Sabre Travel Network has signed a deal with Italy’s national rail company to distribute its fares on the Sabre GDS.
Rail operator Trenitalia has reached an agreement to make its rail fares available to travel agents across the globe. Trenitalia's fares will appear in search results alongside airfares.
Sabre senior vice-president EMEA Harald Eisenaecher said he expected a growth in combined rail and air business trips in Europe, with increased demand for more cross-border rail travel.
He said: “Sabre is acutely aware of the importance of rail transport in Europe and has invested heavily in developing technology to provide bookers with a transparent platform to shop, compare and book fares.”
In a meeting with international journalists at the company's development centre in Krakow, he said Sabre was investing $500 million a year in new technology, and was focusing on gaining market share from competitors in the EMEA region.
Eisenaecher also forecast "huge market growth" in Africa, and said the GDSs were capable and eager to distribute all airline ancillaries, in a market where the trend is towards a wide variety of bundled and unbundled hybrid fares.