As travelers seek better shopping and booking experiences, travel companies must transform both the technology powering their retailing systems and the organizational culture behind them. Recent milestones within Sabre’s Beyond NDC program demonstrate how the company is advancing new retailing opportunities across the entire travel value chain.

Today’s travelers have higher expectations than ever. They not only want personalized experiences and customizable options, but greater transparency and more convenient ways to manage their plans. To help travel companies meet these expectations, Sabre is accelerating its Beyond NDC program, which enables third-party travel retailers to sell personalized offers and real-time content.

“Since January, the Sabre team is proud to have launched New Distribution Capability (NDC) offers from American Airlines, United Airlines, Finnair, and most recently Lufthansa Group in a soft launch capacity,” said Kathy Morgan, vice president of NDC and airline supply at Sabre. “We’re now focused on collaborating with the airlines to encourage travel agency adoption. We hope this news makes agencies take notice that NDC is no longer an experiment — it’s here.”

In April, American Airlines made headlines as it embarked on this transformation. The airline is now providing NDC offers through Sabre’s global distribution system, reserving upwards of 40 percent of its fares for NDC-powered channels and direct booking channels. SkiftX spoke with Morgan to examine the business case for transitioning to NDC-enabled retailing and to understand how to navigate the associated challenges.

The Case for Transitioning to Offer and Order Retailing

“An offer and order framework is foundational to modern retailing,” Morgan said. “Other industries such as entertainment, online shopping, and finance already use an offer and order framework, utilizing data insights, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence to give consumers valuable, relevant, and seamless experiences. This is what the airline industry needs to meet the expectations of today’s travelers.”

With offer and order retailing supported by NDC, airlines create various offers in real time. These offers may include products and services like seat selection, extra leg-room, or Wi-Fi. Longer term, these offers may expand to products not traditionally sold by airlines, such as hotel add-ons and other extras that can be bundled together seamlessly by third-party retailers based on travelers’ needs.

By gaining access to a broader selection of offers from airlines, travel retailers can support the needs of different types of travelers, as well as create new cross-sell and upsell opportunities for travel agencies. Payment, settlement, delivery, and reconciliation processes are consolidated and streamlined via orders.

“Not only does NDC open the door to more retailing opportunities for airlines, but it also enhances personalization and choice for travelers when shopping for travel and managing trips,” Morgan said. “Sabre’s overarching strategy is rooted in understanding these customer needs.”

The Impact of NDC-Powered Channels on the Travel Retailing Ecosystem While Sabre’s increasing number of NDC-integrated airlines signals a growing commitment from the airline industry to embrace NDC offers and enhance travel retailing, Morgan acknowledges that many travel sellers face a change management challenge that will take time and resources.

“Technology that has been optimized over decades is changing, and this change will require travel agencies to adapt or even eliminate many long-standing practices,” Morgan said. “In addition, the NDC standards remain a work in progress, so travel agencies will need to keep a lot of plates spinning. They’ll need to manage commercial, technical, and operational changes throughout their organizations.”

In terms of commercial changes, travel retailers should discuss with their partners how commercial terms may change for NDC bookings. On the technical side, the transition will not require an abrupt change, but rather a gradual
hybrid approach with traditional travel options available alongside NDC offers.

To that end, Morgan said Sabre is “integrating multiple types of content and normalizing how that content is displayed in our APIs and point-of-sale applications to make it easier for users to compare options and make informed purchases.”

Finally, when it comes to operational changes, Morgan said the most important thing to remember is that “all stakeholders in the travel value chain, including corporations, corporate booking tools, agencies, aggregators, and suppliers, must work together to prepare their systems to scale for NDC.”

Navigating the NDC Transition Path

Even as these exciting digital transformation initiatives ripple across the airline retailing ecosystem, the associated short-term challenges can be difficult to navigate.

“NDC is an industry standard, but the implementations aren’t standard,” Morgan said. “There’s tremendous flexibility and room for interpretation of the standards, which results with each one being unique.”

