MADRID Spain’s tourism department and travel technology vendor Amadeus will collaborate on implementing sustainable tourism initiatives in developing countries.
The agreement involves cooperation projects in the areas of technology, tourism and travel to promote social development in disadvantaged areas to enhance wealth creation, employment opportunities and social cohesion. The first activities will be developed in Haiti and Jordan.
Amadeus and Spain will assist in the training of tourism personnel and will contribute technology, sector analysis and strategic planning to increase the competitiveness of tourist destinations. Long-term goals include the creation and evaluation of tourism marketing policies, promotion and development of local tourism, strengthening of travel retailers and improvement of management systems in micro, small and medium-sized travel companies.
As well as providing technology solutions, Amadeus brings its network of more than 90 project coordinators working in more than 190 countries where the country has a commercial presence. For example, Amadeus is operating technology transfer projects in Central America, the Andean countries and South Africa for hotel micro enterprises looking to progress in areas which, despite having a tourism industry, are underdeveloped, allowing these hotels to distribute their offer through Amadeus’ GDS and travel agencies in line with industry standards. Currently, some 200 hotels form part of this project, and the aim is that many more micro-hotels should benefit from it in the future.
Amadeus will also leverage its World PC Bank, through which computers that have been replaced (from travel agencies, operators, Amadeus itself or by other sector players) are reconditioned for use in education or technology transfer projects. Amadeus recently donated 40 computers to schools in Chile affected by the earthquake and more than 100 to tourism schools in South Africa.
“It is a great pleasure for us to cooperate with the General Secretariat for Tourism, as we not only share the same vision of solidarity but also believe that tourism should work in favor of all those developing regions that need to grow socially and economically,” says Amadeus CEO Luis Maroto.