Monday April 29, 9:30 am Eastern Time Press Release SOURCE: Sabre Holdings Corporation Sabre Announces Launch of 'Empowering Agenda' for Travel AgenciesNew Five-Point Plan Includes First GDS Developed Merchant Model Program, Access to Web Fares, and Breakthrough Revenue Management Tools SOUTHLAKE, Texas, April 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sabre Holdings Corporation (NYSE: TSG - news) today announced the Sabre "Empowering Agenda," a bold new five-point plan to empower U.S. travel agents to better compete in the face of sweeping industry changes. · (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020426/TSGHOTEL http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020426/TSGWEB ) Through the Empowering Agenda, Sabre announced several new product solutions, policy changes and business options for the travel agent community. These include Sabre® Exclusives, Sabre's first merchant model program for hotels, which will provide travel agents with a new revenue stream and competitive content; access to airline Web fares integrated into the Sabre global distribution system; and Sabre Magnify(SM), breakthrough yield management tools designed specifically to help travel agents maximize revenue and better serve customers. Sabre's Empowering Agenda is a comprehensive plan developed to champion the travel agent in response to the rate of change in the travel industry. Recent industry pressures include the elimination of base commissions from airline suppliers and other industry players, demand from travelers for greater access to the lowest fares and prices, and the immediate and ongoing need for new revenue opportunities. "Agencies need to make the hard decisions and take the appropriate actions to ensure they control their own destiny, solidifying their role as advocates for travelers and ensuring their long-term profitability," said Eric Speck, group president of Travel Marketing and Distribution for Sabre. "The Empowering Agenda provides real solutions -- not just 'vapor ware' promises -- to help agencies proactively respond to change in the industry rather than continuing to react to the latest announcement of policy by suppliers." Sabre's Empowering Agenda benefits suppliers and travelers, as well as travel agents. For airline suppliers, the agenda provides initiatives that decrease distribution costs including tools that improve the efficiency of the travel agency channel. For hotel suppliers, the Sabre Exclusives program provides the opportunity to grow revenues and increase occupancy. The participating hotels will also have the advantage of the reach and distribution of room inventory via the extensive Sabre® system network. For travelers, the agenda reduces the frustration of having to shop across multiple channels to ensure they are getting the lowest air fare. "The changes in the travel industry have been volatile and dramatic. However, to date there has not been any clear leadership in addressing this new environment. Sabre's Empowering Agenda is about bringing order out of the chaos and leading a path for travel agents, suppliers and the industry to get back to the business of selling travel," Speck said. Sabre's Empowering Agenda includes the following initiatives and programs that are highlighted and discussed in detail below. Empowering Agenda Solutions 1. Provide discounted, high -- Sabre Exclusives preferred commission content and hotels program access to Web fares -- Access to Web fares 2. Equip agents with breakthrough -- Sabre Magnify revenue and yield management and relationship management relationship tools to thrive product suite in a pay for performance environment 3. Extend agency reach to deliver -- Sabre(R) Corporate .Res(SM) services to their customers -- Sabre(R).Res anytime, anywhere, anyhow, -- Sabre(R) Virtually There(R) affordably -- Mobile Traveler Services 4. Protect agency business from -- Changes to Marketing Information poaching Data Tapes (MIDT) -- Corporate ID Initiative 5. Provide new business suite -- BusinessFlex Option that includes that enables agencies to pool affiliate and franchise programs, purchasing power and offers brokerage solutions and simplified flexible contract solutions contract options Sabre Exclusives Sabre is the first global distribution system (GDS) provider to develop and integrate a new merchant model program for the travel agent. Through the Sabre Exclusives program, Sabre will merchandise consigned hotel rooms at selected U.S. hotels to the Sabre worldwide network of more than 60,000 agency locations for their cost conscious travelers. More than 500 properties, including Wyndham International and The Venetian Resort Casino (Las Vegas), have already signed up to participate in this new offering. This new concept creates an enhanced business model for agencies, helping them effectively compete with the discounted hotel rates available on the Internet. Benefits of the program include a 10 percent standard commission plus override for travel agents, with guaranteed payment within two weeks of checkout. Sabre Exclusives will be fully integrated into the Sabre booking process with no new formats to learn. The program is already in live testing and is expected to launch in the U.S. in June. "At a time when many suppliers are questioning whether the travel agency distribution system is the best model for their business, Sabre's willingness to assist the agency community in bringing Internet pricing to the desktop display will undoubtedly help us more effectively bring value to clients who are looking for a single source relationship when buying travel services," said Barry Noskeau of Altour, one of over 200 agency locations participating in the Sabre Exclusives