Matel specializes in the consolidator segment of the travel industry providing inventory management and reservation systems. Matel's products include: Faresbureau –for air consolidators; Carsbureau –for car rental consolidators; and the soon to be released Hotelsbureau — for hotel room consolidators. Prior to selecting SolarNet, Matel has offered their clients Internet based distribution solutions only.
Under the agreement, Matel will develop the application protocol interfaces (APIs) that will link Faresbureau, Carsbureau and Hotelsbureau to SolarNet enabling approximately 450,000 travel agents worldwide to access Matel's client inventories via SolarNet's direct connections to the major GDS networks.
Faresbureau: Used by air consolidators in the UK and Europe, Faresbureau currently offers Internet distribution only. The addition of SolarNet will give Faresbureau clients a multi-GDS presence with global travel agent distribution and transaction capabilities.
Carsbureau: Launched in partnership with a European car rental consolidator, Carsbureau offers worldwide car rentals through the free-sale arrangements they have with numerous car rental companies. Carsbureau currently offers Internet distribution only, and with SolarNet, Carsbureau clients will have a multi-GDS presence with global travel agent distribution and transaction capabilities.
Hotelsbureau: A new Matel venture to be launched later this quarter, automates the inventory management and reservation process for hotel room consolidators. Hotelsbureau will launch offering clients both Internet distribution, and SolarNet's global multi-GDS presence with travel agent distribution and transaction capabilities.
Matel will charge its clients a service fee on every travel agent transaction generated through SolarNet, and Solarnet will receive a percentage of all service fees. Based on Matel's API development schedule, SolarNet expects to realize initial revenue from this agreement in May of this year.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
