Amadeus reports the preview of Amadeus Cruise Shopper, a comprehensive solution for leisure travel companies to sell cruises online while delivering next-generation search capabilities and tailored cruise offers for consumers. Amadeus Cruise Shopper will enable leisure travel agencies in the U.S. and Canada to offer a unique online cruise shopping experience, customized cruise deals, better manage their sales process and increase their revenue-generating opportunities online, Amadeus says.
“Amadeus is committed to assuring that travel agencies have e-commerce solutions that deliver the best online experience for their customers and enable them to take advantage of the growing online cruise market,” Amadeus says.
Amadeus Cruise Shopper is designed to help travel agencies, franchises, consortia members, home-based travel agents, airlines and cruise lines benefit from the continued growth in online cruise booking and will roll out in the coming weeks, Amadeus says. Amadeus cited a PhoCusWright report that says online sales in cruise grew 32 percent to hit $1.9 billion or 13 percent of all cruise sales in 2011 with double digit gains expected to continue through 2014.
Amadeus says Cruise Shopper offers a semantic search option which aligns with a traveler’s natural thought process, thereby simplifying the online shopping experience. Using Cruise Shopper’s semantic search feature prospective cruisers can type in phrases like “Cruises from Miami to Caribbean in July” or “What cruises stop in Juneau” and the sophisticated search tool delivers customized results. Behind the scenes it even corrects any misspellings entered to assure a seamless search, Amadeus says.
“Amadeus Cruise Shopper leverages our extensive expertise and investment in the area of search technology and delivers an easy-to-use, intuitive consumer interface along with a comprehensive management platform,” said Scott Alvis, Chief Marketing Officer, Amadeus North America. “Amadeus is committed to assuring that travel agencies have e-commerce solutions that deliver the best online experience for their customers and enable them to take advantage of the growing online cruise market.”
In addition to semantic search, Amadeus reports Cruise Shopper offers drop-down filtered search menus across a wide range of criteria such as destination, departure city, port of call, date range, cruise line, budget, and cabin type. Amadeus Cruise Shopper enables travelers to view numerous options with side-by-side comparison for up to five cruises based on a summary of price, ship profile and features. The solution features an intuitive interface designed with the user in mind, including ship photos and profiles, deck plans, cabin configurations and more. The tool is also optimized for Android, iOS tablet and mobile operating systems to enable today’s traveler to search and book on the go.
Amadeus Cruise Shopper offers booking capabilities for 16 cruise lines representing more than 90 percent of the total worldwide cruise capacity available via global distribution systems today. The tool’s unique shopping experience can be customized by the travel agency with capabilities to sort results by cruise line, ship, destination, or duration; display group special offers on the home cruise page; offer customized promotions for select sailings, cabin, or category types; and tailor the website format with their branding.
Amadeus Cruise Shopper is powered by the Amadeus Cruise Data Cache which offers a standardized data source for all cruise provider availability and pricing data from live traffic message exchanges and polling. This means that consumers quickly get up-to-date cruise pricing and availability information as they search and shop online. Future enhancements to Amadeus Cruise Shopper will include Amadeus e-Power integration, affiliate programs, advanced map and calendar search functionality, and integration with social media channels, Amadeus says.
Amadeus Cruise Shopper will be showcased at cruise3sixty in Vancouver, June 19-23, at Amadeus booth #327. Attendees who visit the booth and “connect” with Amadeus North America via Facebook and Twitter will receive a “Scratch and Win” card for a chance to win one of two $100 gift cards.
Currently in pilot, Amadeus Cruise Shopper will be available in the U.S and Canada.
Visit www.amadeus.com