test phase. Web Fares Through the new Web Fares by FareChase program, Sabre will begin providing technology to enable travel agents to evaluate comparisons of airline supplier Web fares to the published and negotiated rates through the Sabre system. The program will provide the first access to Web fares through a GDS provider. Sabre Magnify Sabre Magnify is a new product suite that draws on Sabre's vast yield management knowledge and expertise, and applies it to the travel agency community. For more than 15 years, Sabre has been supplying powerful software that has helped airlines maximize revenue by providing information on the allocation of inventory in terms of passenger loads, price and destinations to make second-by-second decisions. These powerful tools are now being applied to the travel agencies so they can determine where they stand in meeting their negotiated agreements with airlines and against their peers to produce the best yield in terms of revenue. The CRM components of Sabre Magnify will be established with the introduction of the Relationship Index in June. This index will provide the industry's first integrated display for all traveler information for both personal and corporate travel, including a total view of the agency's activities with that traveler. "We see great potential for this product moving forward, as it helps agencies automate the point-of-sale communication of revenue opportunities," said Jim Osborne, director, Partner Relations, for Virtuoso, one of the beta test travel agencies for Sabre Magnify. Corporate .Res, Sabre .Res, Virtually There, Mobile Traveler Services Sabre's Empowering Agenda provides a way for travel agencies to expand their storefront to the Internet to compete with the online channels, and allows "brick and mortar" agencies to offer multi-channel capability to their customers. Corporate .Res is new product that complements Sabre's existing online tools with a product solution to provide a corporate travel booking site that gives small to medium companies the ability to shop and book trips online through their Sabre Connected(SM) travel agent. Through Corporate .Res, travel agencies can brand their own corporate offering that is based on the GetThere technology -- the leading Web based travel reservations solution for corporations. Sabre also has enhanced Sabre .Res, its online booking tool for travel agencies, to make it easier and more affordable for agents to provide a highly customizable online presence. These tools complement Sabre Virtually There, a Website and resource for travelers co-branded for their agency. Virtually There delivers to travelers personal itineraries, individual flight notification services and other features online and through wireless devices. Sabre is building upon the success of Sabre Virtually There with a new agency suite of its mobile traveler services that can be customized with an agency's logo and information. This suite includes notification services for flight information that can be delivered to a traveler's cell phone, PDA, pager, or computer. In addition, Sabre is launching a new voice portal for travel agencies, an automated voice service that provides quick, 24 x 7 response flight and general travel information for travelers. The automated service will be private branded with the agency name and information. MIDT and Data Privacy To enhance the privacy of customer information, Sabre will be implementing modifications to enhance data privacy protection in Marketing Information Data Tapes (MIDT) provided to the airlines. With this implementation, specific passenger record locator numbers will be replaced with encrypted reference data for airlines that are not part of the itinerary. This new policy will make it even more difficult to connect non-personal MIDT data with other travel information to obtain agency and private traveler data. Later this year, Sabre plans to implement a similar program to provide additional safeguards for corporate identities. BusinessFlex Sabre is offering a number of options for agencies to simplify their contracts, affiliate with other agencies or sell their businesses. These programs benefit both small, independent agencies, as well as the larger agencies looking for affiliates as well as niche players. These options include an agreement with Nexion for small agencies wanting to pool their purchasing power; brokerage partners to help facilitate buying or selling an agency; and flexible contract solutions such as the Simplicity Plan and the Optimal Earnings Plan. "With this agenda, Sabre has stepped forward and offered a path for agencies to proactively take control of their futures amidst an environment of turbulence," said Richard Copland, American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) president and CEO. "Their Empowering Agenda is a thorough answer for agents to deal with the supplier owned channels and stimulate additional sources of revenue for their agencies." About Sabre Holdings Corporation Sabre is the leading provider of technology, distribution and marketing services for the travel industry. Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, the company has approximately 7,000 employees in 45 countries. Sabre reported 2001 revenues of $2.1 billion. Sabre owns Travelocity.com, the most popular travel site on the Web, and GetThere, the world's leading provider of Web-based travel reservation systems for corporations and travel suppliers. Sabre is an S&P 500 company, traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: TSG - news). More information about Sabre is available at www.sabre.com . SOURCE: Sabre Holdings Corporation --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness