Amadeus’ latest inspirational Extreme Search shopping tool revolutionises the way consumers search for travel online
Amadeus, a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, today announces the latest inspirational search tool serving the online shopping needs of today’s traveller. This announcement builds upon an industry first in 2009, when Amadeus launched the Extreme Search solution for airline websites with Lufthansa, subsequently winning the Top Innovation Award at the PhocusWright conference in Orlando, USA the same year. Today, Amadeus continues to break the boundaries of online travel technology.
Business Release
27 Jun 2011
Inspirational Extreme Search shopping tool from Amadeus revolutionises the way consumers search for travel online
• Amadeus Extreme Search provides online travel agents with an intuitive search solution currently for air travel, based on the traveller’s natural thought process and travel search preferences
• Leading Nordic online travel agency European Travel Interactive (eTRAVELi) is the first pilot to benefit from the solution
• Later this year, MakeMyTrip.com, India’s leading online travel agency, will also pilot the solution
Madrid, Spain, 27 June, 2011: Amadeus, a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, today announces the latest inspirational search tool serving the online shopping needs of today’s traveller. This announcement builds upon an industry first in 2009, when Amadeus launched the Extreme Search solution for airline websites with Lufthansa, subsequently winning the Top Innovation Award at the PhocusWright conference in Orlando, USA the same year. Today, Amadeus continues to break the boundaries of online travel technology.
According to PhocusWright (Destination Unknown: How US and European travellers decide where to go, October 2010), 40% of European travellers do not have a destination in mind when they start planning their trip, and 80% of travellers carry out online research when selecting a travel destination. With these travellers in mind, Amadeus now offers online travel agents an intuitive search solution that revolutionises the way consumers search for travel online. Today, Amadeus Extreme Search is based on flight search, and in the near future, other travel components such as high-speed rail and low cost carriers will be added. Amadeus Extreme Search focuses on the traveller and their natural thought process, allowing travellers to shop by their desired travel experience.
Amadeus Extreme Search lets travellers ask open questions in real-time such as “where can I go on a beach holiday in Europe for less than €600 per person?” Consumers no longer need to enter origin and destination information, but can inspire their search by budget, type of activity or geography all on a single page and receive relevant responses immediately. The underlying technology, leveraging the Amadeus Massive Computation Platform, processes billions of results based on the traveller’s query. The traveller receives practically instant results which are based on real-time availability and price. Unlike any other on the market, this multi-carrier solution provides the most exhaustive and complete choice of options (including more than 440 airlines), which are bookable and accurate over multiple destinations and during a full calendar year. Furthermore, thanks to Amadeus Master Pricer, the comprehensive low-fare search and merchandising solution for online travel agencies and online sites of travel agencies, the shopping process is seamlessly integrated into the booking flow, including the purchase of the trip on the same website.
Johan Elwin, Director of Business Development at European Travel Interactive (eTRAVELi), who are piloting the solution said: “Amadeus Extreme Search provides our customers with intuitive and efficient options where users can explore and determine their trip based on their holiday requirements. The ability to inspire the traveller to search easily in the same way they think, with quality content, gives us a considerable competitive edge and serves the interests of today’s traveller.”
Stephane Durand, Director Online & Leisure, Amadeus said: “Extreme Search is the natural evolution of today’s consumer practices, overthrowing established search methods based on destinations and dates. As important, it is an opportunity for the online travel agency to differentiate itself from the traditional “book it” button which is visible on every website today. Travel sellers are able to capture the traveller’s attention early in the search process due to the unique search experience, by inspiring and engaging them into a booking, thereby growing their share of the leisure market and ultimately increase conversion and customer loyalty. Furthermore, Extreme Search provides invaluable business intelligence on how customers search, helping online agents to respond instantly to new trends and target new customer segments.”
Durand continued, “Amadeus’ commitment and continuous investment provides online travel agents worldwide with a winning combination -- the most intuitive and inspiring Extreme Search tool and the industry leading Master Pricer booking tool.”
Amadeus has commissioned an international research organisation to investigate the way that travellers book and search online. The study, which will be published and made public later this year, emphasises the need for technological innovation to engage and effectively serve the needs of the next generation traveller.
###
Notes to the editors
About Amadeus
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 and marketing), 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 over 10,130 employees worldwide, with 123 nationalities represented at the central offices.
To find out more about Amadeus please go to www.amadeus.com. To visit the Amadeus Investor Relations centre please go to www.investors.amadeus.com.
About European Travel Interactive (eTRAVELi)
European Travel Interactive (eTRAVELi) is the Nordic region's largest online travel agency and offers airline tickets, hotel reservations, rental cars and other travel related products through multiple brands.
eTRAVELi's brand portfolio currently includes Seat24, Supersaver/Supersavertravel, Flygvaruhuset, Gotogate, Flybillet, Travelfinder, Travelstart, Travelpartner, Budjet, Goleif and Nettotravel.
The company is represented in 6 countries; Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands and Germany.
eTRAVELi’s major owner is the private equity firm Segulah IV L.P who focuses on acquisitions of medium-sized companies within the Nordic region.
Contact details
Amadeus
Corporate Communication / Corporate Marketing
tel: +34 91 582 0160
fax : +34 91 582 0188
e-mail : mediarelations@amadeus.com
> Extreme Search OTA 2011 ENG.pdf (45 Kbytes)
