Travelport Launches New Travel Agent Leisure Portal

Travelport has unveiled a one-stop leisure portal for travel agents called Travelport Leisure. The new travel trade portal is an upgraded version of its former Galileo Leisure portal, which was first launched in 2005. The GDS provider said it took the decision to invest further in its Galileo Leisure offering in response to the ongoing growth potential of global leisure travel spend, which is expected to reach around $700 billion by 2014.

Travelport Leisure, which now includes extensive new hotel, hostel, B&B and car options, as well as new functionality to add localized content at a country level, will be rolled out globally beginning this month. Like its predecessor, it will continue to be free for all travel agents, even if they do not subscribe to a Travelport GDS.

Travelport Leisure features all of Galileo Leisure’s existing hotel content, including GTA’s 35,000 hotels. It also gives agents access to new content from a range of well-known, market leading leisure suppliers Users can access HotelClub by Orbitz, which features 57,000 hotels in 5,600 cities worldwide.

This offers discount rates and deals, and instant confirmation for travelers in the United States, Asia Pacific and throughout Europe. They also get access to Kuoni Connect, which has roughly 15,000 hotels in more than 1,800 destinations with a unique portfolio of boutique/design, international brands and beach hotels. Coming soon to Travelport Leisure will be transfers, sightseeing, destination packages, concierge services and escorted tours.

Travelport Leisure also includes Hostelworld.com, a source of budget accommodations with over 24,000 properties in 186 countries and over 7,000 destinations. Properties include hostels, B&Bs, apartments, guesthouses, riads, campsites and budget hotels. It also offers Cars by TUI, which is part of TUI Travel PLC. This is a major car rental aggregator with more than 130 car rental partners worldwide. It offers best available rates for international suppliers such as Hertz, Avis, Europcar, and Sixt, in addition to many local partners.

In addition, Travelport Leisure will continue to offer content provided by GTA, such as interactive city maps and useful travel information such as weather reports, hotel reviews, news, visa requirements and destination guides to aid agents during the sales process. “We are seeing some very encouraging signs that leisure travel spend has really picked up again and much of this spend will be on non-air related products such as hotels and car hire,” said Lewis.