Sojern, founded in 2007, says it will use the money to expand its product offerings.

Among its offerings, Sojern displays advertising on boarding passesand itineraries when travelers check-in for their flights online. Partners include Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Hawaiian Airlines, US Airways, United Airlines and Travelport.

Sojern says it “offers advertisers cross-channel marketing solutions by leveraging real traveler data to form powerful audience segments and analytical insights.”

Sojern raised $16 million in a previous round and plans to use the new funding for mobile advertising solutions, according to vatornews.

The company, normally known for its B2B services with such industry sectors as airlines and insurance providers, has unleashed two iPhone applications this week to iTunes, one covering trip planning and another attempting to make travel more sociable.

The first, Travelplan, claims to be the only app in the marketplace that has timetable information for 750,000 scheduled flights and access to around 15,000 hotels on a directory.

The accommodation information includes details number of rooms, facilities and contact details. Users can select different elements of a trip and bundle into an itinerary.

Collinson is making great play of the offline status of the app, meaning users do not need to tap into a live data stream to access content.

Air data is provided by FlightStats.

The second app, Fly&Share, which Collinson has decided to charge £5.99 ($8), works as a trip update system so that users can notify other people in their social networks and address books when they are using a particular travel service.

The user enters the detail of a service and the app automatically sends messages at various points during a flight, for example, allowing people to learn when an aircraft has taken off or landed.

Asked why the company has developed two separate services instead of combining into a single product, an official says:

“Potentially in the future they will be, but they are two single minded products to serve different needs at different stages of the travel journey.

“There is also the logical disconnect in the middle – Travelplan allows you to identify the trip you want to take, but you haven’t booked anything yet. Fly&Share allows you to share confirmed and current travel.”

Collinson says the two apps are the first in a suite of different B2C travel products, primarily as a testing vehicle to evaluate requirements of consumers.

“What do people want? Will they use it, will they pay for it? We are also testing Apple – what are the boundaries? How much data can we put out on a phone etc, and how we connect to Facebook and Twitter.”

Here’s the video, entry #4 in Farelogix’s Ask the Question series:

Of course, when American Airlines threatened to withdraw from the Sabre GDS several years ago, some major travel management companies signed on with Farelogix, which distributes airline content, to access American and other carriers as a sort of GDS insurance in the event that major carriers opt to quit a GDS or two.

Perhaps Farelogix should be asked some questions, as well.

What would it do to your value proposition if American Airlines or Air Canada decided to give you only a portion of their content? Would that be good for Farelogix and its TMC clients?

Probably not.

And does Farelogix, which is set up to distribute American Airlines’ ancillary services, which aren’t in the GDSs, benefit if airlines decline to deliver full content to GDSs?

I think the answer would have to be yes.

Still, does Farelogix make any valid points in the video?

Do full-content deals hurt travel agencies economically, thwart airline innovation and force travel agencies to compete on price?

After all, the GDSs will be negotiating full-content agreements with major U.S. airlines in 2011, although the term “full-content” is a misnomer since so much inventory these days is offered exclusively on Twitter, Facebook or airline websites.

But, what do you think about Farelogix’s main points?

Yes, of course it is. What Google does, matters. However, we seem to be missing the long-term picture. Google is mainly great at keyword based search.

But will keyword based search be the dominant search form in 20 years? Ten years? Five years even? Doubt it.

Mobile search is much more about location. Ecommerce search will be much more about your social connections and their experience with the same product.

If I am still typing in keywords in five years time I consider that as bad as travel agents still typing in cryptic command line messages for flight/hotel bookings. (And, yes, I understand the efficiency argument about an expert using a concise well matured language).

What is the alternative to keyword search? Well one step forward is destination/travel date based search. Not exactly a UI panacea but probably more useful than a keyword based research query in terms of pitching back destination inspiration ideas or available travel product.

Yet, Google is not winning that game. In fact it is not even playing in it. The game has changed and it is Bing with its Farecast acquisition just 16 months ago which is playing the game of converting mainstream searches from keyword based search to destination/date based.

Is that 16 month head start sufficient? Will Bing have built sufficient knowledge to be able to fend off any Google-ITA mainstream solution?

It’s a big question. I don’t have the answer. What I am sure though is that Google have a fight on their hands and they are not first to market. In that situation regulators are bound to give them the green light.

If Google ultimately lose the battle (such as it has with book ecommerce moving to consumers searching on Amazon first) then I believe they will regret the five year period between 2005 and 2010 where it basically squandered a lead.

Can you name a single big innovation in travel search that Google has delivered to market in the last five years? Nope.

Oddly, Expedia is making noises about the Google-ITA Software deal expressing concerns to the US Justice Department.

But Expedia is actually in the same boat as Google. Expedia has also squandered a leading travel search position. Compare for example this 2003 hotel search result to a 2010 version.

2003

2010

Remarkably similar, although the Expedia quality rating has been replaced with a user generated one and wireless has trumped breakfast!

What both Expedia and Google have achieved is the fallacy of the local maximum.