On managing these complexities, Morgan says her team does the heavy lifting, “from supporting multiple versions of NDC technical schemas, to accounting for country-specific tax guidelines, to integrating mid- and back-office workflow requirements, and more. Our agency point-of-sale solution, Sabre Red 360, and our online corporate booking tool, GetThere, consume the offer and order APIs to display and manage NDC offers. The Sabre NDC capabilities are built to
scale from day one.”

But not all airlines have the same strategy or pace for change. Regardless of airline decisions, Morgan said Sabre’s development work ensures the Sabre marketplace adds value for agencies no matter where the content comes from.
“Whether you’re an enthusiastic adopter of NDC — which I hope is the case — or need more time to assess NDC, we are ready to help you think through options and navigate this important industry change.”

SOURCE: SKIFT

eRoam technology helps travel advisors in businesses of all sizes create, book and manage personalised and highly competitive travel experiences for their clients in less time, with less hassle!

The easy to adopt and learn itinerary design and booking management technology takes care of the complexity of the entire reservations process. With eRoam you spend less time administering and more time selling.

With connections to leading global travel product providers, eRoam offers travel content in over 100,000 destinations worldwide, including over 750,000 hotels and lodging options, thousands of tours and activities, and a comprehensive range of transportation including self-drive (own arrangements), flights, trains, transfers and more.

eRoam makes it extremely simple to put together the most complex, multi-day road trip, even for agents who may not be super familiar with the destinations involved. The user simply enters the travel date, number of travelers, any relevant traveler preferences – and then eRoam automatically builds a bookable itinerary in literally seconds.

Agents can then edit the itinerary by changing hotels or activities, add additional services such as car rental, and adjust their own markup, before generating a stylish itinerary and quote document at the click of a mouse to send to their client. If the client wants to book, then the itinerary can be converted to a booking just as quickly, with confirmations automatically sent out to suppliers and vouchers electronically generated. eRoam also integrates with agent payment gateways to ensure simple invoicing and payment processing. eRoam does not interfere with commissions and does not apply a mark-up.

Sabron invites you to a demo of eRoam on 27^th Apr 2023 from 12.00 to 13.00 EAT

The demo will be conducted by Charlie Bateson, Commercial Director of eRoam Pty Ltd, responsible for the UK, Africa, and Middle East Markets.

The influence of artificial intelligence, the need for businesses of all sizes to protect against hackers and why travel must hone its TikTok content were among topics explored at the 2023 TTI Travel Tech Summit. 

Experts gathered in London this week to assess the year’s key technology issues and debate how the industry can capitalise on shifting trends – and where it is lagging behind other sectors.

Here are four tech developments poised to shake-up travel in 2023. 

’AI Has Potential Across Every Aspect Of Travel’

Artificial intelligence – providing it is used in the right context – has the potential to help travel businesses across every part of the industry. 

That was the message from Travel Ledger founder Roberto De Re, who predicted AI will be able to transform the customer experience journey – offering differentiated product information and client services – meaning travel brands could do away with “rigid” bots. 

“It would cost a fortune to pay human beings to create unique content for every distributor, so AI has a real application in that space,” he said.

’Big Or Small – You’re Equally At Risk’

 No matter how small your company is – you still must take steps to protect yourself from online hackers and against cybercrime. 

Darren Gale, vice-president of IronNet Cyber Security, said digital attacks were getting “more sophisticated” and travel companies needed to focus on employee education as well as defensive tools.

“I can guarantee travel is being focussed on by these threats because of the industry’s data sets and their desirability, as well as the transaction volumes associated with holiday bookings,” Gale warned. 

Time Is Ticking – So Up Your Tiktok Game

 We all know the growing influence of TikTok but just how impactful is it to certain demographics when planning their travel?

According to Yona Fredericks-Elekima, founder of online travel agency the Take Off Club, 60% of the app’s users are Gen Z [those born from the late-1990s to early 2010s] and they are being influenced to book through companies displaying their favourite content.

 “People will be asking ‘Where did you book? Where can I find this holiday?” Fredericks-Elekima told delegates. “They want to be able to go on these holidays.”

