Sabre reports spate of travel agency conversions across Europe

Sabre reports seven significant European travel agency conversions since the start of the year. The conversions have opened the door to the Uniglobe franchise in the UK, grown the company’s French booking share by two percent, given it bookings leadership in Greece and strengthened its position in Scandinavia.

Swedish travel agencies CTC and Respjuth said today (28 May) that they are switching to the Sabre® global distribution system (GDS) from Worldspan. The conversions reinforce Sabre’s stated ambition of expanding its presence in Europe, and are a result of the company’s drive to adapt or develop products to meet specific market needs.

In April, British travel agency Top Flight Travel became Sabre’s first customer within the Uniglobe franchise. The agency is converting to Sabre from Galileo and implementation will be complete by the end of June.

Also in April, Greek shipping sector specialist Marine Tours said it had selected Sabre to replace Worldspan and Galileo. This agency accounts for over 35 percent of all travel sales in Greece and the conversion catapulted Sabre into the GDS leadership position in that country, with a market share of more than 40 percent.

In France, tour operator Boomerang said in March that it had chosen Sabre as its technology partner. This followed an announcement in February by travel agency Jancarthier, saying it had contracted to use Sabre in all its 26 business travel centres and leisure travel agencies. Both companies were previously Amadeus customers.

The GDS has also secured the business of a large corporate travel management organisation in Italy, but has agreed to keep further details confidential.

Chris Kroeger, Sabre’s senior vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said much of the new business had resulted from the GDS developing products to match its customers’ evolving needs, and from its technological leadership in areas such as online travel, customer relationship management, and revenue maximisation.

“This, combined with our ongoing development of local content and our commitment to customer service excellence, has given us the edge. We’ve long been a global leader, as well as a local partner for the travel agency in all our markets.”

About Sabre Holdings Corporation

Sabre is the leading provider of technology, distribution and marketing services for the travel industry. Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, the company has approximately 7,000 employees in 45 countries. Sabre reported 2001 revenues of $2.1 billion. Sabre owns Travelocity.com, the most popular travel site on the Web, and GetThere, the world’s leading provider of Web-based travel reservation systems for corporations and travel suppliers. Sabre is an S&P 500 company, traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: TSG). More information about Sabre is available at www.sabre.com.