I:FAO Restructures QuixData, Bolsters PowerTrip
Frankfurt-based I:FAO, which bought San Ramon, Calif.-based QuixData in June 2000, restructured the data reporting and consolidation subsidiary's account management and development hierarchy to better fit within the parent company. As such, former QuixData president Roger Hunt left the company in June. "We're focusing on development and strengthening account management," said I:FAO head of strategy and business development Bill McFarlane. He said I:FAO will integrate QuixData reporting into its Cytric and recently acquired PowerTrip (BTN, July 16) self-booking tools. PowerTrip, McFarlane added, is benefiting from more development work "in the few weeks since we've owned it than former owner Xtra On-Line offered it in the previous 18 months." Although a new relationship between GetThere and XOL distributor Rosenbluth International could mean major clients will convert to GetThere from the PowerTrip system, McFarlane said, "So far, we haven't seen that."
Amadeus Launches Remote Corp. Ticketing
Amadeus earlier this month launched a Web-based remote ticketing product, called Amadeus Internet STP, which is intended to replace leased-line connections and dial-up solutions between corporations and their travel management companies. Allowing a company's staff to print relevant documents after a booking, the solution already is in use by customers of Amadeus' Corporate Traveller and SAP R/3 Travel Management self-booking products, and this month will begin to roll out to other customers globally. Philippe Chèrëque, senior vice president of corporate strategy for Amadeus, called Amadeus Internet STP "the latest step" in the GDS' strategy for the online corporate market, following the recent acquisition of E-Travel (BTN, Aug. 13).
Galileo And Subsidiary Land Agency Deals
Galileo International earlier this month said it had secured the renewal of a five-year agreement with one of its largest agency subscribers, Omega World Travel of Fairfax, Va. "As part of the agreement, Omega World Travel not only will renew existing business with Galileo but also will convert new business to Galileo from a competing GDS," said Galileo officials in a statement. But Omega COO Dan Bohan said, "They indicated we'd switch existing business, but we're not doing that. We told them we would consider switching to Galileo only the new business we get, so it's not like we're putting it all on Galileo." He said the majority of Omega's business is transacted on Sabre, while Galileo and Worldspan split the rest. Meanwhile, Galileo subsidiary and corporate self-booking vendor Highwire, based in Seattle, signed its first national distributor arrangement with Travel & Transport of Omaha. Travel & Transport and Omega are the seventh and ninth largest corporate travel agencies, respectively, according to Business Travel News' Annual Business Travel Survey (BTN, May 28).
Pegasus Goes Multilingual
Dallas-based Pegasus Solutions Inc. earlier this month revealed an expansion of its electronic distribution service to include multilingual hotel property data for online travel sites. Hotel customers, Pegasus officials said, now can load property information into Pegasus' online distribution database in various languages, starting with German and French; 40 percent of hotels in the Pegasus system are located outside of the United States, Pegasus said.