Why NDC matters now, more than ever

New Distribution Capability (NDC) made its debut a decade ago. But what exactly is it, and what role does it play in the growth of the travel industry of today and tomorrow? Kathy Morgan, Vice President, Channel Delivery at Sabre Travel Solutions shares her perspective on the subject.

NDC is no longer the new kid on the block, having been introduced in 2012. But nor is it yet fully established in the industry. So, what do we mean when we talk about NDC today? And, why is it important as a catalyst to create further recovery and growth within the travel ecosystem?

Let me start with the why because this is the most important part. The whole travel industry is looking to do two things – and those two things aren’t always compatible – first, to meet and exceed ever-evolving traveller expectations, and the second, to increase yield and revenue opportunities. Bringing those two together is where NDC comes in.

What do we mean by NDC

Before moving further into the why, let’s address what NDC is. Standing for New Distribution Capability, NDC is essentially an XML Standard created by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to enable airlines to take control over offer management and deliver rich content, personalised offers and ancillaries to their customers.

However, we call our NDC program at Sabre Going Beyond NDC because it’s about more than what the NDC technical standards enable, or ticking boxes on a requirement list. It’s about thinking bigger, thinking beyond to ensure airlines are able to sell the products they want to sell, in the manner they want to sell them, and travel buyers are able to access and manage that content in an integrated, operationally efficient manner that still enables the comparison shopping they require. To us, NDC isn’t a destination but an important leg of a journey towards travel retailing.

Why now?

It’s clear COVID-19 had a significant impact on the travel industry and required many constituents to focus on survival, rather than looking ahead at opportunities. However, even in the midst of this challenging environment, we haven’t taken our foot off the NDC accelerator and nor have our key airline partners. For example, we have recently announced an accelerated NDC rollout with Qatar, a new NDC deal with Finnair, and an enhanced relationship with Cathay Pacific to include NDC content.

With the travel industry recovery gaining strength and airlines looking to the future, there is a renewed focus on NDC. One of the biggest reasons for this heightened interest in NDC is the end traveller. As consumers, we have higher expectations than ever before, and the pandemic has only exacerbated this as we encountered increasingly personalised online retail experiences. As we look to current market dynamics, there is an increased need for better technology and a focus on personalised retailing for the traveller.

This starts with offer creation and this is the reason behind our revolutionary new Retail Intelligence suite which can enable airlines to create offers more tailored to their business model and their passengers. Our Retail Intelligence product suite is a scalable solution that uses real-time industry insights and advanced machine-learning models to test-and-learn in the moment in order to create smart, personalised bundles and present them the right offer to the right traveller at the right time, enabling airlines to differentiate their products and services.

Once an offer is created, airlines need the ability to distribute it in the way they want it to be seen, across all channels, and that is why they are turning to NDC. Airlines are leveraging the Sabre travel marketplace to distribute this content.

It’s a win-win-win for airlines, agencies and travellers with opportunities for increased revenue, better conversion, an elevated booking experience, and a truly personalised travel experience.