New Distribution Capability (NDC) standards, introduced by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) promise to enable smarter retailing through indirect distribution channels such as Global Distribution Systems (GDS). This means that GDSs will be able to show and sell offers that can be branded, differentiated with rich content, and personalized to drive higher conversions.

As more companies within the airline distribution ecosystem adopt NDC standards, airline retailing solutions must be able to support these growing volumes without compromising the customer experience or disrupting operations. In addition, a variety of other stakeholders involved in fulfilling and servicing these orders — not just airlines directly involved with offer and order management — must be able to support NDC sales.

Sabre, a travel technology company and one of the larger GDSs in the industry, reports that it produces 300 terabytes of shopping data every day, which roughly translates to 600 million shops a day. “When somebody enters the search parameters into our system, it takes us under two seconds to produce all the possible results and combine them into the most favorable offer for travelers,” said Brett Burgess, senior vice president of product management for Sabre Travel Network. “As we think about NDC and airline retailing, the most important thing to do is to continue to deliver the same level of efficiency and service at scale with NDC connections as well.”

“From our perspective, we need to make sure that our NDC-compliant connections — also called NDC Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) — can support those 600 million shops a day,” said Kathy Morgan, vice president for NDC solutions at Sabre. Without scale, the promise of NDC to open up the marketplace to new types of airline offers, rich content, retailing, and differentiation cannot be fulfilled.

Addressing Challenges as an Industry

Along with providing scalable NDC-enabled solutions, the industry must address some other challenges as well. “We must recognize that we are dealing with under-specified standards. Initially, these standards only addressed what a reservation workflow would look like for an airline’s brand website, and that worked well for meta-search engines and online travel agencies (OTAs),” said Morgan. “But, scale includes both business and technical considerations, and when you open up the market to other third-party buyers like travel management companies and corporate travel booking tools, these standards don’t address all their needs. We’re excited to see that IATA acknowledged industry feedback and created NDC Level 4 and NDC@Scale certifications. Through our test-and-learn approach, we look forward to sharing insights that can refine the definition of scale.”

IATA has set an industry-wide goal that 20 percent of all sales for the 21 airlines on the NDC leaderboard should be powered by an NDC API by 2020. These 21 airlines account for 30 percent of IATA passenger volumes. The fact that world passenger volume has exceeded 4.5 billion as of June 2019 is an indication of the kind of volume that NDC APIs must be able to support.

In early April 2019, Sabre announced that it had begun testing NDC offers with United Airlines. “United is thrilled to be the first airline to partner with Sabre to offer NDC capabilities through their booking platform as we continue to advance the travel industry,” said Dave Bartels, vice president of revenue management for United Airlines. “We strive to provide the best experience for our customers at each step of their travel journey, including when they shop for flights. Working with Sabre to improve the booking process is another way we are able to enhance the experience for our customers.”

Driving Scale for all Functions in the Workflow

Managing and supporting large volumes of shops and transactions through NDC APIs are not the only things to consider when thinking about scale. Are other service providers, like payment fulfillment platforms and catering vendors, able to understand the new NDC offer and order model and handle the resulting volumes coming through NDC channels as well as traditional channels? “NDC changes how tickets and ancillaries are sold,” said Michael Reyes, senior director, offer management at Sabre Airline Solutions. “We can build and sell the offer, but we must also pay attention to what happens after the sale.”

For example, when ancillaries like special meal requests are booked more frequently through an NDC-enabled API, a catering vendor’s system must be upgraded to process and fulfill these orders. Therefore, NDC adopters must look at the entire retailing process, including at how the offer will be fulfilled, how the customer will be supported in case of changes after the order is placed, and how third-party vendors are kept informed to successfully achieve scale.

Airline Considerations

“Today, Sabre has the computing power to support 600 million shops with 99.999 percent uptime,” said Morgan. “Our shopping volumes double every 18 months, and the look-to-book ratios are 20,000 to one in some markets. And, it’s constantly growing. NDC will require us to transition the burden of computing and managing these volumes to the airline systems.” Not only do airline systems need to be prepared to handle the increased volume, they must do so while maintaining the current service standards. Otherwise, airlines may risk losing customers due to unmet expectations.

To achieve scale, “The first thing we are doing is changing the notion that airlines can only take a limited number of attributes into account when building an offer,” said Reyes. New NDC-enabled solutions from Sabre ensure that airlines can distribute any number of offers through their systems that take attributes such as ancillaries, availability, and schedules into consideration, enabling them to be smarter retailers.