They have both made brilliant efficiencies on their core UI design. Undeniable. However, alternatives now exist that are fundamentally different and none of this will be uncovered by A/B testing that just sandpapers existing approaches.

[NB: Expedia continues to keep the faith, as Dan Lynn, managing director of Expedia Asia-Pacific, told a conference in Sydney this week: "Whenever we A/B test, consumers confirm that the typical layout of OTA is the right one"]

The tortoises are just building up momentum and could overtake the hare.

2 September 2010:

• Philippines low cost carrier to unbundle fares with Sabre [full story]
• Travelport points finger at airlines over ancillary development [full story]

1 September 2010:

• Sabre sells Nexion subsidiary to travel management firm Tzell. Sabre bought Nexicon, a host agency for travel agents, in 2003. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
• Amadeus releases H1 2010 results [full story]

30 August 2010:

• Sabre added features to its new Sabre Red desktop, including new search capabilities from Sabre Cruises, Tnooz editorial content through AgentStream, and Virtually There flight-status notifications.

28 August 2010:

• Amadeus seeks to move in on ITA Software turf — US market [full story]

27 August 2010:

• Amadeus and SNCF pledge to improve rail ticket distribution. The pair are introducing a new system to agencies to allow to book French rail fares and Rail Europe tickets, using existing Amadeus Selling Platform and PNR technology.
• Travelport – the waiting game [full story]

24 August 2010:

• DerbySoft and Amadeus unite to give travel agents access to mid-range and independent hotels in China. More than 103,000 travel agencies in the Amadeus network will be able to source and book properties on the Shanghai-based DerbySoft system.

20 August 2010:

• Amadeus and Deutsche Bahn reveal Chinese agency plans. The pair have collaborated to open the German rail giant’s first travel agency in China, using booking technology from Amadeus to sell DB tickets and other European rail providers.

19 August 2010:

• Travelport appoints new airline directors for Australia-New Zealand and South East Asia. Ex-Travelport director of sales for Australia, Ailsa Brown will be based in Sydney and takes responsibility for commercial opportunities and ancillary revenue as part of the new Universal Desktop programme. Chan Tze Yuan will have a similar role, based Singapore, covering Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Brunei.

18 August 2010:

• Amadeus and OAG agree to extend existing technology and intelligence partnership. The deal means the pair share technology and data for schedules, flight status, and end-to-end travel information and other selected services.
• Travelport appoints new country manager for Australia and New Zealand. Sean Cummins joins from AOT Group and previously held positions at Amadeus, Flairview and Constellation Hotel Group.

17 August 2010:

• Tzell Travel Group partners with Sabre Travel Network for mobile services. The US-based corporate travel agency will use Sabre’s TripCase system for trip management and alert services for clients.

16 August 2010:

• Sabre Travel Network partners with Kanoo Travel in the Middle East. Kanoo, one of the latest travel agency groups in the Middle East, will use the Sabre GDS to supply content and other technology to agents in Iraq.

12 August 2010:

• Travelport plans a $250 million private offering of senior notes, which would be used to reduce debt and for business development, the company says.

• Cathay Pacific and Travelport ink five-year distribution deal. The standard agreement gives Apollo, Worldspan and Galileo-connected agents full access to the airline’s content and fares.

9 August 2010

• Amadeus debuted its Amadeus One open technology platform at the National Business Travel Association conference in Houston today. Amadeus says the platform enables travel agency users of its Web-based desktop to use an “an open, service-oriented architecture” to integrate existing and new IT tools and service.

• Also at the NBTA gathering, Sabre presented its Sabre Red Business Intelligence product, which blends TRX’s TRAVELTRAX data reporting and consolidation features with historical data from Sabre’s database.

6 August 2010

• Sabre’s GetThere unit developed a portal so clients can tab through travel, meetings, expense and social networking offerings using a single sign-on, the company says.

• Travel Management Partners signed a new long-term agreement with Travelport GDS.

• Travelport’s GTA unit appointed David Painter chief operating officer, effective immediately. Based in London and reporting to GTA President and CEO Ken Esterow, Painter will handle global hotel contracting and inbound operations, Travelport says.

5 August 2010

• TravelPort reported its second quarter 2010 earnings. In its GDS business, net revenue increased 1% to $520 million, compared to the year-earlier period, and EBITDA for the segment dropped 4% to $160 million. See the full results press release here, and a related story here.

4 August 2010:

• Travelport extended its content agreement with United Airlines through 2013 and says travel agents connected to its GDSs will be able to book the airline’s Economy Plus seating later this year. Full story here.

• Sabre says it began the global rollout of its new agency platform, the Sabre Red Workspace.

• Amadeus North America bolsters commercial team with new VP Darrin Deck. Ex-TRX vice president of product operations, Deck joins as VP for sales and account management covering both the US and Canada, based in Chicago.

3 August 2010:

• Joint technology product from Travelport-Rearden Commerce secures Nippon Express as first customer. The technology is a Travelport-branded version of the Reasons Personal Assistant system, giving TMCs access to travel management tools as well as existing air, car hire and hotel services.

