Community Open to Agents Working with Any Global Distribution System
LAS VEGAS, NV – September 13, 2009 – Sabre Travel Network(R), the world’s leading provider of high-performance solutions for the travel industry, formally launched its free AgentStream(SM) online community today. AgentStream gives travel agents the ability to tap into the power of community and virtually connect with peers, collaborate on travel itineraries and products, and share business ideas to better serve leisure and business travelers.
Over the course of AgentStream’s pilot phase, nearly 2,000 agents created profiles on the site, interacting with peers on a wide range of travel-related issues. AgentStream earned a Silver Award from Travel Weekly in its annual Magellan Awards program.
Sabre employees are showcasing the AgentStream community at booth number 827 at this week’s American Society of Travel Agents TRADESHOW event in Las Vegas, helping attending agents establish profiles on the spot and demonstrating how they can take advantage of the community’s collaborative capabilities.
With a robust community already established for today’s formal North American launch, Sabre anticipates expanding AgentStream into Europe and Latin America in 2010.
Travel agents can go to www.agentstream.com to register, build their profile, and begin enjoying the benefits today.
AgentStream Built on Sabre cubeless Technology – A Proven Community Platform for Business
AgentStream is built on Sabre’s cubeless(R) technology – a community platform for businesses that today supports multiple Sabre-driven employee and client groups. The technology is the same as Nexion Town, another Sabre-launched agent community that has gained traction with Nexion’s home-based agents. Nexion Town has more than 900 active members today.
“Being a home-based agent, I could easily be isolated in my home office. Having the community is like being in an extended office,” said Susan Edel, owner of Saratoga Travel in California. “I have supportive “co-workers” that I can communicate with, share ideas and obtain information. The wealth of information shared here is amazing.”
“AgentStream is my favorite travel agent networking site, primarily because it is the only truly professional site,” said Debbie Johnson, an agent with Orange County, CA-based O’Donnell Tour & Travel. “I learn something every day when I log on to AgentStream – it might be about a destination, social networking or something in IT, but it’s always something worthwhile.”
“Most Nexion agents are home-based independent travel professionals who rely on other members the way an agent in a brick-and-mortar agency may rely on the agent at the next desk,” said Jackie Friedman, CTC, CTIE, Nexion general manager. “The underlying cubeless technology driving Nexion Town makes it easy for them to tap into the expertise of other agents, our supplier partners and the Nexion staff so that they can effectively sell the right product to their customers.”
New McKinsey Study Highlights Business Advantages of Collaborative Services
Earlier this month, McKinsey and Company presented the results of a global survey of 1,700 executives. Respondents were asked about the value they had recognized from the deployment of collaborative technologies within their organizations.
In a telling statistic, “69 percent of respondents reported that their companies gained measurable business benefits, including more innovative products and services, more effective marketing, better access to knowledge, lower cost of doing business, and higher revenues.” Results also show that “companies that made greater use of the technologies report even greater benefits.”
McKinsey researchers also found that respondents “overwhelmingly” planned to continue investing in networking technologies that link themselves with customers, suppliers and colleagues.
AgentStream’s Unique Networking Tools
AgentStream is an evolving service for agents, as Sabre continues to enhance the community with new functionality that allows users to personalize the site and easily access information on pertinent topics. Valuable features include the ability for agents to:
- Quickly access the knowledge of thousand of agents via a Q & A section;
- Blog on their personal page to share industry insights;
- Create and participate in public or private groups;
- Search capabilities by agent and/or areas of expertise;
- Personalize the home page by integrating widgets, pictures and graphics; and
- Identify current hot topics in the community through a word tag cloud.
“AgentStream takes an innovative approach to tackling the complex issue of efficient industry collaboration,” said Greg Webb, chief marketing officer for Sabre Holdings. “In particular, we hear from our small business customers that they are looking for more effective ways to collaborate with others to share knowledge and best practices. Through the use of this platform, travel professionals from any size business have a new world of resources at their fingertips, enabling them to collaborate with thousands of other travel professionals.”
About Sabre Travel Network
Sabre Travel Network, a Sabre Holdings(R) company, provides the most comprehensive end-to-end solutions for corporate and leisure travel. The Sabre(R) GDS is the foundation for these solutions, providing a ready-built efficient marketplace that connects travel suppliers, including hundreds of airlines and thousands of hotels, with more than 55,000 travel agency locations. Currently, Sabre collectively handles over 70 percent of the BTN 100 bookings.
Key brands of Sabre Travel Network include GetThere(R), for corporate travel reservation technology; Nexion(R), a host agency; SynXis(R), for hotel reservation management, distribution and technology services; E-site marketing, specializing in online business solutions exclusively for the hospitality industry, TRAMS(R), mid- and back-office solutions and marketing services for travel agencies; and TRAMS ClientBase Marketing Services, a marketing promotions services for leisure travel agencies.
Sabre Holdings connects people with the world’s greatest travel possibilities by retailing travel products and providing distribution and technology solutions for the travel industry. More information about Sabre Holdings is available at http://www.sabre-holdings.com.