“This is where I see the GDS and players like Sabre to be key,” said Charlene Wee, manager of distribution for Singapore Airlines. “There are only a certain number of things airlines can do on their own. Can you imagine us going to 1,000 different partners and setting up 1,000 different connections? It’s not possible or scalable. Once we have the GDSs on board, we have connections to thousands of players out there.”

Some travel agencies using Sabre, such as Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), are testing new technologies that allow them to sell offers delivered through NDC APIs using their existing shopping applications. “While some change in operations is expected, we have been focused on minimizing the disruption that NDC content might cause a travel agency’s existing workflows,” said Morgan.

“Sabre’s approach is very different compared to the other GDSs and, we believe, more scalable,” said Wee. “The key aspect is that it requires less changes to the agency workflows, driving higher adoption. We want to be a part of making NDC a reality by helping facilitate between the airlines and agents. If we do things in a way that would drive agency adoption, then we are happy to understand how the workflows should change on our side. Ultimately, it’s not just us wanting to distribute NDC content, it’s about us partnering with agencies to distribute all this rich, new content.”

To truly benefit from the increased retailing potential that NDC promises, the travel industry must take an ‘ecosystem’ approach to building and deploying solutions. This means developing scalable solutions that support the needs of disparate stakeholders — from travel agencies, airlines, and corporate booking tools to mid-and back-office technology providers, corporations, and travelers themselves. “NDC might have started off as an airline-led initiative, but our approach to ushering in this new era of retailing is to leverage our position as a technology provider at the center of this ecosystem and create an expansive marketplace with solutions that can be scaled,” said Morgan.

This content was created collaboratively by Sabre and Skift’s branded content studio,SkiftX.

Source: https://skift.com/2019/08/28/scalability-is-key-to-driving-adoption-of-new-distribution-capability-standards/

The Vice President of the Universal Federation of Travel Agents Associations (UFTAA) who is also the CEO of the Israeli Incoming Tour Operators Association Yossi Fatael is among the keynote speakers confirmed to speak at the forthcoming 2019 KATA Convention set for 27-29 September 2019 in Naivasha, Kenya.

The veteran aviation professional is a respected authority on IATA matters and represents UFTAA at the joint global forum of travel agents and airlines (PAPGJC). He will be speaking on the various changes happening in the industry such as the migration to IATA NEWGEN ISS, NDC, One Order and other structural changes happenings within IATA and how the same is set to affect travel agents.

“As KATA we are immensely privileged and honored to be welcoming to our annual convention a speaker of the calibre of Yossi Fatael”, said Chairman Mohammed Wanyoike. “He is a highly experienced and knowledgeable professional on IATA matters and as we plan to transition to NEWGEN ISS in October of this year, our members will greatly benefit from his insights.”

Other keynote speakers expected to deliver speeches at the Convention include Raphael Kuuchi, the IATA Special Envoy on Aero-political affairs, Bernard Bankole, President of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agents (NANTA) among others.  The CEO of KATA Nicanor Sabula is impressed by the number of participants registering for the convention and he says he looks forward to a successful event. “We have received registrations even from our neigbouring countries Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda and I am happy to report that a delegation from Nigeria will also be attending the convention for the first time,” he adds.

The KATA Convention is an annual forum that brings together travel professionals from the travel ecosystem which include travel agents, airlines, travel technology companies, regulators, financial institutions, insurance companies, training institutions among others to caucus on matters related to the industry and share knowledge and experiences. It offers participants a great platform for socializing and networking with colleagues in the industry. The theme for this year’s event is “Travel in Transition: Re-imagining the future of Kenya’s travel industry.” 

More details about registration for the conference click here and for registration click here

Hahn Air, a German scheduled charter airline which distributes services to other airlines has launched its NDC platform.

The company is increasing its array of products for partner airlines and travel agencies with a solution driven by IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) standard.

To mark the launch, the German airline and ticketing specialist welcomed its first passengers holding NDC-enabled Hahn Air tickets on one of its scheduled flights from Luxembourg to Dusseldorf on August 16, 2019.

“As Hahn Air today supports travel agencies in 190 markets and airlines of any size and business model, we carefully developed a scalable solution that meets the needs of all our current and future partners in a changing airline industry,” said Christopher Allison, Head of NDC at Hahn Air.

“We are leveraging on the expertise we have acquired during our 20 years of being the leader in airline distribution solutions, as well as our involvement in the IATA activities driving and developing the NDC standard from the very beginning,” says Christopher Allison

Christopher adds that Hahn Air has been actively participating in several IATA committees and it is currently holding the chair position of the NDC Orders Group, as well as a seat on the Shop-Order Board and the Architecture and Technology Strategy Board.

