The travel industry is moving towards increased personalization as merchandizing techniques drive new revenues and business opportunities, and as travelers expect brands to know them and adapt offers accordingly.
It is against this backdrop that Amadeus has announced the creation of a dedicated program to drive the industrialization of New Distribution Capability (NDC) and ensure its success for all travel players. Created by IATA, NDC is an XML-based data transmission standard that holds huge promise for the travel industry, and will enable travel companies – from airlines to travel agencies – to evolve travel distribution and merchandizing.
With this in mind, the NDC-X program will bring together experts from across Amadeus’ business to focus on practical use cases of the standard; adopting a test and learn approach to deliver improved capabilities for the industry. The NDC-X program is a continuation of Amadeus’ previous work towards the digitalization of the industry and the creation of commercial possibilities to build on NDC.
In terms of commercial possibilities, one recent study by Phocuswright revealed that total gross bookings in the Middle East for air, hotel, car and tour services totaled $74 billion last year, with an estimated annual growth rate of eight per cent between now and 2020. Of this total, online travel bookings comprised a 29 per cent share, which is forecast to reach over 40 per cent by the year 2021 as consumers’ preferences shift towards digital retail.
Gianni Pisanello, who has held a variety of leadership roles within Amadeus’ airlines business, both on the IT and the distribution side, will lead the new NDC-X program.
“We are at a critical moment in terms of the development of the NDC standard, and the readiness of the industry,” says Gianni Pisanello, VP, NDC-X program. “For NDC to truly take off, we need to create a real standard not only for the protocol itself, but also for how it’s implemented. We also need to ensure that it responds to travel seller requirements, and that it has the right economics to drive investment. At Amadeus, we recognize that we have a responsibility to make NDC work for all travel players, and that’s what we will be doing through our NDC-X program.”
The NDC-X program is a strategic priority for Amadeus. The aim is to create better journeys for travelers through the best use of technology, and this transversal program will work with the travel seller and airlines to deliver just that.
Maher Koubaa, MEA VP - Airlines, Amadeus, adds: “We are passionate in our pursuit of better technology that makes for better journeys. NDC holds great potential for the travel industry, and is part of a bigger picture of digitalization as airlines and travel sellers test new ways to adapt their businesses and improve services provided to the traveler. At Amadeus, we are working hard to solve our airline customers’ technology challenges in areas such as merchandizing, dynamic pricing and cloud servicing, which we see as the heavy machinery in the background which will make NDC and improved retailing a reality.”
