NEWS SOURCE: Group Travel Planet LLC

MIAMI, FL and PIGEON FORGE, TN – April 28 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Amadeus, travel industry technology provider and leading global distribution system (GDS), and Group Travel Planet, LLC (www.GroupTravelPlanet.com), pioneer of online group travel booking, today announced a new partnership that will bring Group Travel Planet’s one-of-a-kind leisure hotel group booking capabilities and vast supplier inventory to the desktops of Amadeus agents in North America. Starting May 2, Group Travel Planet’s fully automated group hotel booking technology will allow Amadeus agents to more easily plan, book and manage commissionable group reservations for their clients without having to contact hotels directly for rates and reservations.

Photo Caption: Scott Harness, CEO Group Travel Planet.

Amadeus subscribers in the U.S. and Canada will benefit from Group Travel Planet’s inventory of more than 10,000 hotels and its exclusive partnership with the American Bus Association by securing group discounts for their customers and receiving a full travel agent commission. With automated tools for rooming lists, individual or group payment options and system-generated alerts for important deadlines, Group Travel Planet acts like an agent’s assistant and manages the entire group reservation process.

“Group Travel Planet has built a desirable network of hotel suppliers that offer special group rates available to our agents and their customers, just in time for the busy summer travel season,” said Bob Lowry, Senior Vice President of Product Management and Support for Amadeus North America. “By making it as easy to book a group in a hotel as it is to book an individual room, Amadeus agents and travelers will benefit from the savings Group Travel Planet provides in both time and money.”

“More than 36 billion dollars were spent domestically on group travel in 2002 and one-third of that was from travel agents who booked small groups,” said Scott Harness, CEO of Group Travel Planet. “We’ve automated every step of the online group hotel booking process from the search and confirmation to the addition and subtraction of rooms, and much more, so that agents can focus less on these tasks and more on serving their customers.”

Group Travel Planet’s hotel inventory will be accessible through Amadeus’ innovative Amadeus AgentNet, the company’s Web-based platform for travel agencies that provides efficient access to a rich array of integrated products and services and bridges the gap between ‘brick and mortar’ travel agencies and the Internet.

About Amadeus

Amadeus is a technology provider and the leading global distribution system (GDS), serving the marketing, sales and distribution needs of the world’s travel and tourism industries.

Amadeus is a leading IT solutions provider to the airline industry, providing a Customer Management Systems portfolio, including: Altea Sell (distribution), Altea Plan (inventory management system) and Altea Fly (departure control system). British Airways, Qantas and Finnair are the first customers to implement this full suite of Customer Management Systems.

e-Travel, Amadeus’ e-commerce business unit, is the global leader in online travel technology and corporate travel management solutions. More information about Amadeus: www.amadeus.com.

About Group Travel Planet

Group Travel Planet, which operated as CoachQuote.com, LLC from March 2000 to September 2004, is the pioneer and first company to fully-automate group booking online from start to finish. Since its start, thousands of group leaders (School Groups, Sports Teams, Family Reunions, Church Groups, and more) have used its online group-booking engine. The company has one of the largest online networks of supplier partners throughout North America.

More information: www.GroupTravelPlanet.com or call (866) MY PLANET.

News issued by: Group Travel Planet, LLC

# # #

Original Story ID: (319) :: 2005-04-0428-003

Original Keywords: Group Travel Planet, Amadeus, e-commerce business, group travel planning, tourism, hotel, hospitality, Scott Harness, CRM, Customer Management Systems, global distribution system, GDS, hotel inventory, Amadeus North America, Bob Lowry, online group travel booking, Florida newswire, Miami news, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, Scott Harness Group Travel Planet, LLC

NEWS SOURCE: Group Travel Planet LLC | Published: 2005-04-28 11:38:00


IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR ARCHIVAL CONTENT ABOVE: The above archival press release content was issued on behalf of the noted "news source" who provided the content (text and image[s]) and is solely responsible for its accuracy. Links may not work if very old; use such with caution. Send2Press does not represent the "news source" in any capacity. For questions about this content contact the company/person mentioned directly. To report fraud or illegal material, or DMCA complaints, please contact Send2Press via our main site (any such complaints must be made in writing, not by phone).