Integration marks first for ground transportation industry
SOUTHLAKE, Texas – July 30, 2014 – Sabre Corporation and Carey International, a global leader in chauffeured services and ground transportation logistics management, have worked together to create a new application that will enable travel agents to book chauffeured ground services directly from the Sabre Red Workspace. This marks the first time that chauffeured car services have been fully integrated into the Sabre travel marketplace or any global distribution system (GDS). The Red App will allow travel agents to book both Carey and Embarque ground transportation in more than 1,000 cities worldwide directly from the Sabre Red Workspace and receive a commission on each applicable booking. In addition, because the reservation will merge into the traveler’s passenger naming record (PNR) through a new and enhanced itinerary segment created by Sabre, agents will have the flexibility to fully manage the reservation and visibility to track the expense, helping agents save time and increase revenue. Carey’s new Red App also provides real-time status updates, meaning if a passenger makes a change via Carey’s call center, it will automatically appear in the agent’s workflow and on the traveler’s itinerary. “Typically, when people talk about ‘GDS content’ they largely think of air, hotel and rental car content. That is changing, and it will continue to evolve dramatically in the coming years,” said Greg Webb, president of Sabre Travel Network. “With the bar being set higher than ever for travel agencies and the services they provide, having access to more specialized content and service providers is becoming a necessity.” “The launch of CESDirect in the Sabre Red Workspace, marks a major milestone for not just the Carey and Embarque brands, but the entire chauffeured transportation industry,” said Gary Kessler, president and CEO of Carey International. “For the first time travel agents and arrangers will seamlessly book chauffeured ground transportation services directly through Sabre, allowing real-time access to information that was never available before through the GDS, leading to greater efficiency, convenience, and productivity. CESDirect is currently in limited release for beta testing and will be available exclusively in the Sabre Red App Centre in the coming months.###
Sabre® Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR) is a leading technology provider to the global travel and tourism industry. Sabre’s software, data, mobile and distribution solutions are used by hundreds of airlines and thousands of hotel properties to manage critical operations, such as passenger and guest reservations, revenue management, and flight, network and crew management. Sabre also operates a leading global travel marketplace, processing over $100 billion of estimated travel spend in 2013 by connecting travel suppliers to their most valued customers, the business traveler. Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, USA, Sabre operates offices in approximately 60 countries around the world.