The airline’s NDC platform is expected to benefit partner airlines and travel agents in several ways. The airlines can add an additional distribution channel hence extending their global customer base irrespective of if they are already NDC capable or not. They can also join the world of NDC by using Hahn Air’s NDC platform without having to develop their own solution. This will enable them to save time, money and resources and don’t have to deal with the complexity of the new standard.

Travel agents will also benefit from this platform as they can easily connect to Hahn Air’s NDC platform regardless of the system they are using. Travel agencies can also continue to use their preferred forms of payment in almost any market such as cash, credit cards and transactions via BSP with the respective forms of payment.

Any airline with an NDC interface will be able to capitalize on Hahn Air’s new NDC solution whether it is an existing Hahn Air partner airline or not. This includes access to Hahn Air’s network of connected agencies and aggregators, with an option to make additional connections to the airlines’ preferred agency partners. The new NDC platform is powered by 2e Systems, a software development company specializing in web, mobile and communications solutions for the airline industry. 

The Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA) have partnered with Go Places Digital for the 2019 KATA Convention to be held at Enashipai Resort and Spa in Naivasha  from the 27th to 29th September, 2019.

Go Places is now the official Media Partner for the event that brings together both local and international travel professionals.

The media partner will be involved in the pre, during and post coverage of the 2019 KATA Convention.

Speaking at the KATA offices, the Chief Executive Officer, Go Places Mr Mansoor Jiwani said that this is an opportunity for the two organisations to grow together and make an impact in the travel and tourism trade.

“We are happy that we are partnering with KATA in organising the 2019 Annual Convention especially now that they are celebrating their 40 years anniversary. We are happy to celebrate with you by giving the main event- the KATA 2019 Convention great coverage,” he said.

He further said that the media platform will disseminate information to the subscribers, partners and industry and ensure that the convention is successful. “We are glad to be the official voice during the convention,” Mr Mansoor added.

KATA CEO Mr. Nicanor Sabula welcomed the partnership with Go Places adding that it will add value to the convention as it is the authoritative voice for the tourism sector across the East Africa region.

“We look forward to a successful convention and we are glad to be partnering for the second time to make our event a success.

Go Places Managing Director Mrs Nevin Jiwani pointed out that KATA is one of the major stakeholders in the travel industry.

“We are glad to partner with the association. Celebrating 40 years is a great milestone for the tourism and travel industry,” she said.

She further urged other travel agents to register as members of the association as it will take them to the next level in the industry.

The KATA 2019 Convention is open to both KATA members and Non-Members. The event brings together travel agents and other industry partners to come and caucus and discuss matters that actually affect the industry at large.

Some of the speakers during the forum will be from local airlines, GDS’s, hotel and accommodation, hospitality players, tour operators, financial institutions, insurance providers and the entire ecosystem that completes the travel trade.

The two-day forum will also be an avenue for attendees to network and socialise.

Ecotourism Kenya has released a list of nominees for the 2019 Eco Warrior Award contenders.

The annual award recognizes efforts, innovations and exceptional achievements for promoting responsible tourism.

It also enhances tourism sustainability which directly conserves the natural environment while supporting local communities through mutually beneficial and equitable partnerships.

To recognize the winners, Ecotourism Kenya together with her partners will host the 14^th Edition of the Eco Warrior Award Ceremony & Gala Night on the theme – ‘Tourism Jobs and the Green Economy: A Better Future for All’ on Thursday 26^th September 2019 at the Nairobi Serena Hotel. The dress code is – Black with a touch of Gold! The event will take place on the eve of UNWTO World Tourism Day.
 
The nomination process for the Eco Warrior Award closed on 9th August 2019. Thereafter, a judging process will take place and the shortlisted nominee list will be released a week to the award night.  Below is the list of the 46 nominees under the 6 categories.
 

1. 2019 Tourism and Green Jobs Eco Warrior
   1. Sweet Waters Serena Camp
   2. Mugie Conservancy
   3. Peak East Africa
   4. Ekorian Mugie Camp
   5.     2019 Social Impact Eco Warrior  

             1.Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge                    10.Porini Camps
             2.Mugie Conservancy                                     11.PEAK (East Africa) Ltd
             3.Turtle Bay Beach Club                                 12.Expedition Maasai Safaris
             4.Lake Elementeita Serena Camp                  13.Napak Resort
             5.Sanctuary Olonana                                      14.Sasaab Lodge
             6.Twiga Tours                                                 15.Kakapel Cultural Center
             7.Kichwa Tembo Tented Camp                      16.Otenyo Cultural Center
             8.Ngare Ndare Forest Trust                            17.Mlilo Ecotours
             9.IL Ngwesi Eco Lodge                                   18.Basecamp Explorer Kenya
       

