax : +34 91 582 0188

e-mail : mediarelations@amadeus.com

Cross-Sell Your Way to Profit - Amadeus commissioned Forrester report

Wed, 04 May 2011 09:06:56 +0100

Great news for the travel industry! Ancillary revenue is on the up, and predicted to grow by an impressive 30% over the next 5 years. And hotels are ideally placed to capture additional income from TWO ancillary channels.

Cross sell your way to profit - click here

So what are Ancillary Services?

In short, Ancillary Services are the optional, non-core products and services, usually provided by a third party, which can be added to a customer’s travel arrangement. For example, in the case of a hotel customer, these might include: travel insurance, a rental car, sightseeing tours or theatre tickets. The way these services generate income is from booking commissions or fees paid by ancillary service suppliers.

There is a tremendous buzz in the industry surrounding this topic due to the under-explored revenue potential. So, to find out more, Amadeus commissioned Forrester Consulting to delve deeper into the opportunities and characteristics of this fast-evolving travel service. The resulting report conclusions drawn are exciting, particularly for the hotel industry:

Ancillary services revenue will account for 2.5% of total revenue for travel providers by 2015, growing 10 times faster than general travel industry sales.
New ‘extreme’ services such as virtual reality tours and digital concierges will transform the customer experience over the next 10 years.
Ancillary services provide customers with the ‘add-ons’ that can change a trip from a traditional segmented arrangement to a memorable ‘total’ travel experience.
Advancements in mobile and web technology will make it possible to provide these services ‘on the go’ – throughout the journey and across channels.

What are the opportunities for hotel companies?

The hotel business benefits from a unique position in that the ancillary revenue opportunity is two-fold: hotel rooms are themselves an ancillary service for airlines and rail companies, whilst at the same time, your hotel guests are the perfect consumers for many third party ancillary services.

So new income can come from:

Additional hotel bookings generated from other suppliers booking your hotel rooms. 
Commissions and fees generated from booking on and off-property ancillary services for your hotel customers, i.e. spa treatments, restaurant reservations, theatre tickets, city tours, golf rounds.

What will make ancillary revenue work for you?

The future of ancillary revenue is largely dependant on sellers opting for the right technology infrastructure that can manage a comprehensive mix of third-party ancillary services. It is then equally important to learn to engage with travellers, and understand what they expect from their trip, so you can deliver relevant service offers before, during and after the journey. i.e. a weekend stay could trigger a hotel to propose destination services, sent via email and received on the customer’s mobile device.

Amadeus already offers numerous online and offline booking solutions, and with our impressive track record in IT innovation, you can expect some interesting technology developments for the future. In fact, whilst many suppliers anticipate that their own direct channels will be their most productive sales outlets, others believe that by 2015 their most effective retail channel will rely on a technology that has yet to be invented!

To access the full Forrester Consulting Thought Leadership Paper entitled – ‘Cross-Sell Your Way to Profit’, please click here.

Amadeus LinkHotel transforms reach of independent hotels and small-medium chains

Rebecca Guerrero — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:57:21 +0000

Amadeus shakes up hotel representation model with advanced distribution solutions, technology and consultancy...

Madrid, Spain, 10 March 2010: Amadeus, a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, today announces the launch of Amadeus LinkHotel, a new distribution and marketing service aimed at small to medium-sized hotels and groups. At the heart of the enhanced service is the former Otedis, the representation company acquired by Amadeus in 2005. All new and existing hotel members will be migrated onto the new enhanced distribution platform.

See our Press Release for more information.