International Amadeus Partners Event took place in Skolkovo innovation centre for the second time and brought together top management of Amadeus and leaders of the aviation and tourism business from 20 countries. The conference was attended by Amadeus partners Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, as well as Czech Republic, Germany, France, Israel, Latvia, Poland, Spain, UK, USA, – more than 350 guests came to Skolkovo.
The main topic of the conference was a paradigm shift in the tourism and aviation industry, the introduction the New Distribution Capability (NDC), and a deep-dive into the strategy of digital transformation for successful growth. Amadeus presented its vision of the industry development. Top managers of key business units of the European offices of Amadeus made their presentations – Innovations, Mobile, Travel Channels (Retail, Online, Business Travel), Airlines & Navitaire, Digital Advertising, Hospitality & TravelClick, and Rail.
Anna Kofoed, Senior Vice President, Retail for Northern, Eastern, Central and Southern Europe, Amadeus:
“By 2025, 30% of all the world’s business activities will go via digital platforms, and companies have to think their platform strategy. Tourism industry is also looking forward to a platform economy. Based on unique expertise and technological innovations, Amadeus has its own ecosystem of digital platforms – aviation, hotel, rail, airport, tourism and Amadeus Travel Platform. Participants of such an ecosystem will be able to interact effectively in an open and dynamic digital space.”
Champa Magesh, Executive Vice President, Retail, Travel Channels and Managing Director, EMEA, Amadeus:
“We presented a key element of our new strategy at the conference in Moscow – Amadeus Travel Platform. This unites the content and services of various suppliers into a single convenient resource available for both online and offline sales. We also see continuous growth of multimedia content, which will also be an important part of our offer for the tourism industry. Technology allows consumers to engage in experiences: AI, IoT, Voice, Smart cities, augmented reality, – today we are well positioned to support these new trends.”
The continuous evolution of the Amadeus Travel Platform includes the development of powerful management tools that enable travel agencies to identify content sources, interfaces, preferred options, payment systems and more. Therefore, travel agents around the world will be able to develop and personalize the offer for each traveler, as well as optimize each trip according to corporate policies.
Leonid Marmer, the head of the Eastern Europe region and Amadeus General Director in Russia:
“In an era of global digital transformation, major changes are taking place in almost all the segments of our professional life. Leading players and experts of the travel market of Russia and the CIS met at the international Amadeus Partners Event to continue the dialogue and exchange views on the future of the industry for the second time. I am glad that the format and theme of our event did not leave anyone indifferent. Amadeus Partners Event is becoming a good tradition and attracts new partners, and the geography of participants is expanding.”
The panel discussions focused on challenges around the digital transformation, the specifics of the NDC standard and the prospects for the non-air sector, including accommodation offers and rail travel.
Participants had an opportunity to get acquainted with innovative solutions of Amadeus and industry partners, to communicate personally with experts In the Marketplace exhibition area.
About Amadeus
Amadeus’ solutions connect travellers to the journeys they want through travel agents, search engines, tour operators, airlines, airports, hotels, cars and railways. The company has developed technology in partnership with the travel industry for over 30 years. It helps connect over 1.6 billion people a year to local travel providers in over 190 countries. The purpose of Amadeus is to shape the future of travel.
Amadeus signs a landmark hospitality distribution agreement with Booking.com to integrate its accommodation content into the Amadeus Travel Platform for the first time.
The International Congress and Convention Association has published its country and city rankings by estimated total number of participants as part of its public abstract of the 2018 statistics report, offering an alternative perspective on the growth of the association meetings market.
Volvo Cars and ride-hailing firm Uber have presented a jointly developed production car capable of driving by itself. The Volvo XC90 SUV is the first production car that in combination with Uber’s self-driving system is capable of fully driving itself. The car is drive-ready production vehicle.
In the autumn, St. Petersburg was visited by Swiss tennis player Stanislas Wawrinka. Here is an interview that Swiss school students took part in with the tennis celebrity and later illustrated with photographs from Stanislas’ performances at the St. Petersburg Open.