Amadeus sets sights on China as market opens to global distribution systems (GDS) for the first time

Travel industry veteran, Bart Tompkins, is appointed as Managing Director for Amadeus China.

 

For the first time, travel agencies in China will now be able to book airline travel via global distribution systems (GDS) including Amadeus.

 

Amadeus will introduce an innovative suite of easy-to-use solutions that will help travel agencies improve operational efficiency, offer greater customer convenience and help to reduce overall IT spending for travel agencies in China.

From October 1, foreign airlines will have the option of using global distribution systems to distribute their air fares to travel agents in China. The People’s Republic of China airlines will not have this choice, however Amadeus hopes for a further liberalisation of the market in the future.

 

Speaking about the market opening, David Brett, President Amadeus Asia Pacific said, “The new regulations are an important step in bringing positive change to the current travel landscape in China. The regulations will enable a new technology infrastructure that will allow for a more dynamic travel booking market with more travel products on offer that will greatly benefit the Chinese travel industry and Chinese travellers.”

 

Brett added, “In preparation for the momentous market opening, I am pleased to welcome Bart Tompkins as Managing Director, Amadeus China based in Beijing who will represent Amadeus in all its activities in the market. During his 20 years with Amadeus, Bart has specialised in new market launches in Japan, Russia and Eastern Europe. In his new role, Bart will be responsible for identifying business opportunities and ensuring the Chinese travel industry and market place understand Amadeus’ offering.”

 

Amadeus’ entry into the Chinese travel industry will enable travel agents to adopt cutting edge technology that will eliminate the need to memorise lengthy commands for booking flights and will help to ensure booking quality by issuing point-to-point market and GDS fare tickets.

 

Bart Tompkins, Managing Director, Amadeus China commented, “Amadeus has played an important role in helping to grow the travel industry across Asia and the rest of the world and we look forward to playing a similar role here in China. We welcome the opportunity to be part of China's on-going success and believe that all industry stakeholders would benefit greatly from modern distribution technologies, such as the technology we offer.”

 

Furthermore, travel agents will have the option of streamlining their accounting procedures and strengthening credit line control. This will allow frontline staff to focus more on serving customers better and selling more.

 

Amadeus provides access to over 420 bookable airlines, over 110,000 hotels, 30 car rental companies, over 50 cruise and ferry lines, over 24 insurance provider groups. Amadeus provides IT to 142 airlines around the world, including 75 per cemt of oneworld, 64 per cent of Star Alliance and 53 per cent of Skyteam airlines. This includes providing e-commerce technologies that power the international websites of Chinese airlines such as Air China, China Southern and Hainan Airlines.