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Sabre to launch new travel agency platform

Sabre has given travel consultants and suppliers across the airline, hotel, rail, cruise and car rental industries a glimpse of its new Sabre Red Workspace. The software solution is designed to harness the changes in the industry and provide both retailers and suppliers with a content-rich marketplace, intelligent decision support tools and predictive data insights that enable agents and suppliers to more easily create personalised experiences for travellers.

Developed on Sabre’s merchandising platform providing access to the GDS, travel consultants around the world will benefit from a more intuitive way to book travel, while airlines, hotels and other industry suppliers are now empowered to market their brands in the same way they market in other channels.

“Data, analytics, personalisation and mobile have been trending in the marketplace for some time and offer opportunities for buyers and suppliers to meet changing traveler needs. Travellers want more than an itinerary; they want to feel confident about their purchases and expect a trip built around choice. That’s why in addition to a superior user experience, our new Sabre Red Workspace provides travel consultants with data insights, relevant offers and price transparency. Data and analytics are critical assets to increase productivity and efficiency in the retail world, and our travel insight engine will help drive decision-making, revenue optimisation and true personalisation,” said Sean Menke, president, Sabre Travel Network.

Sabre will begin upgrading travel agency customers to the new solution in early 2017, after a pilot later this year.

“Asia Pacific’s travel market is expanding – fact. Rapid economic growth and rising expendable incomes across the region’s burgeoning middle classes keep driving up demand. But with this, traveller expectations are also on the rise. We’re a region that dominates the global mobile economy and easier access to extensive travel information online continues to drive a more informed, more demanding traveller. Expectations for choice, flexibility, price and personalisation are at an all-time high. The release of the new Sabre Red Workspace will help travel retailers and suppliers respond directly to this new generation of traveller,” said Roshan Mendis, senior vice president, Sabre Travel Network Asia Pacific.

Agents and suppliers who have been involved in the development have helped drive the user interface of the new travel marketplace solution, combining the look and feel of a consumer-focused website with insights, tools and features that help drive more personalised offerings to sell travel more effectively.

The new Sabre Red Workspace will provide a consistent user experience across multiple operating systems and devices, including desktop, Sabre Red Mobile and Sabre Web Services.

“Sabre Red Workspace was designed with both supplier and agent needs in mind. Suppliers can count on improved consistency across channels while agents can work wherever and however they want, moving seamlessly between command and graphical interfaces,” added Menke.