FORT LAUDERDALE — Passport Online is poised to aggressively market its recently-launched cruise booking engine to retailers across the country, said Marilyn Macallair, vice president of business development, at Travel Weekly's CruiseWorld 2010 and Home Based Travel Agent Show and Conference.
The product, called Tandem, is designed for use by consumers who shop and book at their travel agent's website.
In addition, the vendor has launched a customized trade version, TandemB2B, for American Express rep agencies to book the network's preferred cruise lines.
Macallair said that while American Express was the launch partner for TandemB2B, Passport Online expects to create custom versions for other groups.
Beaverton, Ore.-based Passport Online provides travel agents with fully hosted websites. For those already with websites, the company offers website content, among other services.
The vendor has been making those services available to American Express reps for the past five years or so. A year ago, American Express contracted with Passport Online to build a customized version of its agent portal (AgentPort) to include all the network's preferred suppliers and all American Express' exclusive products.
Macallair said American Express' customized cruise engine is an extension of the customized portal.