29 July 2008

Hotel commission fillip for agents

DALLAS Ã¢â¬' Pegasus Solutions has reached an exclusive agreement with Travelport GDS to offer Galileo-connected travel agencies a reduced price on its commission processing services.

Initially planned for the EMEA and ASPAC regions, the agreement will enable Galileo agents to more easily reconcile hotel bookings and significantly improve tracking and collection of hotel commissions.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœOur research has shown that Pegasus Commission Processing is the preferred commission service for agents, and we want to make sure agents have the opportunity to take advantage of it,Ã¢â¬~ said Mark Dubrow, president of Pegasus financial services.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœThis exclusive agreement with Galileo allows access for Galileo-connected travel agencies at a reduced price so they can break through to the benefits we offer,Ã¢â¬~ said Dubrow.

Processing more than US$500 million in commissions each year, Pegasus delivers agents regularly scheduled, consolidated payments in their preferred currency.

The programme negotiated for Galileo agents will transfer booking data from the Galileo GDS to Pegasus, which will then process, reconcile, consolidate and make weekly payments to agents who have signed on, according to Jane Lewis, senior director hospitality & car rental, EMEA & Asia Pacific for Travelport GDS.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœThis agreement is a major initiative for Travelport GDS, and will greatly support our Galileo-connected agents at a time when their commission earnings from other travel sectors are shrinking,Ã¢â¬~ said Lewis.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœResearch we conducted recently indicated that as many as 68 percent of our agents indicated they would make more hotel bookings if hotels paid commissions in an agent-friendly manner.Ã¢â¬~