2 August 2010:

• Travelport signs multi-year agreement with Kuoni. The extended deal with Travelport covers 11 countries and gives the long haul tour operator access to a number of Galileo applications and ticketing systems.
• Amadeus integrates Hotel Shopper tool for Vacation Link users in North America. The service is boosted by partnering with CCRA Travel Solutions, giving agents access to over 160,000 hotel properties worldwide.
• Travelport agrees air fare distribution partnership with Proflight Zambia. Full ticket and distribution content from the carrier will be available for five years for Galileo-connected agents.

30 July 2010:

• Russian travel agency chain Sputnik signs agreement with Travelport for GDS services. The deal was sealed through Travelport’s Russian travel partner and online flight search provider AlpOnline and sees Sputnik agencies gain access to low-cost carrier and scheduled fares.

28 July 2010:

• Travelport renews long-term relationship with Cassidy Travel. The Ireland-based travel agency group will extend its 17-year agreement with Travelport to use the Worldspan GDS platform for air, hotel and car hire products.

27 July 2010:

• Standard message: Sabre, Amadeus, Travelport step in line over Open Axis [full story]
• Sabre claims huge jump in revenue for Mamaison after technology switch. The chain apparently saw a 100% leap after switching ten properties across Central and Eastern Europe as a result of changing to the SynXis CRS by Sabre Hospitality Solutions.

23 July 2010:

• GetThere agrees seat sale strategy with United Airlines. The Sabre-run GetThere will handle United’s Economy Plus range from later this year, a decision Sabre claims is a first for any travel management system.

22 July 2010:

• Amadeus and Premier Inn sign global distribution deal.  The agreement sees 580 of the budget hotel chain’s properties made available through the Amadeus GDS across its worldwide network of agencies.
• Study: Winners in airline ancillary revenue [full story]

21 July 2010:

• Sabre Travel Network signs agreement with US-based Tzell Travel Group and Travel Leaders Corporate. The two agencies are part of the Travel Leaders Group and have penned a long term technology agreement with Sabre, including use of its new Sabre Red initiative.

20 July 2010:

• Amadeus partners with Airconomy to launch market intelligence service. The pair have created a product, Amadeus Total Demand by Airconomy, to provide market data for airlines, airports and travel agencies on routes around the world, including distribution from low-cost carriers and via direct sales.

19 July 2010:

• Travelport announces investment in Bahrain. The company has taken over distribution of its Galileo platform following end of agreement with Middle East Computer Services (part of Al Safar Group) and will service existing clients from new operation in Manama.

15 July 2010:

• Avis Budget Group and Travelport sign multi-year distribution agreement. The deal hands agents on the Galileo and Worldspan platform full access to ABG’s operations in over 70 different countries around the world.
• Travelport gushing over strong start to Leisure agent portal [full story]

13 July 2010:

• Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts renews distribution agreement with Sabre. The chain of 66 Shangri-La properties around the world will continue to use Sabre’s SynXis Central Reservation System, part of Sabre Hospitality Solutions, claiming a 35% increase in GDS revenue year-on-year.

10 July 2010:

• Thomas Cook will use Travelport for new European online travel agency [full story]

9 July 2010:

• Travelport and Continental sign full GDS agreement [full story and analysis]

8 July 2010:

• Sabre acquires flight crew management system [full story]
• Travelport unveils major airfare partnership for Russia [full story]

6 July 2010:

• Travelport appoints new country manager for Spain. Antonio Loureiro comes with 18 years experience in the GDS sector and will also cover Travelport’s interrests in Portugal and Brazil.
• Amadeus to trial new ancillary services platform through CorsairFly [full story]
• Sabre Travel Network signs Hogg Robinson Group to TripCase mobile programme. HRG will give clients access to a dedicated TripCase travel itinerary platform allowing them to manage travel plans and communicate directly with agents.

5 July 2010:

• Travelport named as preferred GDS partner for TTA Worldchoice. The agreement is an extension of a nine-year  relationship with Worldchoice and now includes the agency members of the Travel Trust Association.
• Amadeus bolsters Ireland and Scotland teams. Siobhan Bocket joins as commercial manager after 11 years with American Holidays in Northern Ireland.

3 July 2010:

• Amadeus signs three-year partnership with Kanoo Travel. The three-year partnership with Kanoo, a major corporate travel agency in the Middle East, includes use of the Amadeus E-Travel Management software to process bookings and fares.

1 July 2010:

• Senior executive appointments at Sabre Airlines Solutions. Ex-McKinsey consultant Sanjay Nanda joins as senior vice president of consulting and solutions delivery; Sabre veteran Mark Silagy moves to SAS team to become senior vice president of customer care and support; Peter Morowski (ex-Borland, Dell and Novell) becomes senior vice president of airline products development.

