Dear all,

Welcome to the fifth edition of The Amadeus Independent, our online newsletter dedicated to the smaller, independent and specialist travel agencies.

In this month's issue...

...We take a look into the future. Amadeus commissioned a study that would allow us all a foretaste of what to watch out for, what travellers will do, how they will 'behave' and where technology will lead.

The prediction of growth in travel continues. That's very good news. But how will you deal with this increase and the continued globalisation of travel? We can also help with your desire to make your customers' booking and travel experience special: fast, predictable, safe and thoroughly enjoyable.

Well, we found out about 'traveller tribes' and focus on the four main groups, and we also learned that technology will, in fact, become human centric, allowing you to watch over your travellers from booking travel to its completion, making it easy for you to create that personal relationship with you customers and making sure they'll be back for more.

You can prepare yourselves now to face the immediate and less immediate future with confidence, planning today how tomorrow you will do even better what you do best: looking after your customers well beyond their expectations. Combine your know-how and 'human' technology and you have a winner.

We look at Amadeus Interface Record and how it can contribute to you 'going that extra mile' and we'll also look at how with Amadeus Insurance you can make your travellers feel protected and cared for while earning great commissions with just three clicks.

We'd also like to share some new and exiting ideas with you and have created a new-ideas lab on Agent Zone. Do check it out and let us know what you think!

A big thank you! to all who have entered our World Championship competition! For those of you who haven't yet but would like to participate, we're running it again for another month.

As always, we love to hear from you!

Happy reading!

Michele Pluim

P.S. Do you have a question or burning issue you would like to see explored in The Amadeus Independent?

Just send me an e-mail at mpluim@amadeus.com