The weekly news roundup: Accor’s acquisition of John Paul completed, CarTrawler and IdealWorksCompany forecast of 2016 ancillary revenue, partnership between China’s PKfare and Amadeus, virtual payment solution for agents from Sabre
HOTELS: AccorHotels wraps up concierge deal with John Paul
John Paul, private concierge with partners in more than 50 countries. (Image credit: John Paul)
In July this year AccorHotels, in a statement, announced it had begun “exclusive negotiations for the acquisition of John Paul, the leading player in premium customer and employee loyalty services.”
Sebastien Bazin, chairman and CEO of AccorHotels, explained then that the acquisition of John Paul would enable the company to accelerate its global strategy to position the customer experience at the heart of its initiatives.
“It means a further solidification of our customer relation through an attractive offer and a higher usage, an increased personalisation of our services thanks to a deeper customer profiling with non-hotel driven information, and the strengthening of our CRM with affinity data.”
John Paul is the first technology enabled concierge equipped with a proprietary Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and data platform based on a behavioural profiling and a 360° personalisation, as well as a network of over 50,000 partners in more than 50 countries.
AccorHotels has now finalised the acquisition of John Paul, which values the company at US$150 million.
John Paul founder and CEO, David Amsellem will retain a 20% stake in the company and continue to serve as its chief executive officer.
“The synergies with the group will afford us unparalleled competitive advantages in a market where there are more opportunities than ever before. This transaction will be a catalyst for our development, meaning organic growth and consolidation alike,” said Amsellem.
AccorHotels Bazin added: “John Paul is a great find in the customer relations business. We will be combining our expertise, strengths and talents, and providing an even broader choice of services to treat all travellers to the best experience before, during and after their stays.”
John Paul was established in Paris in 2007 and merged with American company LesConcierges in 2015 to create the world leader in premium customer and employee loyalty services with 1,00 employees.
FINANCE: US$67.4 billion in airline ancillary revenue projected for this year
Checked baggage contributes to the increase in ancillary revenue. (Image credit: Gudella/iStock)
IdeaWorksCompany, a consultancy on airline ancillary revenues, and online travel technology platform, CarTrawler, have projected airline ancillary revenue would reach $67.4 billion worldwide for this year.
The CarTrawler Worldwide Estimate of Ancillary Revenue represents almost a 200% increase from the 2010 figure of US$22.6 billion, which was the first year for the ancillary revenue estimate.
Earlier this year, CarTrawler and IdeaWorksCompany reported the ancillary revenue disclosed by 67 airlines for 2015.
“These statistics were applied to a larger list of 178 airlines to provide a truly global projection of ancillary revenue activity by the world’s airlines in 2016,” said CarTrawler in a statement.
Revenue from optional services such as onboard sales of food and beverages, checked baggage, premium seat assignments and early boarding benefits, represented US$44.9 billion of the projected global 2016 total.
The smaller share, at US$22.5 billion, comes from non-fee activity such as the sale of frequent flyer miles to programme partners and commissions earned on the sale of ground-based services to travellers, such as hotel accommodations and car rentals.
“Successful ancillary revenue generation is dependent on offering customers the right product at the right time, often before they have even asked for it,” said Aileen O’Mahony, chief commercial officer at CarTrawler.
Amazon has proven to great effect the positive impact that data science has had on its business with an estimated one third of total sales now coming via their recommendation algorithm, she added.
“As with Amazon, the unlocking of data-driven insights is enabling airlines to propose ancillary products and services to their customers in an increasingly sophisticated way.
“This application of data is fueling the continued growth of the sector while at the same time unearthing further potential for building loyalty by identifying when, how, where and what to offer customers when they visit your website or app.”
Download the full report here.
TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY: Chinese travel aggregator to expand globally with Amadeus’ technology
It’s Amadeus technology for PKfare’s global expansion
China-based travel aggregator PKfare has chosen Amadeus’ search technology, content and virtual wallet solution to power its international expansion.
The company is part of a wave of Chinese travel players who are setting their sights on growth beyond China’s shores.
Under the multi-year agreement with PKfare, Amadeus will deliver its extensive range of flight content through its Master Pricer solution or points of sale outside of mainland China.
Amadeus will also provide hotel content through Amadeus Hotel Web Services.
PKfare will implement the Amadeus B2B Wallet Prepaid solution for automated, quick and easy payments to its overseas suppliers.
“This partnership with Amadeus is a critical milestone in our growth. We’ve grown very quickly in China but recognise that to take our business to the next level we need to become a global player,” said Jason Song, CEO and founder of PKfare.
He added that Amadeus’ technology available would enable PKfare to compete on the international stage.”
TRAVEL AGENTS: Sabre offers agents virtual payment solution for air bookings
Virtual payments available for agents for booking air travel (Image credit: JuliaMusdotter/iStock)
Sabre Corporation and its partner in the payment space, Conferma, have integrated the Sabre Virtual Payment solution for air tickets into the Sabre Red Workspace used by more than 425,000 agents around the world.
Sabre said the move was to increase acceptance of virtual payments by buyers and suppliers.
This is also “an industry first”, according to Sabre, with the enhanced digital payment capability offering a new standard form of payment. This gives agents the ability to generate virtual cards as part of existing ticketing and payment processes.
The new payment method will be listed alongside credit cards, cash or check options, providing flexibility within a seamless payment process for the agency, corporation and the traveller.
The standard payment integration eliminates the need for mid/back office providers and online corporate booking tools, such as GetThere to modify their business processes and incur additional technical expenses.
Sabre Virtual Payments, which the company describes as the ‘new black’ for ticketing payments, gives agents the option to set credit limits, apply date restrictions and define merchant categories – a set of controls that help agents to pay more efficiently while reducing the risk of fraud.
The virtual payment can also be used at time of ticketing, refunding and exchanging, and can be stored in customers’ preferences through the Sabre Profiles capability.
According to Sabre, there has been a strong pick up in travel agencies and corporations using virtual cards, with year-on-year growth of 130%. By incorporating its virtual payment solution for air into its agency workflow the company expects continued growth in 2017.
•Featured image credit: John Paul
