The tool, which enables agents to interact and share knowledge and reviews among their peers, has been developed with travel technology software provider, Vinivi.
The UK/Ireland launch follows last June’s introduction of Travelport Opinions in France, where it is now used by over 1,700 leisure and business travel agents and tour operator specialists.
Jérôme Moisan, Travelport GDS general manager UK & Ireland, commented: ‘This is a project close to my heart – in my previous role as general manager for Travelport France, I was personally involved in launching the site with Vinivi.
‘Travelport Opinions allows agents to harness the travel community’s expertise, thereby enriching travel knowledge, enhancing customer satisfaction and ultimately increasing sales.’
Using the tool, agents can create and search hotel reviews, pose questions to destination experts and access hotel-related media, including over 110,000 photos and 2,500 videos.
The tool also includes a private email system and the ability to follow and track updates on specified hotels.
Moisan added: ‘Since last year, we have seen the number of members spike significantly, a third of which are non-Travelport users, and feedback has been really positive.
‘Agents have said that Travelport Opinions is a trusted resource where they can rely on the expertise from like-minded agents, post travel experiences and where hotel reviews are likely to be more trustworthy.
‘It gives me great pleasure to play a part in bringing this innovative networking platform to savvy travel professionals in the UK and Ireland and I look forward to seeing this technology expand further into more countries.’
Travelport Opinions is accessed through peer invitations and for a limited time agents can sign up here:
www.travelportopinions.com/pr.
Travelport is the parent company of the Galileo and Worldspan global distribution systems, hotel and ground services provider GTA and Airline IT Solutions.
It also owns about 48% of Orbitz Worldwide.
See also:
Travelport adds hotel payment and reporting solution (09/03/2010)
Travelport wins Thomas Cook account (01/02/2010)
Galileo latest FAB addition (27/01/2010)
Flight Centre feedback ‘invaluable’ to Travelport (07/01/2010)
Points make prizes with Travelport (05/01/2010)