SINGAPORE 15 May 2018: Trip.com will use Amadeus Master Price, an instant search tool, to keep potential customers glued to its online travel agency website long enough to make a booking.
Well that’s the theory and the fact is that research shows the average traveller tends to visit 38 websites while booking a trip. [1]
Amadeus claims the app delivers speed, accuracy and booking availability, while delivering the cheapest, most relevant and bookable fares.
Trip.com, part of the Ctrip Group, hopes the Amadeus Master Pricer Instant Search will deliver a fast, reliable experience for its customers, to ensure it can secure a booking.
Used by online travel agencies and metasearch companies, the solution serves the best available airfares within milliseconds, without compromising the accuracy of those search results.
Through a five-year technology agreement with Amadeus, Trip.com will be able to present the most economical and convenient offers to convert online ‘lookers’ into ‘bookers’.
Ctrip Group CEO Jane Sun said: “In today’s world of online travel it’s not an exaggeration to say that every second counts. Amadeus’ solution delivers a powerful combination of speed, accuracy and booking availability that our customers want, and this is critical to helping Trip.com differentiate its offering. This partnership is also key to supporting Trip.com’s rollout to English speaking customers in international markets.”
No details of the subscription or operating costs involved in using Amadeus Master Pricer Instant Search were outlined, but it is probably well beyond the range of the average travel agency that are left with websites that showcase products and little else.
The market is fast shifting to favour just a few mega online travel agency sites leaving smaller specialised travel firms that have developed their own products high and dry, or relying on traditional booking procedures – an email and a subsequent bank transfer to pay for services.
[1] Traveler Attribution study, Millward Brown Digital
(Source: Amadeus)
