Kenya’s travel agency business is entering a new phase as artificial intelligence (AI), New Distribution Capability (NDC) and modern global distribution systems (GDS) begin to change how airline content is searched, sold and serviced.
For travel agents, the transformation is taking place at a time when customers increasingly expect instant comparisons, personalised offers and seamless digital service, while airlines are seeking greater control over how their products reach travellers.
The result is a shift from the traditional model of travel distribution, where agents largely relied on GDS platforms to search fares and issue tickets, towards a more connected environment where GDS, NDC, direct airline content and AI-powered tools work together.
The development is already visible in Kenya.
In April 2025, Kenya Airways became the first airline in sub-Saharan Africa to distribute its NDC-sourced content through the Amadeus Travel Platform. The move gives travel sellers access to richer airline content through the Amadeus environment, including offers generated through the carrier’s NDC channel.
For Kenyan travel agents, this is significant because NDC is no longer simply an industry technology concept being discussed in Europe and North America. It is becoming part of the local distribution ecosystem.
Eligible non-IATA agencies could access Kenya Airways’ NDC content through Amadeus, subject to requirements including a valid IATA Travel Industry Designator Service number and the appropriate Amadeus security arrangements.
From booking tickets to selling travel
The significance of NDC goes beyond another way of accessing airline seats.
Traditional airline distribution has largely centred on fares, schedules and availability. NDC allows airlines to distribute richer offers, including branded fares, ancillary products and other elements of the airline proposition.
This supports the industry’s wider shift towards modern airline retailing, in which airlines increasingly want to sell travel products in a way similar to other digital commerce businesses.
For agents, that could mean greater opportunities to sell seats, baggage, meals, upgrades and other ancillary services alongside the basic air ticket.
It also means agents will have to understand where content comes from and how different distribution channels affect the price, product and servicing options presented to a customer.
The GDS is changing, not disappearing
The rise of NDC does not necessarily mean the end of GDS.
Instead, the major distribution platforms are adapting to aggregate different sources of content.
Travelport’s current APIs, for example, support both NDC and GDS content, while its 2026 strategy increasingly positions the company as technology infrastructure for AI-enabled travel commerce rather than simply a traditional distribution system.
Travelport has also been investing in its TripServices platform, which is designed to bring together different sources of travel content through APIs and make that content more accessible to digital and AI-powered applications.
This points to a future in which the question for an agent may no longer be, “Which GDS do I use?”
Instead, it may become:
“How effectively can my technology access and manage all the content I need?”
AI adds another layer
Artificial intelligence is now pushing the transformation further.
AI can already help travel businesses interpret customer requests, build itineraries, summarise fare rules, automate communication and support repetitive administrative tasks.
The next development is agentic AI — systems designed not merely to provide information but to take actions on behalf of users.
This is particularly important for travel because a booking is more complicated than a simple online purchase.
A system must identify live availability, understand fare rules, process passenger information, complete payment and ticketing, and potentially handle changes, cancellations and disruptions.
That is why the infrastructure behind the AI matters.
Travelport is explicitly positioning its technology as infrastructure for AI-enabled travel, while Amadeus has been testing AI applications that can interact with travel booking and servicing workflows.
The implication is important for travel agents.
AI may change how travel is searched and sold, but distribution infrastructure determines what the technology can actually book and service.
The threat is also an opportunity
For travel agents, the immediate concern is whether AI will make their role redundant.
But the more likely outcome may be a change in the type of work agents perform.
Technology can increasingly handle repetitive searches and administrative processes. Human agents can therefore spend more time on activities that require judgement — designing complex itineraries, advising customers, managing disruptions, handling corporate travel and building relationships.
The competitive advantage could consequently shift from knowing how to operate a booking system to knowing how to use several technology systems intelligently.
An agent who can compare GDS and NDC content, identify the best product for a customer, sell ancillary services and use AI to reduce administrative work could be more productive than one relying exclusively on traditional workflows.
This will also make training increasingly important.
Travel agencies will need staff who understand NDC, APIs, digital distribution and AI tools, alongside the conventional skills of fares, ticketing, customer service and destination knowledge.
A new role for the travel agent
The travel agent of the future may therefore be less of a ticketing intermediary and more of a travel-commerce professional.
AI could conduct the initial search. Distribution platforms could aggregate content. Automation could handle routine processes.
But the agent could remain responsible for interpreting the options, advising the traveller and resolving problems when things do not go according to plan.
That human role becomes particularly valuable when a journey is complicated.
A missed connection, a family travelling across several destinations, a corporate traveller facing a last-minute change or a group booking involving multiple passengers can require judgement that goes beyond simply finding the cheapest available fare.
For Kenya’s travel agencies, the opportunity is to prepare for this transition rather than resist it.
The technology landscape is moving towards an environment where GDS, NDC, APIs and AI complement one another.
The winners may not necessarily be the agencies with the most technology.
They could be the agencies that understand how to use technology to deliver better advice, faster service and more value to the customer.
The future of the travel agent, therefore, may not be about competing against AI.
It may be about becoming the human expert who knows how to make AI and modern travel distribution work for the customer.
