Travelport is a member of a consortium awarded EU funding to help pilot a new online travel planning and booking solution, EuTravel, that utilises multiple modes of transport. The new journey planner will allow travellers to search and book door-to-door travel throughout Europe.
EuTravel is a 30-month project funded by Horizon 2020, which is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme to date. The project lead is Inlecom Systems Ltd, a company specialising in transport research, and a number of travel service providers are also involved. Travelport will provide travel data through its API technology and will also play a role in the design and implementation of the pilot system.
The fully integrated system will search for and present synchronised itineraries to travellers and enable them to book and pay for their chosen travel across Europe. The new tool will be designed for travel agencies and individual travellers and will facilitate the simple organisation of a door-to-door multi-modal trip according to personal preferences and even take into account its environmental impact.
Ioanna Fergadioti, Project Manager at Inlecom, said: “We are pleased to be leading on this project, which will pilot an innovative and invaluable new journey planning tool for Europe. The potential societal, environmental and economic benefits of multi-modal travel information, planning and ticketing services are huge, as emphasised in a recent Commission report. In addition, we believe that this solution will offer new business opportunities for service providers in the travel industry.”
Stephen O’Hara, Director of Rail, Travelport, said: “We are thrilled to be part of this complex EU initiative to pilot a first-of-its-kind travel planning solution for Europe. We are enjoying working on this unique tool that will offer travel service providers and agencies a simpler way to deliver customised services and cater for any type of specialised travel needs.”
