Amadeus Is Number One

The recent visit of Edward Ross, director of corporate and marketing communication of Amadeus, to Athens provided some valuable insight in to the prospects and ambitions of the global central reservations system in 2007.

Mr. Ross explained how Amadeus is leading the market when he revealed the market share figures for 2006 in which Sabre held 35,89% compared with Amadeus at 28,22%. This was followed by the results for 2007 where Sabre dropped its share to 30,46% and Amadeus shot its share up to 32,87% and captured first place.

Edward Ross, director of corporate and marketing communication of Amadeus, with Eva Karamanou, general manager of Amadeus in Greece.

When asked how they accomplished this, Mr. Ross explained that Amadeus’ share grew quickly and steadily because of their “genuine commitment and partnership with its travel agents.”

He continued to explain that the success and business growth of Amadeus is the result of giving “as much as possible to a travel agency to sell,” and by providing the technical systems whereby maximum sales can be accomplished. Amadeus can do this on a continuous basis because, as Mr. Ross explained, their database employs 600 people on a permanent basis to ensure the system evolves with the needs of the market place.

Eva Karamanou, general manager of Amadeus in Greece, was also present at the recent press call and expressed her ambition for Amadeus to remain number one in the market.

She believes this is possible through “continuing support to travel agencies,” and by “enlarging our portfolio,” which will be done by targeting some larger agencies and by promoting e-commerce for online bookings.

The two Amadeus specialists also analyzed the company’s recent study on Future Travel Tribes 2020. The study was so successful that they anticipate undertaking further tourism studies in the near future.