News Briefs

Cognizant and Travelport, a global technology company that powers bookings for hundreds of thousands of travel suppliers worldwide, today announced a new agreement aimed at evolving Travelport's global infrastructure by leveraging Cognizant Neuro® IT Operations platform, artificial intelligence (AI), and automation services. 

The partnership, which has been ongoing for more than a decade, aims to further empower Travelport to simplify complexities in travel retailing with the ability to quickly adapt to changing priorities in the market and scale with demand. The renewed partnership will prioritize driving automation, enhancing reliability, and ultimately modernizing the experience Travelport delivers to its customers worldwide.

"This new agreement underscores our commitment to leveraging advanced automation and cloud services aiming to advance Travelport's global infrastructure. By leveraging Cognizant Neuro® IT Operations platform, we aim to enhance the agility, reliability, and customer-centricity of Travelport's global travel retailing platform, Travelport+. This partnership not only addresses current objectives to modernize processes but also sets the stage for a more efficient and future-ready travel ecosystem," said Anup Prasad, Senior Vice President & Head of Cognizant's Consumer Business Unit.

Travelport's unique role in providing backend systems and a marketplace for airlines, hotels, car rental companies and railways to connect seamlessly with travel retailers underscores the significance of this agreement. Travelport stands out for its niche services, such as the ability to deliver multi-source travel content in a “retail-ready” way to travel agencies, online travel agencies and corporate travel management companies around the world. The streamlined infrastructure aims to lower operational costs, foster new skill sets for the Travelport team, and significantly minimize transition risks.

"Our extended partnership with Cognizant aims to help accelerate processes with advanced automation solutions. This deal signifies a meaningful step toward a more streamlined future for Travelport as we drive modern retailing forward for our agency customers, industry partners and travelers," said Bates Turpen, Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer at Travelport.

The partnership between Cognizant and Travelport marks a significant milestone in advancing innovation and operational efficiency within the travel sector. Drawing upon state-of-the-art technologies and extensive industry knowledge, Cognizant aims to establish a new standard for cooperative excellence, empowering Travelport to drive the continually evolving global travel industry into a bold new era.

Shift4 has acquired a majority stake in Vectron Systems AG, a European suppliers of point-of-sale (POS) systems to the restaurant and hospitality verticals. 

Based in Germany, Vectron has 65,000 POS locations across Europe, representing. Shift4 is expected to acquire additional ownership of Vectron through a public tender offer that is expected to conclude within the next month, with a de-listing and formal integration process to occur shortly thereafter.

The acquisition is expected to provide Shift4 with an expansive customer footprint across Europe as well as a distribution network of ~300 POS resellers. As a result of the acquisition, Shift4 believes it will be able to add its integrated payment services to current Vectron customers and products, while also empowering the sales force with a compelling all-in-one POS and payments solution unrivaled in Europe.

“Shift4 was at the forefront of the convergence between software and payments in the restaurant and hospitality verticals in the US. We see an incredible amount of demand for a similar all-in-one solution across Europe,” states Shift4 CEO Jared Isaacman. “With our integrated payments and SkyTab offering, we believe we have the best solution at the right price point. Vectron will provide valuable local expertise, infrastructure, and the distribution necessary to meet the demand. This acquisition is right out of the Shift4 playbook – enabling us to unlock synergies, expand our distribution, and monetize payments for a large existing install base.”

Completes Revel Systems Acquistion

In addition to the acquisition of Vectron, Shift4 has also completed its previously announced acquisition of Revel Systems. Revel has over 18,000 merchant locations across the United States and internationally which Shift4 estimates represents a $17B+ payment opportunity. Revel also has a direct sales and dealer distribution network which Shift4 believes can be leveraged to accelerate SkyTab distribution both domestically and abroad. 

Shift4 has signed a definitive arrangement agreement to acquire Givex Corp., a global provider of gift cards, loyalty programs and point-of-sale solutions. 

The Arrangement Agreement is subject to customary closing conditions and the transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year. 

With across more than 100 countries, Givex serves a wide range of businesses in various industries, including 7-Eleven, Wendy’s, Best Western, Texas Roadhouse. 

The company offers robust gift card and e-gift solutions as well as customizable loyalty programs, and a point-of-sale (POS) system for various business types, among other value-added services.

 “Givex has a considerable footprint around the world which will dramatically increase Shift4’s overall customer base,” states Shift4 President Taylor Lauber. “At the same time, their gift card and loyalty solutions are second to none and will add significant value for our current customers, creating stickier relationships andh 130,000+ active locations enhancing our overall value proposition. Similar to other deals we have recently completed, this acquisition aligns perfectly with how we like to deploy capital – adding blue-chip merchants at a low customer acquisition cost while delivering additional benefits to our customer base.” 

“The Givex team looks forward to joining the Shift4 family and bring our enterprise gift card capabilities and loyalty programs to hundreds of thousands of new customers,” says Don Gray, CEO of Givex. “By combining Shift4’s end-to-end payment solution with our value-added engagement services, we can deliver an unparalleled package to both of our customer bases.”  

