Travelport launches SmartPoint App for Worldspan Go! Desktop

Travelport has made available the Smartpoint App, a software upgrade for the Worldspan Go! Desktop, which makes booking travel easier and more efficient,

The app infuses the cryptic environment with a mix of native and point-and-click navigation plus graphical user interfaces to speed up the reservation process, reduce call handling time and improve the agent user experience.

Travelport said that by combining efficiency of command entries with clarity of graphical overviews and click-through links, searching and booking are easier and faster.

The app has several built in time-saving features, which automate day-to-day processes and help agents to work smarter, including:

• Interactive calendar: Agents can search and shop flights, hotels and car rentals directly from the calendar – simply select dates and click to shop.
• Queues: Easy and interactive. With queue count options there is no need to check frequently used queues. Agents are alerted when queues are updated.
• Smart panel: An intuitive point-and-click approach to booking hotels and car rentals, slashes time associated with complex system entries. Flight details are pre-populated to preserve time and accuracy, and graphical maps and images are designed to help identify the best hotel and car rental options.
• Multiple tabs: Enable several searches at the same time,while retaining all information. Agents are able to manage multiple tasks and serve customers with greater efficiency.

New Sabre’s reservations system technology for ANA

All Nippon Airways (ANA) has implemented the Sabre Qik Solution that enables it to improve efficiency and cut costs through a recent partenrship with Sabre.

According to Sabre, the Qik Solution is popular among global airlines and travel agencies as it allows for fully custom workflows and processes to be incorporated directly into an intelligent user interface, leading to increased productivity, reduced training/operating costs.

The solution also enables customer-facing staff to better offer efficient customer service. Additionally, policy, regulatory, and process changes that affect frontline staff can be made quickly.

Naoki Kuramoto, ANA’s director, portfolio management, innovation & IT strategy, said, “Bringing the right information to its customer-facing staff at the right time was critical to our ability to support and enhance the ANA passenger experience. The Qik Solution from Sabre is the best technology to help us tie our key systems together and present an efficient, easy-to-use interface to our staff serving our valued passengers.”

Vinit Doshi, vice president, SabreSonic CSS marketing and solutions management, Sabre Airline Solutions, in welcoming ANA to its growing Qik Solution airline community said, “The Qik Solution enhances the end-user experience for our SabreSonic Customer Sales & Service (CSS) reservation system customers, but this technology is also powerful and flexible enough to support airlines such as ANA that use reservations systems from other technology providers.”

ITB Asia 2013 opens registration for hosted buyers

Interested in attending ITB Asia 2013 as a buyer? Then it is time to register as orgainsers of this annual show has opened registration for its hosted buyer programme.

Recommended buyers registering under the “Group” category can now apply for both partial and full hosting. New buyers can register for partial hosting under the “Individual” category. and full hosting from 1 July 2013.

Buyer registration closes 1 August, with those looking to be partially hosted receiving a 50% early bird discount if they register before 30 April. (Register online here).

ITB Asia, into its sixth edition, will be bigger this year as the organisers are planning to take up two floors of exhibition space across level 6 and level 4 of the newly refurbished Suntec Singapore Convention Centre. The show is from 23-25 October.

“As part of our commitment to enhance the quality of buyers at the show year-on-year, we’ll be investing in a new IT partner to help us improve the match-making algorithms for even higher-quality meetings. Our programme has consistently attracted top quality buyers and we hope to take it to an even higher level as the show enters its sixth year,” said Nino Gruettke, ITB Asia executive director(pictured).

Last year ITB Asia recorded almost 8,500 attendees, a 12% increase from 2011, representing 92 countries, making it one of the region’s most international travel trade events. The show is also a partner event of TravelRave, the travel trade festival organised by the Singapore Tourism Board.

First Dorsett hotel in Singapore

Hong Kong based  Dorsett Hospitality International will open its first property in Singapore, the 285-room Dorsett Singapore, on 28 March.

The 10-storey hotel is positioned in the midscale category, targeting both leisure and business travellers. It is strategically located above a transport hub – Outram Park MRT interchange station – providing easy access to the city’s Central Business District and tourist attractions such as Orchard Road, Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa.

Apart from the usual amenities offered by a hotel of this category including free wired and wireless high speed internet, iPhone/iPad dock and tea- and coffee-making facilities, Dorsett Singapore boasts a novel concept in service – the “Dorsett Representative”.

According to the hotel, the representatives are “all-rounded ambassadors of the hotel, well-trained and dedicated to facilitate and support in all aspects; from concierge duties, front office functions, housekeeping tasks, right down to food and beverage services, aimed at providing a speedy response to make each stay most memorable through impeccable services. “