Sabre Launches Sabre Vacations in Canada, a Private-Label Version of S

Sabre Launches Sabre Vacations in Canada, a Private-Label Version of SIREV by Softvoyage

    Business Editors/Technology Editors/Travel Editors

    TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 16, 2005--

    Sabre Vacations Provides Sabre Connected Customers Easy, Intuitive, Point & Click Access to the Most Robust Tour Package Content Available

    Sabre Travel Network, the division of Sabre Holdings (NYSE:TSG) that connects travel suppliers and agents through the world's leading global distribution system (GDS), and Softvoyage, Canada's leading provider of web-based tools for shopping and booking tour package and charter air content, today announced the launch of Sabre(R) Vacations for Sabre Connected travel professionals in Canada, a private-label version of SIREV. Sabre Vacations is exclusively available to Sabre Connected travel professionals to ease and speed up the process of shopping and booking the ITC and FIT products from nearly 20 leading Canadian tour operators, representing over 80 percent of the pre-packaged tour operators. Sabre Vacations can be accessed from the Agency eServices website and soon will be fully integrated into the MySabre desktop.
    "Sabre travel professionals now benefit from the best shopping technology available in Canada for leisure products. Because Sabre Vacations is fully integrated to the Sabre desktop, Sabre travel professionals will enjoy, among others, the simplicity of seamless back-office integration through the automated creation of a Sabre system PNR booking, resulting in significant productivity gains," said Softvoyage CEO, Steve Ringuet.
    Joe Herzog, divisional vice-president and general manager of the Canadian division of Sabre Travel Network, said: "We're proud to deliver this innovative, value-added solution that our Canadian customers identified as their top market need. Its easy, point-and-click technology combined with its robust, high-commission earning content and cross shopping functionality makes it the best way to book FIT and ITCs for Canadian point of sale."
    Sabre Vacations was designed to enhance and seamlessly integrate to the busy travel professional daily work-flow with powerful features enabling them to better serve their traveling customers:

--	Search across multiple destinations, tour packages and charter flights in one search request, making it easy to compare packages and prices
--	Search by date range, resort location, property name, hotel facilities and package price limits
--	View prices, taxes and commissions (net or gross) in one display
--	Identify last-minute specials
--	Quickly and easily check alternate dates for a wider variety of choices to offer your customers
--	Access package descriptions, detailed hotel descriptions and hotel pictures from the tour operator's electronic brochures
--	Receive e-mail alerts when prices reach a pre-specified price point
--	Manage reservations: edit or cancel bookings, view or apply payment, print booking details, enter remarks and book options such as ground transport and activities
--	Receive immediate price confirmation and availability because all bookings are made within the tour operator's system
--	Earn Sabre productivity credits for every traveled booking
--	Lastly, for even greater efficiency and integration into agency back-office systems, Sabre Vacations automatically creates a Sabre system PNR booking and payment details at the end of the booking process

    The complete list of tour package brands available through Sabre Vacations (Canada) includes: Air Canada Vacations, Air Transat Vacations, Alba Tours, Caribe Sol, Companion Holidays, Hola Sun, Holiday House, Intair Vacations, Nolitour Vacations, Red Seal Vacations, Sol-Vac Tours, Sol y Son Vacations, Sunflight Holidays, Sunquest, Sunwing Vacations, Tour Maison, Tours Mont-Royal, Varaplaya Tours, World of Vacations.
    For years, Sabre Connected travel professionals in Canada have relied on DirecTours and Access Tours for easy and efficient booking of tour package content in the Sabre(R) GDS. These products, for the time being, will continue to be available and run in tandem with the new feature-rich Sabre Vacations shopping and booking solution.

    About Softvoyage

    Founded in 1987 and as a leading IT solution provider dedicated to the travel industry, Softvoyage Inc. specializes in the development of commercial solutions for travel agencies, tour operators, consolidators, and suppliers. Softvoyage's leading solutions include SIREV (web shopping system for agents), SIRRVA & MRUN (web booking engines for consumers), TTS (back-office, reservation and distribution system for tour operators), Gulliver (private airfare management tool for wholesalers) and Softair (reservation system for low cost air carriers). Softvoyage has offices in Montreal and Toronto and sales representatives in Europe and the U.S.

    About Sabre Travel Network

    Sabre Travel Network, a Sabre Holdings company, provides access to the world's leading global distribution system (GDS) enabling agents at more than 50,000 agency locations worldwide to be travel experts. The Sabre GDS, the first system to connect the buyers and sellers of travel, today includes more than 400 airlines, approximately 60,000 hotels, 32 car rental companies, nine cruise lines, 35 railroads and 220 tour operators. Key brands of Sabre Travel Network include GetThere, the leading Web-based corporate travel reservation technology, and Jurni Network, the unique leisure travel agency consortium that enables members to sell more products from preferred travel suppliers using sophisticated market intelligence.
    Sabre Holdings Corporation (NYSE:TSG) is a world leader in travel commerce, retailing travel products and providing distribution and technology solutions for the travel industry. More information about Sabre Holdings is available at http://www.sabre-holdings.com.
    Sabre Travel Network, Sabre Vacations, Sabre Connected, Agency eServices and MySabre are trademarks and/or service marks of an affiliate of Sabre Holdings Corporation. All other trademarks, service marks, and trade names are the property of their respective owners.

--30--JC/na*

CONTACT: Sabre Holdings Corporation Scott Lepard, 416-218-5463 email: Scott.lepard@sabre.com or Softvoyage Louis Mousseau, 514-273-0008 ext. 135 email: lmousseau@softvoyage.com

KEYWORD: TEXAS INTERNATIONAL CANADA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TRAVEL AIRLINES TRANSPORTATION INTERNET E-COMMERCE PRODUCT MARKETING AGREEMENTS SOURCE: Sabre Travel Network

Copyright Business Wire 2005