Company Name: Amadeus IT Group
Official Website: https://www.amadeus.com/
What do they do? Amadeus is a travel “transaction processor;” its software runs behind the scenes of many major booking websites and is the software many travel agencies use to search for, price, book, and ticket all kinds of travel purchases.
Are they a business-to-business (B2B) company, or business-to-consumer (B2C)? B2B
Founder(s): Founded by a coalition of European airlines (Air France, Iberia, Lufthansa, & SAS) as a European alternative to the American company Sabre, Amadeus remains owned in part by Air France, Iberia, and Lufthansa and headquartered in Madrid.
Date Founded: 1987 (went public in 1999)
Presentation Notes: Amadeus is an established provider of software, but it’s software that’s used by travel agents and therefore something the average traveler will never see. They presented on a new software product, dominux, that they called an “integration solution” for corporate travel. Despite the number of travelers who research and book trips online, travel agents aren’t going away – there are 79,000 in the US alone, and 49% of trips are still booked offline. 30% of tickets are exchanged, which is significantly easier with a travel agent. So this software is very targeted at corporate travel and travel agents, but it’s not a small market.
Why should/shouldn’t travelers care? This is a product the end user traveler will never see, and many of them will never even benefit from.
Author: Sean Keener