Content distribution NDC is just one way


GDS transactions]. There is a lot more information – a lot more attributes to search and it takes longer [to search]. The way an online travel agent [OTA] or TMC works, they shop for every option.” As a consequence, he says: “There is still


a question mark on the performance [of NDC]. “NDC-enabled technology needs to cope with the volume of requests and their extent [scale].” Elliott acknowledges: “Things have


improved. The first NDC-enabled technology took longer than expected [to develop]. The technology will get there, but it will take time. He insists: “We are on time. We have


invested a lot. We have a lot of customers who are on top of this. We have good collaboration with Iata and the airlines. We have to overcome this step by step [but] we are satisfied [with where we are].”


Lack of standardisation The irony, given NDC is a technology standard, is that there is a lack of standardisation among airlines when it comes to information flows. Elliott says: “The issue is more the flows


and the fact that it is difficult to agree with every airline on the order [of information flow]. There are four or five different ways


MAIN DOMESTIC MARKETS: CORPORATE FIGURE 27:


Overnight business trips (million), 2017


Germany UK


France Sweden Spain Italy


Finland Norway


7.8m 6.4m


4.2m 3.8m 3.7m


29.5m 16m 14m* Spending (€bn, except UK £bn)


Germany UK


France Sweden Spain Italy


*2016 Source: Eurostat 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 16 | Travel Weekly Europe Report 2019


Finland Norway


€1.9bn €2.3bn


€1.2bn


€2.2bn €2bn


€10.7bn


£4.4bn €4.7bn


GERMANY is also Europe’s market for domestic corporate travel (Figure 27). France leads Europe in overnight domestic leisure trips (Figure 28)


to change a ticket, for example. We need to do it in a smaller number of ways in order to reduce the overall cost for everyone in the ecosystem. “We try to look for the most cost-efficient


way. [But] aggregating airline information and content is a big IT challenge and not all travel agencies have the resources to do it.” Companies involved in distribution will


move forward in different ways, he suggests. “We will have different aggregators in


the market – some less sophisticated.” There will be business travel agencies and airlines “which want to outsource this technology because the cost of doing it yourself is very high”. The sector will be shaped by a mix of


technology and commercial relations. Jorge notes: “For commercial reasons, some airlines have decided to put limited content in the traditional GDS and some content only in NDC.” He says: “NDC was developed to


distribute content in a different way. We are encouraging airlines to create different product [to distribute]. “To excite the industry [about NDC],


airlines need to create different content. At the moment, it is essentially the same content distributed in a different way. “This is challenging and needs a lot of


FIGURE 28: MAIN EUROPEAN DOMESTIC MARKETS


Overnight leisure trips, incl. VFR (million), 2017


France Spain


Germany UK


Poland Italy


Sweden Source: Eurostat, 2018 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 Netherlands 0 44m 41m 31m 23m Source: Eurostat 50 100 150 200 99m 172m 132m 122m


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