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Travelport GDS has entered into an agreement with G2 SwitchWorks Corp. under which it has acquired certain software assets and
intellectual property to be used in the development of a future Travelport agent desktop solution. The agreement includes G2
SwitchWorks’ Kestrel point-of-sale application, the G2 web service core and a number of associated software development tools.
“Travelport has taken another significant step towards the creation of the industry’s first comprehensive,
fully-integrated agency desktop,” said Gordon Wilson, president and chief executive officer, Travelport GDS. “Our customers require the
seamless integration of selling and merchandising programmes, improved workflow, process automation and content aggregation.
Integrating the G2 technology into our existing plans will accelerate Travelport’s delivery of what we believe will be an industry leading
capability.”
“Additional value-added services, such as comprehensive traveller profiling and expanded agency search and customer service options,
will combine to create a compelling proposition that suits the way today’s agents want to sell.”
Travelport intends to utilize Kestrel, the G2 web service core, and associated tools as key elements in the development of a new unified,
travel agent desktop solution, expected to be released in early 2009. This new Travelport solution will incorporate, build upon and ultimately
replace the company’s current agent point of sale products - FocalPoint/ViewPoint from Galileo and Go! from
Worldspan.
Travelport also intends to expose these new capabilities via its messaging platforms to enable development partners to gain access to the
new functionality that this acquisition is expected to provide. The addition of this capability to Travelport’s Web Services platform is
expected to enable partners to reduce their development and operation costs.
Developed over the past year by G2 SwitchWorks, Kestrel provides a “point-and-click” point-of-sale solution that enables agents to search
for and book travel content across multiple sources including the Global Distribution Systems. It also includes the ability for agents
to manage data-rich traveler profiles outside the GDS, enabling precise targeting of customer-specific offers, upgrades and incentives.
Travel bookings are stored in a GDS-sensitive Universal Record Database which provides enhanced
functionality in the agent desktop resulting in significant productivity gains independent of the GDS to which the agent subscribes.
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