Tag Archives: GDS

According to an analysis conducted by Travelport, India has emerged as the top travel destination in Asia this summer for travellers from the United Kingdom (UK). Globally, the United States was the top destination while India was the 2nd most popular long-haul destination for UK travellers. The report revealed that as of June 14, 2019, just under 87,000 advanced bookings had been made in the UK through all global distribution systems (GDS) for return flights to India scheduled between Friday June 28, 2019 and Sunday September 8, 2019. Flight bookings in other Asian countries like Thailand and China stood at 49,137 and 29,870 respectively. With flight bookings up by 3,402 (13 per cent) year-on-year, China was the fastest growing top ten long-haul destinations for UK travellers compared to the same period the previous year. Martin Herbert, Regional Managing Director – India and Sri Lanka at Travelport, said: “It’s exciting news for Indian tourism to see the country attracting more bookings than both China and Thailand combined. This trend is fuelling increased booking volume and we expect to see it continue in the years to come.” Sandeep Dwivedi, COO at InterGlobe Technology Quotient (ITQ), commented: “India has been one of the topmost choices of international travellers owing to its rich cultural heritage, varied cultures, art & crafts and spiritual tourism. We are happy to see India as the second most booked summer destination for UK travellers. With so much to see and offer, I am sure that this number will certainly rise in the coming years.”

After Air India announced offering its inventory solely through its select GDS,  Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) along with Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) has urged the airline to review its decision. In a joint statement, the two associations said, “For these agencies including those which do not have access or frequently sell the airline seats on the GDS preferred by Air India, it is quite evident that selling Air India would not be an easy proposition and thus thay may opt for other airlines for their customers. For several established agencies, usage of GDS is governed by global agreements they have entered into and thus switching over or training their staff to get used to this limited GDS access will be a difficult option to cope with.’ On November 5, both the associations had a detailed discussion with the Air India Senior Management and conveyed that this decision of going exclusive on a GDS would be detrimental to the airline and this must be urgently reviewed. The associations are keen that Air India must not suffer any losses that would further damage the health of the airline. The senior management promised to revert in a day and on November 6, the associations received a phone call from them to inform that there will be no change in Air India’s stand. The joint statement goes on to add, “Air India has been reeling under tremendous financial challenges and instead of finding ways to increase its seat sales via an easy access through GDS channels, this move by the national carrier is shocking. The response given by Air India is that this would save its distribution costs. It is a …

Sabre Corporation has announced the development of the new Sabre Content Services for Lodging, a technology solution that will integrate multiple sources of content including the Sabre global distribution system (GDS) and non-GDS sources such as aggregators, re-distributors, agency-sourced hotel content and other sources as identified. Planned for a 2018 launch, the new solution will also support a multi-representation display option of the content creating a whole new way to retail travel content. The solution will include the capabilities of Sabre APIs and will be incorporated across all Sabre points-of-sale: Sabre Red Workspace, GetThere and TripCase. Not only will it drive more efficiency and revenue with increased lodging choice, but for bothuyers and suppliers of lodging content this solution will extend tools that improve optimization capabilities to better manage chain, property, and rate-level preferred content. “As a travel technology leader with customers spanning six continents, we’re identifying areas that not only cater to the growing needs of travelers but also redefine the travel experience,” said Traci Mercer, Sabre senior vice president of lodging, ground, and sea. “The Sabre Lodging, Ground and Sea team is committed to enhancing our portfolio of lodging options, ensuring we continue to lead the way in meeting the distribution and e-commerce needs of these customer segments.”  

Travelport announced that it has become the first GDS to be granted with both ‘Aggregator Level One’ certification and ‘IT Provider Level Two’ status by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as part of its New Distribution Capability (NDC) programme. For airlines, this means that Travelport is able to fully integrate with its NDC application programme interface should the airline choose to use NDC-XML messaging to distribute and deliver their fares and products. For travel agencies and travel management companies, this means that when shopping for and booking flights via Travelport’s Travel Commerce Platform, they will have even more enhanced travel content and greater access to ancillary offers. In particular, Travelport-connected agents will be able to make ancillary sales post the original flight booking, and through their preferred agency workflows, for the first time. Travelport has also achieved the NDC-capable ‘IT Provider’ Level Two status, making it only the second organisation—and first GDS–ever to be designated as NDC certified and NDC Capable.  This further expands its NDC capabilities and means that Travelport also has the option to distribute IATA NDC offers for fares and prices on behalf of the airlines electing to use IATA’s industry standards.

IndiGo has entered a strategic partnership with Travelport which will see the airline distribute all of its fares and ancillary products to Travelport-connected customers worldwide. This is the first time that IndiGo has struck a deal with a global GDS. Through the strategic partnership with Travelport, IndiGo will place its fares, ancillary products and offers into the Travel Commerce Platform. The platform offers fully integrated, industry leading merchandising capabilities and is used extensively by travel agencies in India as well as other key target markets for IndiGo. This distribution platform, unique to Travelport, will enable IndiGo to provide its content via an API connection, rather than the more traditional fare filing methods often favoured by network carriers, and still have their fares and ancillaries displayed, compared and booked in exactly the same way. In addition, the airline will also use Travelport’s leading merchandising capabilities to bring IndiGo’s brand proposition to life for travellers arriving into India and then seeking domestic flights within the country. The distribution partnership will also help the airline reach travellers in international markets as it continues to expand its route network into destinations in the Indian Subcontinent, the Middle East and South East Asia. Commenting on the partnership, Aditya Ghosh, President & Whole Time Director, IndiGo said: “This arrangement with Travelport will allow us to reach new customers, both at home and overseas, in a cost effective manner without incurring the traditional costs associated with participating in global distribution platforms using old style industry mechanisms and instead, enabling our real time connectivity to the GDS platform via an XML API link.” Derek Sharp, Travelport’s Managing Director, Air Commerce, said, “It is a testament to our product leadership, …