Amadeus to Build and Foster Travel Tech Start-up Community in Asia Pacific with Amadeus Next

Global travel technology leader, Amadeus, today announces the launch of its Amadeus Next start-up initiative at the Echelon Thailand 2015 conference, the gateway to Asia’s burgeoning tech start-up community.

Amadeus Next leverages Amadeus’ technology, expertise, reach and funding, to evolve new and original ideas in travel, empowering travel start-ups in Asia Pacific to shape the future of travel. It also serves as a driving force to build an ecosystem of likeminded partners and organisations that are excited about travel technology, and looking to challenge the status quo.

To date, there are six travel technology start-ups on board, including Klook, Orahi and Triposo and TopDocs, a platform for medical tourists to book a seamless medical travel experience.

“Amadeus is at the forefront of the travel technology industry and a major player in the travel start-up scene in this region. So partnering with ‘Amadeus Next’ was a no brainer. For our success and to go grow quickly we need access to leading travel technology, expert advisory from a global network with funding opportunities which Amadeus is providing,” said Cassandra Italia, CEO & Founder - TopDocs.

Additionally, JungleVentures, CyberAgent Ventures Techsauce and Hubba, Thailand's start-up leader in terms of co-working spaces, technology events, technology media and startup education, have joined Amadeus Next.

Amartit Charoenphan, Founder, CEO Hubba, commented that “It takes a leader to see changes and own the future rather than being reactive to technological disruption, and that is exactly what Amadeus does. We believe that big corporations have a lot to offer to start-ups, but Amadeus Next goes one step further. They truly work and think like a start-up and what they’re doing will be pivotal to the industry and to start-ups in the travel technology space”.

What Amadeus Next offers start-ups:

- Technology: Start-ups gain access to Amadeus’ technology and solutions to build and validate the Minimum Viable Product, as well as leverage decades of experience in travel technology.

- Expertise: Start-ups can work with Amadeus experts to incubate and validate new ideas and businesses. They will also receive mentoring and guidance to navigate their way to success.

- Reach: Start-ups will be able to connect to the right network with Amadeus’ support to test, validate and pilot new business models with Amadeus customers and industry players.

- Funding: Amadeus will help start-ups to connect to investors and venture capital around the world. Globally, Amadeus also has a dedicated Amadeus Venture Fund which offers early stage minority investments in start-ups.

Simon Akeroyd, Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Business Development, said, “Amadeus Next is not a short-term project or a one-off investment, it’s a long-term partnership and commitment to create a collaborative travel tech startup community in Asia Pacific. To truly shape the future of travel, we need to work together, across the industry, and with travel players big and small, to create a collaborative ecosystem with the traveller at the centre. ”

Amadeus’ participation in Bangkok Startup Weekend 2015 earlier this year was one of the preliminary activities from Amadeus Next to work with the Asia Pacific startup community.

Note to the editors

About Amadeus

Amadeus is a leading provider of advanced technology solutions for the global travel industry. Customer groups include travel providers (e.g. airlines, hotels, rail and ferry operators, etc.), travel sellers (travel agencies and websites), and travel buyers (corporations and travel management companies).

The Amadeus group employs around 13,000 people worldwide, across central sites in Madrid (corporate headquarters), Nice (development) and Erding (operations), as well as 71 local Amadeus Commercial Organisations globally.

The group operates a transaction-based business model.

Amadeus is listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange under the symbol “AMS.MC” and is a component of the IBEX 35 index.

To find out more about Amadeus please visit www.amadeus.com, and www.amadeus.com/blog for more on the travel industry.