Northstar

6 | www.travelweekly-asia.com TECH TALKING By now, everybody must have heard of International Air Transport Association's (IATA) NDC standard — the travel industry supported programme that is supposed to make communication between airlines, travel agents and customers much simpler. Adoption rates have been relatively healthy since the September 2015 launch. IATA's NDC registry now comprises of more than 100 companies, including 58 airlines around the world. However, there is still some resistance. The traditionally closed-off China, for example, remains unmoved, preferring instead to stick with its state-backed GDS Travelsky. And while airlines have been largely enthusiastic, some travel agents are still in hold position, waiting to see how it all pans out. Dave Shirk, EVP, president of Sabre Travel Solutions, shares the opportunities to be had, as well as how Sabre fi ts into the equation. Information is king Competition is fi erce, and airlines can no longer afford to differentiate themselves purely by prices, routes and schedules. Shirk elaborated, "The future of travel will not only be about low fares, but about the sophistication and the intelligence of the aggregation." What he means is that information is king, and the more information airlines can provide for and gather from travel agents — and, in turn, the customers — the better the overall experience will be for everybody. The NDC standard is the key to bring it all together. "With NDC, there is a greater need to capitalise on retailing, merchandising, distribution and fulfi lment. Collectively, these components ensure that airlines create the right offer [that] are available through the right channels and reach the right customer," Shirk added. Tangible benefi ts So what can travel agents and corporate buyers expect once NDC becomes more widely adopted? Simply put, NDC is meant to help airlines woo customers, which in turn will help travel agents woo their customers through more targeted marketing. The fi rst and most obvious benefi t, Shirk believes, is that we can all bid farewell to text- based content. "NDC allows airlines to provide far more detailed content about the ancillaries available for each fl ight and seat — going beyond simple text… [which] helps agents and travellers better understand their offering," he said. For instance, if an airline wants to promote its Wi-Fi, meal and fast-board offerings, they can showcase said offerings in richer details (i.e. nicer pictures with detailed description) via NDC. For travel agents, this means that they can easily communicate with their clients about product differentiation — a far cry from your standard prices and schedules on EDIFACT-based GDS right now. Also, like a game of broken telephone, the current system prevents the parties involved — airlines, travel agents and passengers — from talking to each other properly. Airlines have no idea what travellers want until after a ticket is purchased, and agents sometimes don't know what airlines offer beyond prices and schedules. NDC, on the other hand, does away with all of that. "Essentially, NDC will have a signifi cant impact on the shopping capabilities of agents, providing them with a broader view of the shopper and giving them the ability to create targeted offers based on their unique travel needs," Shirk explained. So what are we waiting for? Adopting the NDC standard is all well and good, but widespread adoption is a little more complicated than plug-and-play. For one, NDC itself is still evolving even as we speak. IATA, the people that came up with the standard in the fi rst place, is still working on fi ne- tuning the programme. Moreover, how travel agents implement the NDC standard is, ironically, not standardised yet. Then, there's cost. "Most agencies and TMCs don't have the bandwidth to take on the heavy lifting of building the connections to airline APIs to access content, which represents a signifi cant investment to build and maintain," Shirk said. With that said, the opportunities may be well worth the wait. Already, companies like Shirk's Sabre are pulling ahead with their own NDC applications. "Sabre is investing in a fast-forward approach to next- generation retailing and distribution, and is committed to incorporating NDC standards in ways that will benefi t stakeholders across the travel ecosystem, including airlines, travel agencies and consumers," Shirk commented. "By innovating beyond the standard, Sabre solutions intelligently optimise product and give airlines control of products and services distributed across all channels. And just as important, it provides agencies with richer content to provide [more] personalised, relevant offers." Like every piece of new technology, standards and prices do stablise over time. When the fi rst mobile phone — the Motorola DynaTAX 8000X — was released in 1983, it cost a whopping US$3,995. Now, even children have mobile phones in their pockets. The transition may take some time, not to mention the cost may be painful to bear at fi rst. However, like all good technology, it is all about the longer game plan. After all, no one is complaining about the lack of pagers these days. Information is With the NDC standard, merchandising and distribution don't have to be messy affairs for airlines anymore — but what's in it for travel agents? "The future of travel will not only be about low fares, but about the sophistication and the intelligence of the aggregation." – Dave Shirk, EVP, president of Sabre Travel Solutions By Will Chin K NG PHOTO CREDIT: GETTYIMAGES.

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