 Although, she stressed the industry should not have a one-size-fits-all approach to its social channels, and urged brands to “find what works for you”.

 ’Don’t Be Afraid To Integrate Payments’

 The tourism and hospitality sectors are “still very far behind” when it comes to integrated payment solutions, according to Planet’s senior VP for the UK, Ireland and North America Steven Dow. 

“Businesses don’t move quickly because they’re nervous… there’s the whole GDPR finance compliance, the data security, it’s all very stressful,” he told delegates. 

Dow urged travel firms to boost their integrated payment services in a bid to streamline processes and improve customer experience.

He explained it could be the difference between a customer having to queue at a hotel reception for their room key and them having all the information already on their credit card.

Source: TTG

The hospitality sector is focused on providing recreational services and ensuring client pleasure. This may entail providing services to visitors, but it may also entail supplying services to individuals who are not tourists, such as residents taking use of their spare time or individuals visiting a location for purposes unrelated to tourism.

The demand for travel is increasing again as economies all around the world are recovering.Several businesses were impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, but hospitality was particularly hard hit. Despite this, it has shown incredible resiliency, and thanks to the successful introduction of the illness vaccine, it is now thriving. As a result, nations are relaxing their travel regulations, which are driving up demand for international travel.

The hospitality industry in India has had considerable growth in recent years and it has the potential to expand considerably more in the coming years. Due to its rich and diverse culture, visitors from all over the world have been pouring into the nation. Foreign and domestic travellers agree that India is a popular location for spiritual tourism. India’s position in the World Economic Forum’s index measuring the competitiveness of the travel and tourism industry has consistently improved, moving up from 65th in 2013 to 34th in 2019.

Trends in Hospitality Technology
Trend refers to a change in behaviour or a more extensive circumstance change. In light of this, trends in the hospitality industry may include modifications in consumer behaviour, fresh approaches to delivering services, or a general push to incorporate new hospitality technologies. Trends are frequently influenced by a variety of various reasons.

Today, technology is becoming extremely significant in every industry, including the hospitality sector. It supports businesses in the sector as they develop business practices and client interactions. Additionally, since visitors are accustomed to a range of technologies at home, they anticipate at least the same level of technology while travelling. Due to the intense competition in the sector, staying current with technology is crucial.

The pandemic has increased awareness of sustainability, ethical business practices, and the necessity for collaboration within the hospitality sector. Leading companies have been announcing their plans to offset their carbon footprint in accordance with international governmental efforts and promote best practices for responsible consumption at the level of hotel groups as sustainable travel has become the way of the future. Radisson is an example of company leading sustainability efforts, having committed to being “net zero” by 2050 and decarbonising its operations by establishing challenging emission reduction goals.

The GCC emerging as a major hub for domestic and international tourism bodes well for the hospitality industry’s future. Governments, businesses, and important stakeholders are working together to ensure that the region maintains its steady growth, draws in new markets, and shapes the travel industry’s future.

Innovation technology
The Internet of Things (IoT), integration is something that intrigues visitors to a place. It provides them with a high level of efficiency and convenience in addition to a feeling of luxury. As people begin to use technology like this in their own homes, demand for it in hotels is rising.

Eco-friendly hotels
In general, as it becomes increasingly obvious that sustainability is a significant concern, society is becoming more environmentally sensitive. These evolving attitudes have an impact on how travellers choose their accommodation. For sustainable hotels, energy efficiency, waste management, and environmentally friendly construction are top considerations.

Augmented and virtual realities
The specialised markets for these technologies have changed. They are already extremely well-liked in attractions, gaming, and entertainment, but they can also be quite helpful to hotel guests. While augmented reality superimposes virtual features on the real world, virtual reality substitutes the real world with visual and auditory information. Customers can take virtual tours of your property and even specific areas of the location if they want to experience before they buy. A hotel might utilise an interactive map to provide information to visitors via augmented reality.

Studies on the global hotel sector indicate a sharp increase in demand for new tourist destinations that previous generations of travellers had never even considered (like Central & South America and Canada).