   6. 2019 Sustainable Tourism Change Makers
2. Rahmina Oyugi
3. Peter Liech
4. Minaz Manji
5. Marion Wanjiku
6. Livingstone –Mlilo Ecotours
7. Irene Muchumu
8. Henry Kimathi
9. David Marenya
10. 2019 Green Tourism Eco Warrior:  Resource Use Efficiency Category
11. Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge
12. Kicheche Mara Camp
13. Escapades – Kilima Camp
14. Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge
15. 2019 Green Tourism Eco Warrior: Tour Operators Category
16. Twiga Tours and Travel
17. Sunworld Safaris
18. Marhaba Holidays
19. Let’s Go Travel – Uniglobe
20. Gamewatchers Safaris Ltd
21. 2019 Green Tourism Eco Warrior:  Minimization of Single Use Plastic Category
22. Angama Mara
23. Tawi Lodge
24. Kichwa Tembo
25. Mara Bush Camp
26. Sunworld Safaris
27. Safari Collection
28. Serena Beach Resort

Move comes at a time the carrier has lost more than 100 of its highly trained pilots and engineers to Middle East airlines

National carrier Kenya Airways has signed a deal with US firm FlightSafety International for the training of pilots at its low cost subsidiary Jambojet in a bid to boost the safety of its operations.

Under the deal, KQ will procure an in-house simulator for the Dash 8-400 aircraft used by the budget carrier. The simulator will be installed at the Kenya Airways Pride Center in Nairobi.

“Jambojet and other airlines that operate the aircraft will benefit from having local access to the simulator,” said Steve Gross, senior vice president, sales and marketing, FlightSafety.

Mr Gross reckons the move will also help KQ cut the costs of training its pilots. Regional airlines like KQ often take their pilots abroad for refresher training after acquiring new fleets.

 “It will help to increase proficiency by enabling pilots to train more often and reduce overall training costs,” said Mr Gross. The simulator will be scrutinised by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority following installation ahead of use, the US firm said.

It will be FlightSafety’s first installation of a full flight simulator for the aircraft in Africa and is expected to boost the training of the airline’s pilots amid mounting scrutiny of the safety of regional airlines, it added.

Simulators provide real life flying scenarios by re-creating an aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies.

“The number of Q400s in Africa is growing, with a limited number of simulators to support the training. The estimated number of Q400 aircraft in Africa is over a hundred being served by only 3 simulators. The agreement is a step forward in building the capacity of our training,” outgoing Kenya Airways Chief Executive Officer Sebastian Mikosz said.

Dash 8-400 planes, a favourite with low cost regional carriers like Jambojet, are manufactured by De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited.

The airline’s maintenance teams are also set to benefit from the trainings. The move comes at a time when Kenya Airways has lost more than 100 of its highly trained pilots and engineers to Middle East airlines in the past one year because of poor pay.

KQ had earlier blamed the attrition to poaching of skilled staff by Middle East airlines, which are offering lucrative perks and salaries to the national carrier’s highly trained specialists.

Source/; https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/corporate/companies/KQ–Jambojet-ink-safety-deal-with-US-company/4003102-5244212-5foxp5/index.html

Travelport, a technology company serving the travel industry has began it’s first bookings using IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) with Qantas.

This move is the next step in it’s continued support for Qantas’ New Distribution Capability, including the Qantas Distribution Platform (QDP).

The bookings are being made through Travelport Smartpoint in a live production test environment as Qantas prepares distribution of differentiated NDC content from late 2019.

The NDC connection to Qantas enables live bookings of NDC content to be made by selected agency partners taking part in the testing program, including ATPI Corporate Travel, Globetrotter and Travel Beyond.

This comes ahead of a planned rollout for the wider agency community in the coming months.

Having been the first GDS to make a live NDC booking in October 2018, Travelport has already connected to five European airlines’ NDC content. It will follow up with an API NDC connection channel through Travelport’s Trip Service API with Qantas’ content.

“Qantas shares our vision that NDC has the potential to enhance the travel experience for its customers, offering personalized and differentiated choice and a seamless booking experience. NDC delivery is complex and requires collaboration from all parts of the travel industry. We value our relationship with Qantas and are grateful to our test agencies for partnering with us to ensure we deliver an NDC solution which makes the process of buying and managing travel continually better for everyone. The ongoing delivery of our NDC roadmap is a key part of this”, said Scott Barber, Managing Director Australia and New Zealand at Travelport.

