06 June 2008

Amadeus targets SMEs with online self-booking tool

A white label self-booking tool for small to medium-sized companies is being made available for use by UK business travel agencies.

Amadeus Business Travel Portal (UK) is claimed to help SME business travellers gain greater control over their travel spend, while enabling travellers to research and book policy-compliant trips.

The technology company claimed that the SME business sector was previously Ã¢â¬Åâœvirtually excludedÃ¢â¬~ from self-booking travel technology due to the complexity and significant investment required to implement flexible and comprehensive systems such as Amadeus e-Travel Management, designed for use by FTSE 500 companies.

The new tool provides price-led comparison displays, access to more than 95% of the worldÃ¢â¬â¢s scheduled airline seats - including 75 budget carriers - real-time information on thousands of hotels, plus car hire options and access to corporate fares and deals.

Amadeus claimed the online business travel portal required Ã¢â¬Åâœminimal agency investmentÃ¢â¬~.

The portal enables TMC staff to focus on more complex itineraries requiring their in-depth expertise, while routine trips and simple availability and information requests are handled automatically, according to the company.

UK & Ireland marketing director Elaine Seeto said: Ã¢â¬ÅâœThere is huge business potential across the SME sector that this new business portal will help Amadeus and our business travel agency partners to realise.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœWe have been working on this solution following research into the SME market which helped us to identify key needs and current constraints.Ã¢â¬~

by Phil Davies