Net Tour migrates technology base to Sabre

Feb. 18, 2009
From Panrotas

Net Tour Viagens is migrating its reservations and sales system from Amadeus to Sabre technology. With this new conquest Sabre will increase its market share in Brazil, according to executives of the GDS system.

The partnership was closed last week and made official today, among the partners of the Nettour, Carlos Katibian, Sergio Vaz and Elias Chaklian, the International Vice-President of Sabre Travel Network, Luiz Ambar, and Senior Vice-President for Americas, Jay Jones.

“Our decision was based in the shared vision of leadership, services, products and excellence of both companies,” declared the Net Tour owner, Carlos Katibian, commenting the recent visit that he made to the headquarters of Sabre, in Dallas, where he had the chance to learn more about the company and the functionalities of its technology platform.

“We are confident that Sabre’s new product line will be a differentiator in the sales of our trips and services,” completed Katibian, who has 90% of its business concentrated in the corporate segment.

For Sabre International Vice-President, Luiz Ambar, the strategic partnership with Net Tour reinforces the confidence that the Brazilian market deposits in the GDS.

“We are honored for having been chosen as the distribution system of Nettour and for being the partner that will support their strategic vision of growth. I am sure that this was only possible thanks to the dedication of our team, our leading technology and our portfolio of solutions that covers all the points of the travel chain,” he completed.

Jay Jones, whose role was recently extended from Latin American and the Caribbean to the American continent, points Brazil as the main market with respect to the Sabre in Latin America, region in which the GDS already withholds 53% of market share. According to executive, withholds 53% market share in the United States and Canada as well.

“We cannot be leader in the region without a strong presence in Brazil and in Mexico,” declares Jay Jones.

The proof is the investment that the Sabre is concentrating in Brazil in 2009 to launch, first hand in the continent, My Sabre Plus suite, with a portfolio of tools especially designed for this market (travel agencies, consolidators and TMCs) and which, in the future, may be exported to the neighbor countries.

For the director of Net Tour, Carlos Katibian, the agility of the tools presented by Sabre system - especially with respect to pricing, unused e-ticket reports, security systems for passengers and the integration of Get There with Tam and Gol, were the key factors for the decision of migrating from the previous system.

“All the products surprised us positively and we are sure that we made the right decision,” he concludes. The system is already under implementation phase and in approximately four months - after all the process of Sabre installation, training and support - it will be fully operational.