TravelBizBuzz

Rail suppliers continue to attract the attention of the GDS channel.

Amadeus announced today that East Japan Railway (EJR) is now selling its passes on the Amadeus airline display, thanks to a global agreement with AccesRail and Amadeus.

Amadeus’ deal with EJR gives its agents the ability to build trip itineraries that include rail passes -- and, importantly, provide customers with those passes before they travel to Japan.according to a press release.

Key: Amadeus believes that the rail sector has “global potential for further expansion.” But “to encourage rail providers to sell their content internationally, they need a solution which is easy to use and requires little training,” noted Albert Pozo, managing director of travel & leisure for Amadeus.

Meanwhile the company announced just last week that it signed an exclusive deal with rail distribution company Wandrian, to offer non-European travel agents global rail content.

Sabre Travel Network has also put its hand in the game, having announced May 29 that it is distributing EJR inventory to Sabre Connected agents (see TDR Vol. 15, No. 13 for more information).

In addition, Worldspan is hot on the rail vertical with its new Worldspan Go! Rail Booking Tool.

Watch for: That leaves Galileo as the lone GDS that’s remained in the background when it comes to new rail distribution capabilities -- at least until the Worldspan-Travelport deal closes. Time will tell if Galileo will jump in while the iron’s hot and join its current GDS competitors in the rail world.

Posted by TDR at 03:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Amtrak will be improving its global access for agents booking US rail tickets, thanks to a direct connection with RailAgent.com.

The Web-based booking system, RailAgent, developed by global rail travel distributor and technology company Wandrian, will directly connect travel agents to Amtrak’s own reservation system, Wandrian explained in a Nov. 6 press release.

The system, which will become operational at the beginning of 2007, will allow international travel professionals to book tickets and passes in real time, print ticket information and receive higher commissions.

“We anticipate that this system will increase sales by reaching numerous Wandrian retail and business-to-business customers in over 40 countries, including the U.K., Australia, Japan, Germany and Canada,” noted Barbara Richardson, Amtrak’s VP of marketing and sales.

Posted by TDR at 05:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Rail global distribution technology provider Wandrian is riding high on the growth of key international markets.

The company announced today that its North American operation experienced a 101-percent increase in overall sales through Q3 2006 over the same period in 2005. And that’s despite a fairly flat travel market growth, Wandrian told TRB.

The company also announced 85-percent growth in its UK operations and “has seen encouraging market penetration from newly-created Australian operations.”

Wandrian’s trade platform, RailAgent.com, has proved to be the company’s highest performing channel, having registered 8,000 new travel agents to book train tickets since the beginning of the year.

“With demand for international travel up by only 4 to 5 percent this year, we are thrilled to report that Wandrian has seen such a tremendous growth in its online and trade partnerships,” said Bernard Frelat, CEO of Wandrian. “These are exciting times for us; more and more business and leisure travelers want to travel by train.”

Posted by TDR at 05:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)