Amadeus Helps Agents Cruise Through Booking Process

LONDON – 26 September 2003:The Cruise market in the UK is continuing to grow thanks in part to the increasing ease with which agents are able to use of technology to access cruise information and make bookings.

Amadeus, a leading global distribution system (GDS) and technology provider to the travel industry, has supported this growth with the development of Amadeus Cruise through which UK agents can now access information and book cruise holidays on 5 leading providers including; Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, P&O Cruises, Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises. Additionally, Swan Hellenic discovery cruises are currently in test phase, prior to UK market release.

For Amadeus, the UK is now the number two global market for Amadeus Cruise bookings following a very good year so far. August brought the second highest number of monthly bookings ever and represented an increase of 655% over the number of bookings made in January.

The growth in bookings is due to a variety of factors including ease of use,an increasing range of available providers and the fact that Amadeus Cruise is the only product of its type available internationally. Michael Wilson, Partner, Bolsover Cruise Club said, “Bolsover Cruise Club started using Amadeus Cruise following its initial UK launch in 2001. The system is easy to use and with the addition of new providers is fast becoming an indispensable sales tool for cruise specialists who want instant information on multiple cruise lines.”

Demonstrating the Amadeus commitment to partnership and product development, the third annual Cruise Forum will be held at Amadeus’ main development centre in Nice on October 1st and 2nd, where members of the international agency cmmunity, the participating cruise lines and Amadeus staff meet to discuss future requirements, and the evolution of the cruise booking product. The UK cruise market is well represented by agents from Page & Moy and Scotland Cruise Centre, while on the cruise line side P&O Cruises, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean International will be in attendance.

Arnaud Debuchy, Amadeus UK’s Managing Director, said, “Cruise sales in the UK are one of the most rapidly expanding sectors in the travel industry. At the current time the cruise market worldwide is worth $15 billion. Amadeus is enabling both cruise providers and travel agents to capitalise on the growing Cruise market by providing technological solutions which help increase accessibility to both product and booking information.

“Amadeus’ success can partly be attributed to our ability to help agents adapt to changing market conditions by facilitating access to both air and non-air revenue streams. During 2003, Amadeus has continued to expand the number of Cruise lines available through Amadeus Cruise as well as increasing functionality, providing agents with far easier access to non-air bookings.”

Notes to the Editors:

Cruise Lines available through Amadeus Cruise include:

• Celebrity Cruises
• Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines
• P&O Cruises
• Princess Cruises
• Royal Caribbean International

Amadeus Global Travel Distribution (MAD: AMS)
Amadeus is the leading global distribution system (GDS) and
technology provider, serving the marketing, sales and distribution needs of the world’s travel and tourism industries.

Its comprehensive GDS data processing centre serves 65,250 travel agency locations and more than 12,600 airline sales offices, which together total more than 290,700 points of sale located in over 200 markets worldwide.

Through the Amadeus GDS, travel agencies and airline offices are able to make bookings with 469 airlines, representing more than 95 per cent of the world’s scheduled airline seats. The system also provides access to 56,000 hotels, 48 car rental companies serving some 24,900 locations, and other provider groups including: ferry; rail; cruise; insurance and tour operators.

Amadeus is a leading application service provider (ASP) to
the airline industry.

140 airlines use the Amadeus Sales System in their offices to provide passengers with superior and seamless service at optimal cost.

Amadeus’s new generation of Passenger Service Systems, which include all IT systems associated with inventory management and departure control, will be implemented by British Airways, Qantas and Finnair.

e-Travel, Amadeus’s e-commerce business unit, is global
leader in online travel technology and corporate travel management solutions. It powers the Web pages of 887 travel agencies, 255 corporate sites, 18 hotel sites and 139 web sites serving 50 airlines.

Amadeus is headquartered in Madrid, Spain and quoted on the Madrid, Paris and Frankfurt stock exchanges. For the year ended 31 December 2002, the company reported revenues of EUR 1856m and net income of EUR 148.6m. The Amadeus data centre is in Erding (near Munich), Germany and its principal
development offices are located in Sophia Antipolis (near Nice), France. The company has some 5,100 employees worldwide.

Amadeus UK
Rob Golledge
T: 0870 990 7851
F: 0870 990 9299
E: [email protected]
W: www.amadeusuk.com
E-mail : [email protected]

Amadeus Press
Bridget Agnew / Anya Velzeboer
Financial Dynamics
T: 020 7269 7219/7174
F: 020 7831 8438
E: [email protected]