30 June 2010:

• Sabre inks technology deal with Avior Airlines. The airline will be the first airline to use the Electronic Miscellaneous Document element of the wider Sabre merchandising platform  [full story]

25 June 2010:

• Travelport IPO resurrection gaining momentum, New York replaces London [full story]
• Web agency accidently posts Travelport agency project screenshots on Facebook [full story]

22 June 2010:

• Sabre Hospitality Solutions claims 1,000 hotel properties have moved to its SynXis CRS in the past 12 months. Major chains making the switch include Preferred Hotel Group, Kimpton Hotels and Thon Hotels.

21 June 2010:

• Zonder and Travelport ink GDS distribution deal for vacation rentals. The deal will see the Worldspan GDS take real-time availability and booking for the Zonder portfolio of properties to agent desktops.

17 June 2010:

• Amadeus creates two vice president positions for EMEA. Angel Gallego and Holger Taubmann will be VPs for Western Europe, Middle East and Africa and Northern, Central and Eastern Europe respectively.

10 June 2010:

• Marriott and Travelport sign long-term agreement. The five-year deal sees the hotel chain implement a direct-connect to the Worldpsan and Galileo GDSs, allowing booking for all Travelport connected agents to 3,400 properties around the world.

9 June 2010:

• Webjet builds new e-pricing product in conjunction with Travelport. The system, created with Travelport Galileo, is designed to give Webjet’s Australian customers the ability to book cheaper international flights where they do not mind an extra stopover.

8 June 2010:

• LAN Airlines signs distribution agreement with Travelport. The deal, which begins immediately, will see all LAN content streamed through the Worldspan and Galileo GDS to connected agents.

5 June 2010:

• Travelport introduces FlexiShopper tool for Taiwan and Hong Kong agents. The FlexiShopper system plugs into the existing Galileo desktop and is meant to improve the process for how agents search for flights.

3 June 2010:

• Amadeus tech survey of Irish travel agents: 80% of business agents spend majority of the day modifying bookings and processing sales; 90% of leisure agents spend “some time” or “too much time” researching new bookings.
• Rearden Commerce and Travelport sign technology agreement for the US and Canada. The partnership will see the Rearden platform added to the suite of corporate bookings tools, including Traversa.

31 May 2010:

• Travelport shuffles GDS executive line-up in Japan and Korea. Ex-Worldspan business development manager in the Pacific, Hiroshi Shimizu becomes commercial head in Japan, South Korea and Guam. He will also oversee airline, hotel, rail and car hire relationships for Travelport GDS in the same countries and Fiji.

26 May 2010:

• Travelport and Statesman Travel sign technology and distribution agreement. The London-based travel management company (sales of $1.3 billion a year) will continue to use the Galileo GDS and also plans to implement the Travelport Universal Desktop later this year.

20 May 2010:

• Touchdown Holidays and Sabre Holdings seal long-term technology pact. The UK-based travel provider for industry employees will primarily use Sabre’s Web Services technology to improve its online proposition.

19 May 2010:

• Sabre Holdings signs agreement with Travellers Choice. The Australia-based company will partner with the Pacific division of Sabre on a long term agreement to supply content across its network of agents.

18 May 2010:

• Travelport plots intriguing move, buys travel search engine Sprice (full story)

13 May 2010:

• Accor and Sabre unite for distribution deal. Sabre Hospitality Solutions to connect 4,000 Accor properties around Europe to the Sabre GDS using the tech firms DCX system.

14 May 2010:

• Public company Amadeus, with Opodo in hand, is back reporting quarterly results [full story]
• Amadeus Q1 2010 results – bitesize summary [full story]

12 May 2010:

• Amadeus happy with Opodo ownership as rumour mill turns [full story]
• Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants signs distribution agreement with Sabre Holdings. The US-based chain has 49 properties across the country and will use the SynXis Central Reservation System provided Sabre Hospitality Solutions to push rates and availability to OTAs and the GDS.

7 May 2010:

• Amadeus appoints new commercial director. Based in Crawley, UK, Scott Davies joins from British Airways where he has spent the last ten years in a number of positions across agency and corporate divisions.
• Sabre and Carlson Hotels sign booking technology agreement. The hotel chain will be a “beta customer” for the Sabre Hospitality Solutions‘ Direct Comment XML platform, plugging into 55,000 travel agent locations worldwide.

6 May 2010:

• Middle East airline Emirates and Travelport sign distribution deal. The content agreement covers Galileo, Worldspan and Apollo and runs for five years.

5 May 2010:

• Travelport announces the promotion of Kurt Ekert to chief commercial officer. Ekert, who takes over on June 1, is currently chief operating officer for GTA by Travelport and succeeds Armin Meier who is leaving after two years to pursue “a new business venture outside the travel industry”.

4 May 2010:

• Amadeus claims record figures for its Altea Suite system. In 2009 the data centre processed 238 million passengers, a jump of 23% y/y.
• Travelport’s GTA division signs distribution deal with Marriott International. The partnership covers the Marriott, Renaissance, Courtyard, Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn, TownePlaces and Springhill brands and will be available to all GTA agent and operator customers.

