Travelport becomes the first to be able to offer Bidvest Car Rental content to its travel agency customers
Johannesburg, South Africa, 2015-2-27 — /Travel PR News/ — Travelport, a leading Travel Commerce Platform providing distribution, technology, payment and other solutions for the $7 trillion global travel and tourism industry has today announced a new long term agreement with Bidvest Group, which has successfully run and managed the Budget Car Rental brand in Southern Africa for many years. Bidvest Group has now re-branded the Budget Car Rental operation to become Bidvest Car Rental and Travelport has become the first of any travel platform to be able to offer Bidvest Car Rental’s newly branded content to travel agencies around the world.
South Africa was the largest car rental market in the Middle East and Africa with a total market value of US$492.3 million in 2013¹ and today’s announcement not only strengthens Travelport’s position in South Africa but the wider region and globally. It also reaffirms the strength and depth of the travel content available to agencies on its Travel Commerce Platform. Travelport now features approximately 400 airlines, over 600,000 hotel properties and approximately 35,000 car rental locations.
From today, travel agencies can book Bidvest Car Rental through Travelport Smartpoint, Travelport’s industry leading point of sale solution that transforms the selling experience for agents. In the recently launched version of Travelport Smartpoint booking car rental now mirrors that of the consumer’s online experience and allows travel agents to access enhanced features including pictures and comparisons, all within the same workflow.
George Harb, Travelport’s Managing Director in South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, commented: “We are thrilled to be able to say that we’re the first amongst our competitors to be able to offer Bidvest Car Rental content to travel agency customers. Travelport has a long standing and productive working relationship with the Bidvest Group and we are pleased they have seen the value in our Travel Commerce Platform. I want to take this opportunity to thank our developer team who have worked closely with Bidvest Car Rental to ensure a seamless transition and wish Bidvest Car Rental every success as it rolls out its new brand experience across Southern Africa.”
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Notes to editors
About Travelport
Travelport is a Travel Commerce Platform providing distribution, technology, payment and other solutions for the $7 trillion global travel and tourism industry. With a presence in over 170 countries, approximately 3,400 employees and 2014 net revenue of $2.1 billion, Travelport is comprised of:
- A Travel Commerce Platform through which it facilitates travel commerce by connecting the world’s leading travel providers with online and offline travel buyers in a proprietary business to business (“B2B”) travel marketplace. In addition, Travelport has leveraged its domain expertise in the travel industry to design a pioneering B2B payment solution that addresses the needs of travel intermediaries to efficiently and securely settle travel transactions.
- Technology Services through which it provides critical IT services to airlines, such as shopping, ticketing, departure control and other solutions, enabling them to focus on their core business competencies and reduce costs.
Travelport is headquartered in Langley, UK. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and trades under the symbol “TVPT”.
¹The Global Car Rental Market to 2018 – Travel &Tourism intelligence center (TTIC) http://www.reportlinker.com/p02571487-summary/The-Global-Car-Rental-Market-to.html
Media Contacts:
Mark Hamilton, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications
Tel: +44 (0)1753 288342
Mob: +44 (0)7552 212132
Email: mark.hamilton@travelport.com
Kate Aldridge, VP Corporate Communications
Tel: +44 (0)1753 288720
Mob: +44 (0)7921 698757
Email: kate.aldridge@travelport.com