BCD Travel Selects Amadeus Agency Manager for EMEA
Posted July 14, 2009 , add a commentBCD Travel has selected Amadeus to deliver a
single mid-office platform for the Europe, Middle East and Africa
region.
BCD Travel, a travel management company, will
use the Amadeus Agency Manager platform to standardise processes
and technology, reduce costs and improve visibility of business
performance – actions aimed at simplifying and streamling its
clients’ travel programs.
Agency Manager is a global, multi-GDS
mid-office solution that allows TMCs to standardise services,
accounting and reporting functions across a diverse range of
markets.
“Amadeus Agency Manager offers the benefits of a
standard mid-office system across EMEA markets while retaining the
flexibility to handle the specific requirements of the many
countries we do business in,” said Heinz Jennewein, BCD Travel’s
senior vice president of Operations and ICT, EMEA. “Our clients
are increasingly looking for efficiencies and also adopting
multinational approaches to travel management. To support these
client goals, we’re making the investments required to drive
global consistency and business performance. We are positioning
ourselves to serve clients in today’s environment as well as in
the year to come as our industry continues to become more
complex.”
Under the agreement, Agency Manager will be
rolled out in Germany, Czech Republic, Portugal, Denmark, Sweden,
Norway and Finland, in addition to the seven EMEA markets where
BCD Travel already uses the solution.
“We have already seen a significant
improvement in agent productivity and customer service
levels in those markets that have already deployed
Agency Manager,” added Mr Jennewein.
BAA Reports UK Airport Traffic for June 2009
Posted , add a commentBAA’s UK airports handled a total of 12.7
million passengers in June 2009, a reduction of 5.9% on the same
month last year.
Despite traffic volumes remaining in decline the
June figures still represent the best underlying group result
since September 2008.
In June 2009, traffic volumes were at
their highest for nine months, setting aside the distortion in
April and March’s figures due to the fact that Easter fell in
April this year and in March in 2008.
Although all key markets were lower in
June than a year earlier, all except the European
Charter market improved on their performance for the
last six months.
Domestic traffic was 8.1% down
in June and European Scheduled by 2.8%. North Atlantic
traffic was 9.4% lower, but other long haul traffic was almost
level with last year at -0.2%.
Of the individual airports, Heathrow
recorded a decline of 3.1%, stronger than the other
airports because of its hub status and the resultant
growth in transfer passengers.
Gatwick was 7.6% down on last year,
Stansted was 11.5% down and Southampton was 7.9% down.
For the third consecutive month,
Edinburgh Airport (+1.4%) recorded growth, while Glasgow
and Aberdeen recorded decreases of 10.9% and 9.8%
respectively.
In total the number of air transport
movements at BAA’s UK airports was 6.3% lower in June.
The decline in cargo activity continued but for the
second month in succession there was a marked shrinkage
in the rate of decrease. This had been 21.8% in April
but was 13.7% in June.
Rezidor signs Hotel in Wroclaw, Poland
Posted , add a commentRezidor has signed a management contract for its
second hotel in Poland.
The Park Inn Wroclaw, featuring 206 rooms, is
scheduled to open its doors at the beginning of 2012; right in
time for the UEFA European Football Championship when Poland and
Ukraine will be the host nations of the final tournament.
“This is our second Park Inn in Poland after the
Park Inn Krakow,” said Kurt Ritter, President & CEO of Rezidor.
“At the same time it brings our portfolio in Eastern Europe to 75
hotels with 18,000 rooms in operation and under development – a
clear sign for our commitment to this emerging region.”
The Park Inn Wroclaw will benefit from
excellent visibility, located along one of the main
arterial roads leading to the city centre and near to an
international transit routes to Katowice, Krakow, Berlin
and Czech Republic.
Besides the 206 modern
and colourful rooms, the hotel will
offer a restaurant and lobby bar. For business travellers,
extensive conference facilities will spread over 800 m? with large
parking facilities for cars and buses to accommodate larger group
arrivals.
Wrocław is a beautiful city with Bohemian, Austrian and Prussian influences – the most famous architectural and
cultural masterpiece is the magnificent market square.
The city is
located on the Odra River and enjoys idyllic surroundings
including 12 islands, 130 bridges and several parks.
Fans of Wrocław are in good company: Pablo Picasso said he found the post
war reconstruction of the city a powerful inspiration, and the
British historians Norman Davies and Roger Moorhouse used Wrocław
as the model for their highly readable Microcosm: A Portrait of a
Central European City (2003).
But Wrocław is not just a pretty
face: It is Poland’s fourth-largest city and the major industrial,
commercial and educational centre for the region. At the same time
it is a lively cultural centre, with several theatres, some major
festivals, rampant nightlife and a large student community.
Hilton Promotes Andrew Flack to VP of Global Brand Marketing
Posted , add a commentHilton Hotels has promoted Andrew Flack to the
position of Vice President - Global Brand Marketing for the Hilton
brand.
In this newly created position, Andrew
will have
oversight for Hilton brand marketing strategies and functions
worldwide. Those functional areas include advertising, public
relations, strategic partnerships and brand promotions for the
leisure and business segments, as well as Hilton Hotels
Corporation graphics and, identity and hotel online tools and
resources.
Additionally, he will
support Hilton Worldwide Resorts
marketing and business development efforts for the Customer
Marketing group, Hilton HHonors programs, and hotel opening
marketing initiatives.
A 20-year hotel industry veteran, Andrew was
previously Vice President Sales and Marketing – Hilton Asia
Pacific, where he created a new marketing organization in support
of Hilton’s emerging growth markets and extended its global sales
network into new countries such as India and Korea.
Previous
assignments have taken Andrew to Europe, Australia, and the
Caribbean. Between 2003 and 2006 Andrew led Sales & Marketing for
Australasia, where he was part of the team that re-built and
re-launched Hilton Sydney.
Andrew’s earlier career included seven
years as a Hotel General Manager, managing Hilton properties in
the UK and Australia.
Born in Malta, Andrew is a dual
citizen of Britain and Australia and holds an MBA from the
Australian Graduate School of Management.
Finnair Signs Full Content Agreement with Travelport GDS
Posted , add a commentTravelport GDS has signed a new full content
agreement with Finnish flag-carrier Finnair.
The agreement will
provide all Travelport GDS-connected travel agents worldwide with
access to the airline’s entire published inventory and fares.
Tom Kallstrom, vice president for Finnair said,
“We are happy that we were able to conclude the agreement with
Travelport GDS, which significantly strengthens our multi-channel
distribution strategy. Finnair is committed to developing its
business network and as such, this new agreement will provide this
all important link to the agents.”
Finnair is one of the world’s oldest operating
airlines, established in 1923. Its operations focus on
transporting passengers between Europe and Asia, via Helsinki.