Shift4, a provider of integrated payments and commerce technology, announced a comprehensive partnership with Alterra Mountain Company, the operator of 19 premier mountain destinations. Shift4 will power all payments across all of Alterra’s properties, streamlining transactions for hotels, restaurants, lift ticket sales, and the company’s Ikon Pass online sales.

Alterra Mountain Company is world-renowned for its portfolio of mountain destinations, offering premier outdoor experiences to skiers and riders across North America. With this partnership, Shift4 will enhance the guest experience at Alterra's destinations by providing a seamless, secure, and efficient payment infrastructure that supports everything from lodging and dining to ticketing and online purchases.

“Enhancing the guest experience is at the heart of everything we do, and Shift4’s commerce solutions will help us continue to deliver a frictionless experience for our guests, both on-site and online,” said Gui Karyo, Chief Technology Officer, Alterra Mountain Company. “Their expertise in managing high-volume payment environments across multiple touchpoints makes Shift4 the ideal partner as we continue to grow and enhance our destinations.”

“We are excited to partner with Alterra Mountain Company to power payments at their incredible destinations across North America,” said Michael Isaacman, Shift4’s Chief Commercial Officer. “Our technology is designed to simplify and secure the entire commerce experience, from purchasing an Ikon Pass online or a lift ticket at the resort to paying for your hotel room or a meal at the lodge. We look forward to helping Alterra deliver an exceptional and seamless experience for guests across all destinations.”

Shift4’s solutions are trusted by leading resorts, sports venues, and entertainment destinations worldwide, transforming the way guests interact with payments across industries. To learn more about Shift4’s capabilities in the travel and hospitality industry, visit shift4.com/hospitality.

MGM Resorts International has completed the deployment of the next generation Amadeus Central Reservation System (ACRS) across MGM Resorts’ North American hotels, including Las Vegas and regional hotels. The cloud based ACRS offers advanced distribution capabilities enabling MGM Resorts to efficiently connect with its branded and third-party distribution channels.

As Amadeus’ second ACRS customer, MGM Resorts has been working collaboratively to implement ACRS as the newest top-tier hospitality central reservation platform. MGM Resorts and Amadeus have also cooperated on several innovative ACRS capabilities, including those supporting MGM Resorts’ strategic business partnerships. 

This new implementation addresses MGM Resorts’ goals to substantially reduce manual data management within its distribution ecosystem and prioritize its advanced connection strategy with key third-party partners.

ACRS offers technology architecture that further enables ultra-high availability and ultra-fast response times, meeting the needs of all hotel types from global chains to independent luxury hotels and resorts.

“We chose to move forward with Amadeus based on the potential we saw in the ACRS,” says Sarah Fults, Vice President Distribution, MGM Resorts. “With the strong process-oriented approach Amadeus is known for, we knew that together we could augment ACRS with what was needed for MGM Resorts. We are delighted to now be live across all of our North American hotel properties and look forward to the continued innovations possible through our partnership with Amadeus.”  

Peter Waters, EVP, Hotel IT, Hospitality, Amadeus comments, “I’m excited to continue to bring Amadeus’ next generation ACRS Hospitality platform to the industry through our exceptional partnership with MGM Resorts.  With its unique attribute-based data modeling and other market-leading technologies, ACRS transforms the way hotels can provide personalized merchandising to their guests. From global chains to independent and luxury hotels, ACRS empowers hoteliers to increase revenues, enhance the guest experience and improve operational efficiency.”

Serko Ltd. announced the appointment of Tarun Phaugat as Vice President of Engineering, effective immediately.

Phaugat has more than two decades of engineering leadership experience within the enterprise and travel technology sectors, most recently serving as engineering lead for the Uber for Business platform, and previously in senior roles at Airbnb, Apple and Microsoft.

As VP of Engineering, Phaugat will spearhead the continuous innovation and modernization of Serko’s platform, a key pillar in Serko’s growth strategy across the SME and Enterprise business travel market.

“At Serko, we are focused on building the most innovative technology platform, both for today’s business travel industry and for the challenges that lie ahead,” said Simon Young, CTO at Serko. “Tarun’s experience in delivering groundbreaking technology solutions is ideal, and we know that he will be a driving force to scale our ongoing innovation efforts, including our Indian Development Hub. We could not be happier to add Tarun to our team.”

In addition to his role as VP of Engineering, Phaugat will also serve as a leader in the strategic and operational growth of Serko’s Development Hub in Bengaluru, and join Serko’s Booking.com for Business Leadership Team.

"Innovation is core to Serko’s technology DNA,” said Phaugat. “From its embrace of automation to creating category leaders with Zeno and Booking.com for Business, Serko’s track record of providing solutions that tackle the most pressing business travel challenges is second to none. The Serko team is renowned for its technology talent, and I cannot wait to work alongside such a stellar team as we build the future of the Serko travel platform.”

This announcement follows Serko’s recent announcement of an accelerated program of innovation with plans to invest US$100 million over the next three years to enhance its platform technology and deliver the next generation of business travel solutions.