An Amadeus technology designed to help tour operators and packagers streamline inventory management, packaging, reservations and back-office operations was released globally on Dec. 1.
Developed in partnership with Fourth Dimension Software, Contour was initially launched in Europe, where tour operator technology is lagging, according to Andy Owen-Jones, CEO of TravelTainment, part of the Amadeus Leisure Group.
"There are some markets where the technology provision is appalling," said Owen-Jones. He added that Contour is designed for midsize to large tour operators and that its implementation can range from several months to several years depending on what the operator already has in place.
The idea behind Contour is to get tour operators with out-of-date technology up to speed so that they have the opportunity to participate in TravelTainment's other technology products -- marketing, selling and distribution tools for tour operators, predominantly in Europe.
For one, TravelTainment owns an online travel agent booking and consulting product called Bistro Portal, a search tool that enables travel agents to compare suppliers based on their clients' needs or preferences.
TravelTainment also provides agents the ability to develop a TripPage for clients, a personalized website devoted to an individual vacation booking. In addition to providing the client information about the booking, the site will prompt clients to purchase additional products, such as travel insurance or a car rental, all of which is commissionable to the agent who established the TripPage for the client.
Tour operators and packagers that want to be a part of that search-and-booking process need first to have a system like Contour in place, managing their inventory and reservations, in order to be compatible with TravelTainment's other technologies.
One of Contour's largest clients is Nouvelles Frontieres, a French subsidiary of TUI, which has integrated the technology over the past three years. Owen-Jones said the product is now being marketed throughout Europe and would be compatible in Asia, but it could be "some time" before it penetrates the U.S. market.
The reason, he explained, is that Europeans have embraced a different style of travel than Americans, something between the escorted tour and a dynamic package -- charter flight packages to destinations for which the client still needs some degree of personalization and guidance.
Dynamic packaging, said Owen-Jones, is "not an inspiring way to buy travel." With an "online travel agency ... mostly people are assembling things themselves because there's no other way."
He said that TravelTainment sends teams out to destinations to take photos and shoot video.
"We see the leisure selling process is focused too much around the hotel. [The clients] want to see the beach that is around it. What are the theme parks? What is the scenery?"
Once implemented, Contour can also be interfaced with Amadeus Web Services to source flights as well as with Amadeus Master Pricer, a low-fare search tool.
As for the advantages of Contour from a cost and time analysis basis, "it really varies, and the biggest variation depends on what you're migrating away from," Owen-Jones said.
"For people who've got a simple system, it's fairly simple. For people who have a more complicated system, you've got to do a lot of configuration."
But, he added, while it might take longer to convert more complicated systems, "if you've already got a very complex system, the savings are more."