Global travel technology innovator, Snowfall, (www.snowfalltravel.com) has signed a strategic agreement with Grupo GEA (www.grupogea.com), one of Spain's largest consortium of independent travel agencies, to provide it’s next generation multimodal content booking solution to Grupo GEA’s members, with initial integration covering pan-European rail.
Initially Snowfall will provide Grupo GEA with universal access to unprecedented European rail content via a direct API connection to Junction. This means that travel agency members of Grupo GEA will be able to easily book and manage rail travel content from over 50 European rail operators for the first time.
Founded 30 years ago, Spanish-headquartered Grupo GEA provides its 800 leisure and business travel agency members, with access to specially negotiated supplier rates and exclusive incentives, as well as bespoke technology solutions and operational support.
The decision to partner with Snowfall has been driven by an appetite for modern, innovative technology and the growing need for Grupo GEA travel agency members to book more sustainable rail travel options for their customers, as a result of impending EU legislation and moves by European countries to ban booking of short-haul flights where alternative train options are available. Spain, for example, has already outlined plans to curb domestic flights where train journeys take less than 2.5 hours by 2050.
Simon Arvidsson, Chief Growth Officer, Snowfall said: “We are delighted to partner with Grupo GEA to deliver extensive pan-European rail content to their travel agency members through a direct connection to Junction, our multimodal travel distribution ecosystem. This will enable travel agents to easily search and book rail travel options from a multitude of train operators within Grupo GEA’s intranet booking platform. We look forward to continuing to develop this partnership going forwards with opportunities to provide other forms of multimodal travel content to Grupo GEA travel agencies.”
Antonio Lara, Director of New Developments & Innovation, Grupo GEA added: “Rail travel provides essential connectivity within our core markets. Finding the right technology provider was crucial for us to meet our specific rail content needs. We were highly impressed by their flexible and personal approach, which simplified the process of sourcing and delivering comprehensive and competitive European rail content. We are delighted to be able to provide this solution to our travel agency members and we look forward to realising even greater benefits as we integrate other multimodal travel verticals through Snowfall’s Junction technology.``