Breaking Travel News today speaks with Decius Valmorbida, president of Travel at Amadeus, to discuss how the company operates at the intersection of travel and technology. He explains how fostering collaboration and trust across the travel ecosystem enables Amadeus to deliver innovative solutions that streamline operations and empower stakeholders.
Elsewhere, he highlights the importance of cooperation among airlines, hotels, agencies, airports, and technology providers, emphasising that the traveller remains at the centre of their approach.
Breaking Travel News: How is orchestration across the travel ecosystem facilitating better outcomes for travellers in 2026?
Decius Valmorbida: At the intersection of travel and technology sits a simple truth: travel only works when many parts move together. Airlines, hotels, travel sellers, airports, governments, and technology providers each play a distinct role in creating journeys that span borders, systems, and moments in time. As expectations rise for journeys that are simpler, more connected, and more intuitive, the way the industry works together matters more than ever.
At Amadeus, our purpose is to make the experience of travel better for everyone, everywhere. For decades, this has guided how we design technology and how we engage with the industry. As travel enters a new phase – defined by increasing complexity, digitalisation, and automation – we remain focused on the foundations that enable progress: cooperation across the ecosystem, trusted infrastructure at scale, and open technology that delivers real outcomes.
BTN: How does the work of Amadeus bring this vision to life?
DV: Travel is, by nature, an interconnected system. No single organisation can deliver a seamless journey on its own. Every trip depends on the coordinated efforts of many players, each contributing their expertise at different points along the way. This reality shapes how we work at Amadeus.
We take an ecosystem approach, bringing together customers and partners through open platforms, shared standards, and interoperable technology. The goal is to better connect existing roles. Airlines, hotels, agencies, airports, and other travel companies remain at the heart of their relationships with travellers. Our focus is supporting providers to remove friction for the traveller through innovation and partnership.
What does an ecosystem approach look like in practice? One example is how we work with strategic partners. We work closely with companies such as Microsoft, Google, Adobe, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Tata Consulting Services, Accenture, and others to develop integrations and joint propositions on our platform. This approach extends beyond individual partnerships to industry wide collaboration, including initiatives focused on areas like digital identity and biometrics, where progress depends on a truly connected ecosystem. By embracing openness – and recognising that innovation can come from anywhere – we help connect technologies and expertise across the industry, enabling customers to move faster and deliver better outcomes for travellers.
The traveller is always at the centre of this approach. Today’s journeys are often fragmented across channels and touchpoints – before departure, during the trip, and when disruption occurs. By enabling orchestration across the ecosystem, we help connect those fragments into more coherent, end-to-end experiences. This approach is about enablement: allowing each player to do what they do best, while improving the overall experience of travel.
BTN: To what extent is artificial intelligence going to reshape the travel technology environment?
DV: As travel becomes more digital and increasingly automated, trust and reliability become more critical than ever. The industry operates in a complex environment where systems must work safely and consistently across borders, time zones, and business models. In this context, trusted infrastructure matters as much as innovation.
Amadeus operates as a neutral execution layer for the travel ecosystem. Neutrality, in practice, means providing technology that is dependable, secure, and designed to serve a broad and diverse set of participants fairly. It means enabling interoperability and supporting many routes to innovation.
This role carries responsibility. At Amadeus, we operate at the highest level of integrity. As new technologies such as artificial intelligence accelerate change, the need for strong foundations only grows. Reliable data, well-governed platforms, and trusted systems of record are essential for scaling innovation responsibly. Our focus is on ensuring that new capabilities can be integrated into real-world operations, supporting the industry as it evolves, while maintaining resilience and continuity for travellers and businesses alike.
BTN: How important are open platforms for the future of the travel industry?
DV: Customers ultimately choose technology because it works and because it delivers outcomes that matter to their businesses and to the travellers they serve. At Amadeus, we believe in the strength of our technology, the openness of our platforms, and the value created across the ecosystem.
Our solutions are chosen by customers around the globe because they support day-to-day execution at scale. Long-standing relationships with customers are built on trust, performance, and continuous engagement. We invest consistently in evolving our capabilities, working closely with customers across regions and market segments to meet their changing needs. In fact, in 2025 we invested €1.4 billion in research and development, representing more than 20 percent of group revenue.
Openness is central to this model. Platforms built on shared standards and interoperability give customers the flexibility to innovate, differentiate, and grow in their own way. This combination – robust execution, open foundations, and close cooperation – is what enables choice and long-term value creation.
So, what do these principles look like in practice? One example from across our business is how we support airlines as they transition to modern airline retailing. As traveller expectations evolve and business models adapt, airlines are rethinking how they serve customers across the journey: how to make travel simpler, more relevant, and more efficient. The objective is shared, but the paths to get there vary. Low cost and full-service carriers operate differently and require technology that reflects those realities.
That is why our airline portfolio brings together two distinct but complementary solution approaches. For carriers with simpler, point-to-point operations, Navitaire Stratos provides an integrated solution. For airlines managing complex networks, multiple channels, and high touch servicing, Amadeus Nevio offers modularity and flexibility.
While there are differences in the solution offerings, they are built on the same cloud native Amadeus Open Platform, combining resilience, scalability, and data enabled capabilities. It allows them to choose how they evolve, and the pace of that transition, all within a connected ecosystem.
More Information
Find out more about how Amadeus makes the experience of travel better for everyone, everywhere by inspiring innovation, partnerships and responsibility to people, places and planet on the official website.