28 April 2010:

• Travelport announces Michael Buhr as chief executive for Consumer and New Ventures. Buhr was most recently entrepreneur-in-residence at venture capital firm Shasta Ventures, adivising companies in the areas of consumer internet, online discovery and mobile.
• Amadeus sets IPO price at Euro 11 per share, gears up for The Big Day [full story]

27 April 2010:

• Hotel H2o signs software deal with Amadeus. The new luxury hotel in the Philippine capital of Manila, part of the WorldHotels collection, will use the property management IT system from Amadeus.

26 April 2010:

• Sabre and Aeroflot extend existing reservation handling agreement. The airline will also use the SabreSonic Web system to handle online bookings.

20 April 2010:

• Sabre pushes Traveller Security and Data Suite into Asia Pacific region. The move coincides with recent events in Europe as travel firms tracked and reptriated customers following the European ash cloud crisis.

19 April 2010:

• Travelport releases upgraded version of CrossCheck Travel Enterprise (CCTE). The system is used by travel agents in Australia and New Zealand and provides mid/back office tools from accounting and financial reporting through to itineraries, bookings and customer relationship management (CRM).

15 April 2010:

• Travelport signs distribution deals for Azerbaijan and Georgia. The Galileo and Worldspan platforms will be available through an agreement with Galileo Caucasus.

14 April 2010:

• Amadeus reveals details of IPO [full story]

13 April 2010:

• Travelport travel review service launches in the Middle East. The roll-out of Travelport Opinions, a system for travel agents and tour operators to share holiday and property reviews and developed by Vinivi, follows launches first in France and then the UK & Ireland.

9 April 2010:

• TransHotel and Amadeus unite to create Hotel Store for Indian travel agencies. The portal will reside in the existing Amadeus Selling Platform and give agents access to the Transhotel portfolio. Data will be automatically included in CheckMyTrip.

8 April 2010:

• Amadeus claims increase in market share in Asia-Pacific to 33% of air bookings. 2009 report also says the company achieved 45% share in Africa and the Middle East.

7 April 2010:

• Amadeus announces renewals and a new deal for its Ireland division. WeTravel2.com is a business win for Amadeus while travel agencies Navan Travel, Travel Focus, East Cork Travel, and Kanes Travel are extensions of existing deals.
• Travelport and IBM sign software integration deal [full story].

6 April 2010:

• British Airways and Sabre Airline Solutions extend GDS distribution agreement [full story]
• Stargate Cyber Active and Travelport renew partnership for the Middle East. Tthe multi-year agreement gives Stargate exclusive rights to distribute Worldspan technology and services to travel agencies in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

3 April 2010:

• One Stop Shop Group selects Galileo for GDS services in India. The Travelport-run platform is the supplier of services from InterGlobe Technologies Quotient in the subcontinent and will power OSS flight and rail booking systems.

1 April 2010:

• Travelport and ATPI sign extension to content distribution agreement. The travel management company serves customers in 13 countries in Europe and the US and the deal will include technology to recent ATPI acquisition marine travel specialist Instone International.

31 March 2010:

• Travelport and Copa Airlines sign new global content distribution deal. The Latin American airline will push all fares and availability through the Worldspan and Galileo systems to connected agents.

3o March 2010:

• Sabre Holdings agrees to buy Icelandic revenue management firm Calidris. The company will become part of the Sabre Airline Solutions division and be made available immediately to 300 airlines on the Sabre system.
• Travelport signs partnership with Global Travel Services to distribute GDS services to travel agencies in Uzbekistan. The agreement is an extension of an existing deal to run GDS services through GTS in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

29 March 2010:

• Travelport launches new Galileo desktop for Hong Kong agents. The Desktop 2.0 Enhanced Customer Service tool is bi-lingual (Chinese and English) uses a drop-box system to collate data before sending to a central customer unit. The service will be rolled out across Asia later.

25 March 2010:

• Siteworx and Sabre Hospitality Solutions unite for Mandarin Oriental Group mobile website project. The site allows customers to search and book across the Mandarin network of properties and is available on smartphone and other devices.

24 March 2010:

• WestJet to sell seat assignments through Travelport [full story]
• Amadeus launches online booking engine for Myanmar Airways. The system uses the Amadeus e-Retail, Web e-Ticketing and Payment Gateway product and is aimed at opening up the airline’s domestic and international routes to a wider audience.

23 March 2010:

• Travelport and the first low-cost carrier outside of South Africa, Fly540, sign content distribution deal. Fares and schedules will be available on both the Worldspan and Galileo platforms.
• Amadeus announces 2009 full-year results [top-line summary]
• Air India partners with Sabre to integrate airline optimisation technology. The carrier will be equipped with Sabre AirVision and Sabre AirCentre suites allowing it to move towards a fully integrated flight control system.

19 March 2010:

• Trailfinders and Travelport agree multi-year deal for the Galileo system. The agreement is an extension of its existing relationship.
• Amadeus and TellMeMore sign agreement to handle the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility programme. The agreement, which aims to promote joint projects to contribute to the economic and social development of disadvantaged areas and social segments, is aimed in particular at enhancing capabilities and competitiveness in tourism in Latin America, Africa and Asia-Pacific.

