Amadeus Affinity Shopper enables travellers to search airline websites by intuitive and personalised options, rather than simply by destination.
Users can search for flights within a specific budget or based on an activity, such as scuba-diving.
Results are displayed graphically on a map, rather than as a list of prices.
Amadeus said the service means users can quickly search their ideal travel options and reduce the time taken to plan and book trips, while the advantage for airlines is that potential customers are contained within their site.
Denis Lacroix, vice president sales and e-commerce platforms for Amadeus, explained: ‘Consumers can search by budget, type of activity or geography – all on a single page – and receive relevant responses instantly.
‘This completely overthrows established practice on airline websites, which requires that research is done based on known destinations and specific travel dates.
‘In addition, the shopping process is then seamlessly integrated into the booking flow, allowing the traveller to purchase the chosen trip on the same website.’
The technology will initially be available only to airlines, before being rolled out to agents. Lufthansa is the first customer.
There are also plans to add hotels and allow users to post reviews.
See also:
Amadeus integrates UN carbon calculator (03/11/2009)
Amadeus gets on track with Rail Europe (29/10/2009)
Virgin Atlantic website becomes ‘one stop shop’ (21/09/2009)
Thomson launches online booking for flight extras (15/09/2009)
AirAsia expands global reach via Amadeus (14/09/2009)
Quicker searches at lastminute.com (10/08/2009)
Amadeus unveils mobile solutions (01/07/2009)