MIAMI -- Amadeus
will join Sabre in giving hotels the ability to pay for positions
in GDS displays.
Like Sabre
Spotlight, which was launched last summer, Amadeus Instant
Preference is being rolled out in partnership with TravelClick, the
Chicago-based hotel marketer.
TravelClick is
selling the top position in certain Amadeus hotel-availability
displays as a way for properties to drive sales. When a hotel pays
for the top slot, it will not be labeled as an
advertisement.
It will be
transparent to users, said Glen Dean, Amadeus North Americas
director of travel services and leisure. There will be no
designation.
Paid positions will
appear in displays only when agents conduct neutral searches, Dean
said, meaning Amadeus Instant Preference will be overridden if
agents specify a chain code, a special rate or amenity.
We are really doing
it to give hotels the ability to distinguish themselves from
competitors when there is a neutral display, Dean said. We suspect
it will be used by smaller chains and properties.
Amadeus declined to
detail the financial particulars of its program.
The Amadeus-TravelClick
agreement represents an expansion of an existing business
relationship. TravelClick already supports Amadeus Instant
Marketing, which generates ads that can appear in the GDS when
agents sign in or search a particular route.
Unlike Sabre
Spotlight, which sells several display positions, the Amadeus
program will offer the top position only, Dean said. He said the
introduction of the preferential hotel displays was not tied to
last years GDS deregulation, noting that the GDS rules applied only
to airline displays.
But GDS
deregulation certainly spurred consideration of preferential
displays, as several GDSs have said they are mulling flight-display
options.
If air was ever to
come, I see that a lot further down the road, said Dean, adding
that he is not involved in Amadeus air business.
A spokesman for
Fairmont Hotels said some of its properties use Sabre
Spotlight.
Sabre officials
werent immediately available to elaborate on a spokeswomans
statement that the program is doing well and has enjoyed good
participation from a wide variety of hotels worldwide.
Sabre recently
enhanced the Spotlight program to enable hotels to sign on for
preferential displays using multiple airport codes, according to
the March edition of Sabre Talk.
Previously, hotels
had to sign up by city area. Now, Chicago properties, for instance,
can subscribe to three area markets, ORD, CHI and MDW.
Properties can now
choose and subscribe to which airport codes are relevant based on
the shopping behavior of agents for that particular property or
competitive set, Sabre said. There is now increased sales capacity
in previously sold-out markets.
One agents
take
Rick Sicilio, who
owns TripsandCruises.com in Pittsburgh, said the Amadeus
Instant Preference program could influence agents hotel-booking
decisions.
Sicilio, whose
agency uses Amadeus, said the preferential displays will have more
impact on leisure business. Thats because agents doing corporate
bookings often wont search in a neutral manner, specifying a chain
code because the client wants to stay at a certain
hotel.
Sicilio noted --
and Amadeus confirmed -- that when agents enter an HA (Hotel
Availability) command and enter an airport code, the results are
displayed randomly.
That is, they are
not displayed by price, chain code, alphabetical order, distance
from city center or any other parameter. In these types of
searches, the Amadeus Instant Preference hotel will appear on the
top of the page and presumably attract more bookings.
If an agent isnt
familiar with a city or an actual hotel, and if the agent hasnt
been there, then I could see [a preferential display] influencing
the decision, Sicilio said.
Sicilio said it
does not bother him that paid displays will not be labeled as
such.
All the Internet
sites are doing it, he said. I certainly can move down a page or
two to get the rate or property I want for my client.
And, even on the
leisure side, agents often are familiar with hotels where their
clients want to stay, so agents will specify a chain code, he
said.
To contact
reporter Dennis Schaal, send e-mail to [email protected].