18 March 2010:

• CCRA Travel Solutions selected by Amadeus to power hotel content on the Amadeus Vacation Link brand. Vacation Link is a booking portal for leisure travel agents in the US and Canada to book vacation travel products.

17 March 2010:

• Amadeus launches mobile version of CheckMyTrip [full story]
• Travelport announces 2009 full-year results [top-line summary]
• Sabre Hospitality Solutions claims new client Red Carnation has seen a massive 57% uplift in bookings since integrating new voice software and call centre tools for the hotel chain. The average daily rate has increased by 4% over the same period since late-2009.

16 March 2010:

• Amadeus hires Scott Alvis as new senior vice president for its airline division in the Americas. Alvis previously ran his own airline distribution consultancy business and had worked for Sabre including heading the company’s SynXis programme.
• Ness Technologies and Amadeus complete first year of partnership with news of 150 people joining the programme. Software support firm Ness works with the R&D wing of Amadeus on ecommerce projects such as its CheckMyTrip tool.

15 March 2010:

• Middle East airline Etihad and Travelport sign full content agreement. The five-year deal gives Worldspan and Galileo-connected agents access to all of the airline’s published inventory of flights and fares.

14 March 2010:

• Travel agents in United Arab Emirates handed SMS capability through Amadeus. Travel agents able to alert travellers with details about itineraries, e-tickets and flight information.

12 March 2010:

• Shearings Holidays and Amadeus sign GDS content distribution package. The three-year agreement will give Shearings worldwide access to fares, schedules and inventories across the Amadeus system.

10 March 2010:

• Amadeus launches LinkHotel, a distribution service for small to medium size hotels and groups. LinkHotel also provides reservation tools, marketing services, and commission handling.
• Amadeus division Traveltainment acquires online marketing company Pixell. The Bonn, Germany-based company handles advertising for clients through SEO, SEM, display marketing, direct marketing and affiliate marketing as well as Twitter, social networks or mobile devices.
• Travelport unveils Opinions review system in the UK and Ireland. The service, which had a successful launch in France in mid-2009, allows agents to review hotel properties and ask questions of other experts on the system.

9 March 2010:

• Net Trans and Travelport ink deal to provide hotel commission recovery to Travelport agents around the world. The Net Trans system allows agents to see how much commission has been paid or owed by a supplier as well as managing processes between the two.

8 March 2010:

• Best Western International signs enhanced contract with GTA by Travelport to boost distribution of the chain’s property descriptions
• LOT Polish Airlines and Amadeus agree extension to technology partnership to extend to the Star Alliance Common IT platform inventory system. The new agreement will complete in in the second half of 2010 and also see an upgrade to its customer management system and use of the wider Star Alliance platform.
• Sabre reveals programme with data management firm iWay Software. The Airline Solutions division of Sabre has worked with iWay to audit and analyse the Airport Data Intelligence programme, a system which tracks capacity and other details of every flight in the world.

6 March 2010:

• Bangkok Airways and Amadeus unite for travel agency promotion. Agents booking tickets on the airline through the Amadeus GDS are also entered in a prize draw. Both organisations claim an immediate increase in bookings following the launch – the promotion runs until 31 May 2010.

5 March 2010:

• Agencia Abreu seals multi-year deal with Travelport to use the Galileo GDS system. The Portuguese travel agency, one of the largest in the country and in existence since 1840, has 120 offices around the country and also a sizeable presence in the US and Brazil.

4 March 2010:

• Amadeus signs agreement to evaluate use of the Altea Customer Management System with Asiana Airlines. The Memo of Understanding will explore for future use of the Altea system for reservation, inventory and departure control processes across the Asiana network.

In a somewhat novel move by a legacy GDS, Shelley Beasley, Travelport’s point person in the Asia-Pacific region, has gone out on a limb and attacked the low cost carriers for not wanting to pay for the custom development necessary to support ancillary services.

Indeed she is suggesting that the LCCs just don’t want to pay for the cost of the development at all.

At this week’s TravelTech conference, hosted by Martin Kelly in Sydney, Australia, Beasley (managing director for Pacific and head of solutions support in Asia-Pacific) went on the offensive.

Following negative comments on GDSs capability to handle advanced services and to keep up with the demands of LCCs by Jetstar and Air Asia in recent weeks in the region, Beasley countered in a spirited defense of the traditional GDS service model.

Describing the adverse statements as “a smokescreen” she says LCCs are reluctant to spend money on developing a system that handles their complex way of selling.

“The industry has not worked to a standard,” she says, adding a common solution “has to happen.”

Presumably this implies that the LCCs should be paying the GDSs for custom development despite having the capability functioning well on their own sites and in their own infrastructure – in many cases on systems owned and managed by GDS companies.

This seems to be a common cry from the GDSs to the point where it would seem they are reading from the same script.

Perhaps this is somewhat of a jaded argument. It would appear that the GDSs have not invested enough into the infrastructure to support a form of product that has been in the market for more than a few years.