International travel demand has surged as a result of low unemployment numbers and post-recession spending, pushing major airlines like American Airlines to add more direct air transport to overseas countries. The airline hopes to expand significantly in the years to come. This year, it added nonstop service from Newark and Cape Town.

Economists argue that businesses (in any industry) simply cannot afford to overlook the effects of globalisation. In the upcoming years, continuing the swift global expansion.

Economists argue that businesses (in any industry) simply cannot afford to overlook the effects of globalisation. Having multiple regional top management and a centralised supervisory hub will likely be necessary to maintain the company’s rapid global expansion over the coming years. Source: FNB News

Today’s travelers require comprehensive details about their reservations. This includes the itinerary they’ve booked with all the segments, the eTicket details for any air travel and the eInvoice or receipt of payment.

To keep their travelers satisfied, agencies and airlines must be able to provide all the essential information needed to manage the travel they’ve purchased.

Make Sure They Know Before They Go

Sabre Traveler Communication is the administration portal for delivering the information and documents required for travel. Once a booking is completed through the Sabre system, it enables agencies and airlines to send tickets, invoices and itineraries to their travelers via email.

In addition, Sabre Traveler Communication can deliver updated travel information at any time provided the traveler has given consent for their itinerary to be sent from Sabre or GetThere to TripCase.

Product features

To learn more about these products visit Sabre Traveler Communication « Sabre or contact us at marketing@sabron.com

Since the first iPhone launched 15 years ago, consumer shopping habits have slowly but relentlessly shifted toward mobile devices. According to a survey of 3,250 U.S. consumers from Pymnts.com, a website dedicated to analyzing the role of payments in new tech, the majority of travel service purchases (51.4%) were made on a mobile device in February 2022.

The trend is even starker among younger shoppers. About 48% of millennials ages 25-40 prefer using mobile phones for online shopping, compared with only 34% of all shoppers globally, according to a 2021 survey of 13,000 shoppers from Klarna, an online payment company.

So, it seems that shopping for travel on an old-fashioned computer will eventually go the way of the horse and buggy. Indeed, some travel shopping services, such as the travel search engine Hopper, offer only in-app shopping for certain bookings, leaving desktop users high and dry.

However, while buying a flight on a phone is more convenient, it could be more costly.

Watch out for drip pricing

The rise in mobile shopping in the past decade has coincided with a sea change in how travel brands earn revenue. Add-on fees, including baggage and seat selection fees on flights and cleaning and resort fees with lodging, have become more common and pricey. U.S. airlines collected $5.3 billion in baggage fees alone in 2021, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

However, a 2021 study in the journal Marketing Science found that shoppers tend to make suboptimal decisions under these “drip pricing” situations, that is, when hidden fees are tacked on throughout the checkout process. Shoppers tend to compare initial prices across competitors, which are low, rather than the higher final price.

“When firms employ a drip pricing strategy, the initial price is almost always lower than a competitor’s all-in price,” said Shelle Santana, assistant professor of marketing at Bentley University and one of the study’s authors, in an email interview. “But once they start to add on amenities such as a checked bag, seat options, etc., that difference in price across firms diminishes and sometimes reverses.”

Anyone who has shopped for airfare on a budget airline such as Spirit or Frontier knows exactly how this “drip pricing” plays out. Yet what surprised Santana and her colleagues was how unwilling customers were to compare alternatives, even after the final price had risen.

“Consumers perceive high search costs associated with starting their decision process over, and they think they will save less money than they actually will,” Santana said.

Basically, shoppers tend to get to the final checkout screen and grudgingly accept whatever fees have been added on. They assume it will be too much hassle to start over and find another option, even if doing so would save them money.

The wrong tool for the job

Shopping on mobile devices is quick and easy for simple purchases, like ordering cat food or paying a bill. Yet shopping for travel is far from simple, and it usually requires switching between several tabs and apps to find the best deal.