Source: https://www.travelport.com/company/media-center/press-releases/2019-08-15/travelport-and-qantas-pioneer-ndc-era-asia-pacific-0?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=Organic&utm_term=travelport&utm_content=1f85302b-8526-430b-9e70-ce20616059c7&utm_campaign=

Amadeus has launched an updated version of its web service solution featuring enhancements which will give travel agencies worldwide access to new content and fares from Amadeus’ airline driver customers through NDC.

An XML-based transmission standard, NDC was developed by IATA with the aim of helping airlines and travel agencies deliver more personalized and differentiated travel experiences.

Amadeus Travel API integrates with travel agencies’ existing systems and allows them to build their own customized travel booking applications. The service is expected to be rolled out globally on a gradual basis.

“We are proud to be pioneering in this field, collaborating with leading travel players, and deploying truly innovative solutions for all of our customers,” said Rudy Daniello, Amadeus’ executive vice president of customer operations for its travel channels. He also said that the company had been “hard at work developing scalable, user-friendly solutions for agencies, alongside the company’s NDC partners.”

The solution will offer greater functionality for Amadeus’ travel agency customers, with features including granting access to new airline content and fares via NDC connectivity; simplified workflow of shop, order, and pay functions; cross-sell of ancillary services and up-sell of branded fares; and change and cancellation functionalities to include refund, void or exchange options.

Other features include the acceptance of both credit card and cash payments, and optimization to work across multiple interfaces. Amadeus also announced it will be launching the NDC-enabled version of its leading cloud-based travel agency solution, Amadeus Selling Platform Connect, in the coming months.

Source: https://www.travelmarketreport.com/articles/Amadeus-Launches-Updated-Version-of-Web-Service-with-NDC#.XVOR9OVe1BE.whatsapp

The number of tourists jetting into the country in the first half of 2019 has dropped by one percent, according to the latest data from the Tourism Research Institute (TRI) released this week.

The report indicates that the visitors entering the country dropped from 927, 797 in the first quarter of 2018 to 921,090 in the same period this year.

While releasing the report, Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala stated that despite the drop, in the first half, the number of international tourists is expected to rise by 10 percent as compared to last year.

He added that his ministry is working on a strategy to attract Russian and Indian markets and increase the number of arrivals from the US and China in a bid to boost the number of arrivals into the country.

 “The American market is still growing, that is one of our key markets, we are also putting emphasis in the Chinese market where we have a strategy for the market,’’ he further said.

The rise in 9 percent of the number of American tourists into the country is indicative that the direct flights from Nairobi to New York boosted the number of travellers jetting in.

The TRI statistics further revealed that 606, 298 arrivals were recorded from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, a drop from 633, 731 recorded in the same period last year.

The largest percentage of the travellers being 68 percent came in on holiday followed by people jetting in for business at 18 percent. The rest of the travellers visited the country to visit friends and relatives and for medical reasons.

TRI acting CEO David Gitonga stated that projections indicate that the number of tourists may exceed 2.1 million as 900, 000 tourists have already visited the country ahead of the high season.

In 2018, the number of international tourists visiting the country was recorded at two million which earned the country Ksh 157 billion in revenue, the highest recorded in the country.

Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA) has warned Kenyans and foreigners booking holidays to be vigilant and use only accredited agents in their planning.

KATA Chief Executive Mr Nicanor Sabula noted that the high season is drawing closer which is period that many scammers posing as travel agents take advantage of and con unsuspecting travellers.

His remarks came in days after reports of con artists swindling hundreds of tourists from various parts of the world were ran in a local daily.

The news article averred that the conmen create attractive packages from their websites complete with glowing reviews that end up hoodwinking unsuspecting tourists.

One such victim, the newspaper read, was Mr Chen Dong Yuan, a 51-year-old Chinese engineer. The victims pay in advance and end up stranded when they travel.

Mr Sabula noted that KATA has on several occasions received similar reports from travellers who have been swindled by fake agents.

 “Unfortunately, our hands are tied as most of these agencies that run con games are not registered and we have no avenue for seeking redress for the travellers. Such cases should be reported to the police,” he said.

He urged people seeking to book vacations to do so through an accredited travel agent as they adhere to a strict code of conduct.

This week, Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Mr Najib Balala put on notice unlicensed operators defrauding tourists. He stated that his ministry is investigating cases where tourists have lost money after being lured for holiday in Kenya.

“Our attention has been drawn to media reports on defrauding of tourists, wishing to visit Magical Kenya, by unscrupulous and bogus tour agents. Indeed, several such reports, like the ones that appeared in our local dailies this weekend, have reached our offices,” he said.

KATA is mandated to promote highest code of professional standards for its members while dealing with their clients as the National Association representing travel agents in Kenya.