This argument also does not hold up in the light of history. In previous major changes to the infrastructure of airline distribution such as ATB – the GDSs did not charge the airlines for this development.

In the end the agents had to pay for the expensive ATB2 printers either directly or via incentive payments from the airlines.

Depending on your view, it could become a chicken vs egg discussion.

The low cost carriers generally eschewed the use of GDS distribution. Indeed the most successful of them all in terms of profitability is Ryanair and it still steadfastly refuses to use intermediaries to sell its products.

It argues that if the product is to be sold that way then the consumer will be disadvantaged.

Other low cost carriers either charge for content distribution, such as Norwegian, or limit the product that is available for distribution by the more expensive channel – for example GOL.

Thus should the GDSs be providing solutions that support ancillary revenues at their cost or do they sit this one out and wait for a standard?

The airlines appear unwilling to wait to support a GDS sponsored standard but instead are coalescing around a standard of their own – the OpenAxis standard.

But the argument does not just affect LCCs. Full service network carriers such as American Airlines and Air Canada have also adopted the same position.

Clearly for the majority of carriers, adopting ancillary revenue product sales is a profit winning solution.

Most estimates for all of 2010 put ancillary revenues in the $5 billion plus range.

Total profits for the whole industry are (per IATA estimates) only $2.5 billion. In contrast, 2010 GDS fees are likely to be in the range of $10 billion to $12 billion range for the whole industry.

Who will be the winners in this battle? There is clearly a lot at stake.

But it would seem that the GDSs are deploying solutions. Amadeus has announced adoption already.

Even Travelport itself has slated release of enhancements in the September timeframe. Therefore it would seem the protests are ringing a little hollow.

Agencies

Rank	Website	Domain	Percentage of Visits	Previous Position
1	Yahoo! Singapore Travel	sg.travel.yahoo.com	12.06%	1
2	ZUJI Singapore	www.zuji.com	8.25%	2
3	Expedia	www.expedia.com	5.52%	4
4	Asiatravel.com	www.asiatravel.com	5.31%	3
5	MISA Travel	www.airfare.com.sg	4.16%	5
6	Chan Brothers Travel	www.chanbrothers.com	3.69%	6
7	Ctrip.com	www.ctrip.com	3.36%	8
8	Wego	www.wego.com	2.27%	7
9	Yahoo! Travel	travel.yahoo.com	1.83%	-
10	MSN Malaysia Travel	msntravel.my.wego.com	1.78%	9

Destinations and Accommodation

Rank	Website	Domain	Percentage of Visits	Previous Position
1	TripAdvisor	www.tripadvisor.com	7.80%	1
2	Agoda.com	www.agoda.com	4.43%	2
3	Booking.com	www.booking.com	3.13%	3
4	Hotels.com	www.hotels.com	2.98%	4
5	Resorts World Sentosa	www.rwsentosa.com	2.38%	5
6	Marina Bay Sands Singapore	www.marinabaysands.com	1.96%	6
7	HotelClub	www.hotelclub.net	1.82%	7
8	Relax	www.relax.com.sg	1.68%	8
9	Wikitravel	wikitravel.org	1.63%	10
10	Asiarooms.com	www.asiarooms.com	1.52%	9

Airlines

Rank	Website	Domain	Percentage of Visits	Previous Position
1	Tiger Airways	www.tigerairways.com	19.88%	1
2	Jetstar	www.jetstar.com	16.95%	2
3	Singapore Airlines	www.singaporeair.com	13.38%	3
4	AirAsia	www.airasia.com	11.32%	4
5	SilkAir	www.silkair.net	6.43%	6
6	Cathay Pacific	www.cathaypacific.com	2.94%	5
7	Cebu Pacific Air	www.cebupacificair.com	2.01%	7
8	Qantas Airways	www.qantas.com.au	1.80%	8
9	Thai Airways International	www.thaiair.com	1.58%	9
10	United Airlines	www.united.com	1.37%	-

NB: Data courtesy of Experian Hitwise

The white label deal between the pair sees a Skyscanner search widget included in a dedicated flight channel on the Hostelworld site.

Users have identical search parameters on the site as available on the existing Skyscanner service, although they are redirected to the Skyscanner site to view results rather than staying on Hostelworld.

Details of the agreement – length of the deal, business model – have not be released but white labels are still seen as a useful way of spreading a service into different corners of the web, including travel and non-travel sites.

Other budget accommodation sites, such as Hostelbookers, have yet to include flights as another user channel on their sites.

