Travelport
has announced its answer to multi-source content distribution with the launch
this week of Travelport Plus, which CEO Greg Webb calls a “next-gen travel
retail platform".
Webb said in an email to customers that the platform would offer “one agent desktop, one set of APIs, and one AI and data-driven distribution channel” and would enable "agencies to be better retailers, with
cutting-edge tools and more automation [and] suppliers to merchandise, with
tools to differentiate brands and products”.
Travel
management companies will still use Travelport’s Smartpoint as their point-of-sale
but sitting behind the familiar interface will be the new Travelport Plus
platform.
One company that has upgraded to the new platform is corporate and music touring agency TAG. COO Gabrielle Carr said, “Upgrading
to Travelport Plus has been a game-changer. The process was simple. It had an
instant, positive impact on our business.”
Travelport said it plans to roll out the new platform to all of its customers within
the next two years.
While users
could already access content from a wide variety of sources, such as low-cost
carriers (LCCs) and NDC via Smartpoint, the Travelport Plus platform will offer this
natively.
A Travelport
spokesperson told BTN Europe, “Retrofitting new types of content, such as
NDC and LCC, into existing distribution channels has been possible. However,
Travelport Plus is purpose-built with multi-source content distribution as its
focus so it truly optimises retailing through an integrated agent workflow,
regardless of content source.”
As with
Sabre’s recently announced airline selling platform, users will be able to compare 'traditional' GDS content and NDC and LCC content side-by-side on an integrated display.
The company
said that some corporate booking tools are already “Travelport Plus ready” and
these would be rolled out in the next few months, but declined to name them.
The spokesperson
said, “Through Travelport Plus, we provide the logic and intelligence to make sure
that regardless of the front-end, whether that’s a corporate booking tool, our
user agent interface, or a customer’s own UI, behind it is an intelligent
storefront that optimises the right offer at the right time for the right
traveller.”
Abby
Penston, CEO of the TMC consortium the Focus Travel Partnership, which signed a multi-year deal with Travelport at the beginning of 2020, said: “The
pandemic has accelerated business trends and complicated the travel landscape
and so we are pleased that Travelport, as one of our preferred partners, has
really thought about the future of travel and how it is evolving.
"Along with
their new branding this development signals that Travelport have upped their
game and are ready to support the travel industry with the return to travel.
Delivering a solution that is easier, with more content will help bring
in the next generation of travel consultants."