Video: Realizing the value of NDC

Benefits that travel sellers will realize as they activate NDC

A key benefit for travel sellers activating NDC is insights into the operational impact that NDC has and the ability to create an action plan to address this. The sooner that you activate and engage with this new type of content source, the quicker you’re going to be able to get access to those insights.

Also, the ability to start comparing the reality of the type of content available via NDC versus traditional sourcing to help you determine the value of that content and how and when you might want to start selling it.

There’s been so much discussion at the industry level around–what is NDC content?–the best thing you can do is jump in and start being able to evaluate it for yourself.

And then probably, most importantly, when a seller activates NDC content, they’ll get the confidence that they have access to the greatest breadth and depth of content available, which is really one of the key value propositions that they have to their customers.

Asking the right questions is key for travel sellers in driving NDC strategy

As travel sellers start thinking and learning more about NDC, and they have their meetings and conversations with their partners, it’s really important that they take the lead on driving the right conversations to understand their partners NDC strategies.

There’s really some basic questions you want to ask in this conversation, things like what are their objectives regarding NDC and how does the NDC fit into their larger strategy? Are they in line with making NDC content available in the GDS–which we know is the preferred booking source for agencies and corporations.

What is their NDC roadmap? Understanding whether or not they’re supportive of the types of capabilities that are required for this content to be operationalized in the indirect channels.

Also questions around and what markets and capabilities are they activating and when.

How will data be shared and how does message size impact performance? Really, asking them about their commitment to performance, because we know time is money, and if all if NDC drives an exorbitant amount of operational work time that’s going to be a real challenge for the for sellers to be able to adopt it in a broad manner.

They should also be asking their partners, how are they influencing the industry thinking? NDC is absolutely again an industry-level ecosystem initiative, and if you aren’t thinking about it in that broader context, then you’re probably going to be very limited with the ability to drive a broad scale adoption.

I also think they should ask about what pilot programs they are participating in and with whom, and what they’re doing to encourage adoption. And then I’d spend a little bit of time asking about the contracts and service levels, and how they might be impacted so that you understand any potential commercial impact that this might have now in having these conversations.

What I think that will do for travel sellers is to help inform and/or to form a much stronger perspective on the relative value of each of the suppliers NDC content and it should inform how to prioritize the operationalization of NDC into your environment.

And then lastly, having these discussions and asking these questions it’s going to equip you to have a more informed conversation with your customers–especially corporations, who we know they are very active in the NDC community–and help them to understand the reality of NDC and the impact it might have on their overall corporate programs.

Looking for more detail? Check out our resources for getting started with NDC:

Don’t miss out on NDC updates from Sabre! Subscribe to stay up to date on news and fresh resources.