Agency

Rank	Website	Domain	Percentage of Visits	Previous Position
1	Webjet Australia	www.webjet.com.au	14.67%	1
2	Flight Centre	www.flightcentre.com.au	8.85%	2
3	Lastminute.com.au	www.au.lastminute.com	7.21%	4
4	Expedia Australia	www.expedia.com.au	6.38%	3
5	Expedia	www.expedia.com	3.66%	5
6	Jetabroad	www.jetabroad.com	3.22%	6
7	Airfares Flights Australia	www.airfaresflights.com.au	2.74%	7
8	Best Flights	www.bestflights.com.au	2.68%	8
9	ZUJI Australia	www.zuji.com	2.29%	9
10	travel.com.au	www.travel.com.au	1.95%	10

Destinations and Accommodation

Rank	Website	Domain	Percentage of Visits	Previous Position
1	Wotif.com	www.wotif.com	6.95%	1
2	TripAdvisor	www.tripadvisor.com	4.34%	2
3	Stayz	www.stayz.com.au	2.86%	4
4	Booking.com	www.booking.com	2.77%	3
5	HotelClub	www.hotelclub.net	1.56%	5
6	Totaltravel.com	www.totaltravel.com	1.36%	8
7	ExplorOz - 4WD Australia	www.exploroz.com	1.36%	7
8	Australian Explorer	www.australianexplorer.com	1.12%	10
9	Ski.com.au	www.ski.com.au	1.05%	-
10	check-in.com.au	www.check-in.com.au	1.05%	-

Airlines

Rank	Website	Domain	Percentage of Visits	Previous Position
1	Virgin Blue	www.virginblue.com.au	22.14%	2
2	Qantas Airways	www.qantas.com.au	19.98%	1
3	Jetstar	www.jetstar.com	17.60%	3
4	Tiger Airways	www.tigerairways.com	9.13%	4
5	AirAsia	www.airasia.com	5.57%	5
6	Singapore Airlines	www.singaporeair.com	2.51%	6
7	Emirates	www.emirates.com	2.46%	7
8	Vaustralia	www.vaustralia.com.au	2.29%	9
9	Air New Zealand	www.airnz.co.nz	1.71%	8
10	Air New Zealand - Australia	www.airnz.com.au	1.70%	10

Search Terms

Rank	Search Term	Percentage of Search	Percentage Paid	Percentage Organic	Previous Position
1	google maps	1.55%	0.08%	99.92%	1
2	jetstar	1.10%	0.09%	99.91%	2
3	virgin blue	1.09%	12.23%	87.77%	3
4	webjet	0.93%	0.08%	99.92%	4
5	qantas	0.89%	14.16%	85.84%	5
6	wotif	0.68%	0.04%	99.96%	7
7	maps	0.62%	0.12%	99.88%	6
8	flight centre	0.58%	53.86%	46.14%	8
9	tiger airways	0.49%	4.09%	95.91%	10
10	whereis	0.43%	0.00%	100.00%	-

NB: Data courtesy of Experian Hitwise

For example, 52% of business travelers who booked hotels on their mobile devices did so through a browser while 21% booked overnight accommodations through their mobile apps, Google says.

For what Google terms “personal,” or leisure, travelers, 52% of mobile bookers used browsers to book or reserve hotels while only 11% used mobile apps, according the survey.

The browse-over-mobile-apps pattern holds true for all travel categories, according to the survey, although the disparitybetween browser and app use narrows with ooking bvacation activities.

For example, 25% of business travelers who booked vacation activities on their mobile devices did so through a browser while 20% booked vacation activities through their mobile apps.

For personal travelers, 25% who booked vacation activities used browers on their mobile devices while only 10% used mobile apps, according the survey.

Does this mean app developers should packl it in and travel companies should focus exclusively on building better mobile websites?

Not necessarily.

The numbers may be skewed because not all hotels or vacation activity vendors have viable mobile apps, so in some cases opening up a browser may be the only or best option for some travel bookings from mobile devices.

On the other hand, a focus on mobile websites could make the browser option even more attractive.

How that plays out remains to be seen.

Gathering travel research is probably the most frequently used function on mobile devices in the travel planning and booking process, according to the survey.

The survey found, for example, 44% of business travelers and 31% of personal travelers planning cruises used their mobile devices to look for travel information about cruises; 18% of business-traveler and 9% of personal-traveler cruisers used their mobile devices to book or reserve cruises; and 21% of business-traveler and 8% of personal-traveler cruisers used their mobile devices to “check-in” for their cruises using location-based services such as Foursquare or Gowalla.

Another major finding in the Google survey, “The Traveler’s Road to Decision,” is that travelers are increasingly uploading videos of their trips.

In a previous survey, conducted in 2008, “only 4% of travelers reporting uploading a video from their past travels in the previous six months,” Google says.

In the current survey, 9% of personal travelers uploaded travel video in the past 6 months in 2010 and 6% uploaded travel video in 2009.

For business travelers, 23% uploaded travel video in the past six months in 2010 and 16% did so in the prior two months in 2009, the survey found.

“As online video grows in popularity, not only more travelers are viewing them throughout the travel planning process, but they are uploading travel-related content as well,” the survey says.

That means suppliers and intermediaries of all types should allocate some resources to develop or acquire video content.

That’s not an earth-shattering conclusion, but the survey supports it.

To reach its findings about travelers’ online behavior, Google’s survey polled 5,000 U.S. online users who indicated they were business or personal travelers in the second quarter of 2010.