Consider the common decision of whether to purchase a flight with either cash or reward miles. This involves several steps. First, you’ll need to search on the airline app or website for award availability, likely while switching to a personal calendar to check dates. Then, you’ll search on a third-party flight tool, such as Google Flights, for estimated cash fares before determining the value of the redemption in miles versus dollars. Once you’ve determined the best option, you’ll then need to navigate through the entire checkout process from both cash and award flight options to determine the true final price.

Maybe some fleet-fingered Gen Zers can manage this task on a mobile device. But for many, it’s too daunting.

Indeed, a 2018 study in the Journal of Marketing followed nearly a million sessions on a shopping website and found that shoppers who switched from a phone to computer completed their transactions at a higher conversion rate. Interestingly, this higher conversion rate effect was even more true for higher priced or risky products.

So, even if you like scrolling for flights on your phone, or if you feel overwhelmed by the mobile-based options, follow the advice of the experts who prefer booking travel — which can be both expensive and risky — using a computer.

“I almost always shop for travel on a desktop,” said Santana. “I like to have several tabs open at once and toggle between them to make sure I understand price differences and drivers across firms.”

Source: Mountain View Today

Data, analytics, personalisation, and mobile are redefining the travel marketplace. As technology advances, travellers today are wanting greater immediacy and connectivity. This expectation is driving the need for travel options that offer a complete, connected solution that considers all their unique needs.

Sabre Red 360 answers these mounting travel demands. It is your access point to the Sabre platform and presents new content as soon as it’s available. With connectivity to the same content as OTAs and corporate booking tools, travel consultants are equipped to quickly respond to the diverse needs of savvy travellers and provide engaging recommendations. New insights and comparison tools are designed to make this time-consuming task easier — providing full view of the travel spectrum so you can offer travellers the perfect trip to generate more bookings.

View an Impressive Range of Advantages

Take advantage of the easy-to-use interface that increases productivity and lets you focus on what you do best — delivering exclusive, highly tailored travel options that exceed your travelers’ demands and expectations.

User-Friendly Design

Graphical interface and drop-down panels simplify travel complexity and eliminate guesswork providing an intuitive user experience that’s the same across air, hotel and car.

Platform-Enabled Options

Sabre Red 360 translates API responses into an expanded list of bookable content, like branded fares and air extras, and data insights for greater expertise.

Customizable Workflows

With Red Apps and the Sabre Developer Toolkit, access source codes and templates to create widgets, pop-ups and forms tailored to your brand promise.

Responsive to Your Unique and Evolving Business Needs

Sabre Red 360 provides added value to:

Agencies

It unlocks a new gamut of bookable content and insightful information to create an end-to-end recommendation for customers that focuses on their unique business or travel needs. With shortcuts and insights that guide the travel consultant to the right choice, it’s easy to master. It even provides new customization possibilities where agencies can develop automated workflows and incorporate even more content for a completely tailored experience that adds customer value.

Travel Providers

Greater product differentiation is achieved with tools designed to sell ancillary and branded fares sales, personalized offers with add-ons, and enhanced hotel capabilities. Through rich imagery and descriptive information, Sabre Red 360 delivers a consist approach to branding within the agency channel. In addition, the Sabre travel marketplace offers an omni-channel marketing strategy that provides access to the highest value travelers and unlocks a new range of merchandising possibilities.

OTAs

Sabre Red 360 displays the same API content available in the online channel. Support desk agents can easily personalize the experience using background information

in the Sabre profile or PNR to find the most relevant travel options within the Sabre platform. Its flexible design also enables OTAs and tech-savvy agencies to quickly adapt to changing industry and customer demands both online and offline.

The Future of Travel Booking Has Come 360

Want a dynamic booking solution that offers greater content, ease-of-use and customization?

Discover a simplified comparison-shopping solution designed to clinch best deal each time. Sabre Red 360 combines an intuitive, user-friendly interface, data-driven insights and greater intelligence to quickly deliver winning recommendations that increase travel bookings.

To learn how Sabre Red 360 answers both agency and travel provider needs, visit Sabre Red 360 « Sabre or contact us at marketing@sabron.com