Travelport's new branding was on full display at Business Travel Show Europe Kick Off event on Thursday. The global distribution company announced on Wednesday that the new branding encapsulates its "vision for the future" as Travelport prepares for "a year of significant advances."
Travelport CEO Greg Webb in a press statement teased a 2021 rollout of new industry technologies. "We're proud to show [the rebrand] to the world today and are looking forward to following it up very soon with the launch our next-generation platform, which will change the game in travel retailing.”
The Travelport rebrand in anticipation of the new platform follows several announcements this week from Amadeus with partners IAG and American Airlines on New Distribution Capability developments on its existing platforms. NDC connections have been a key focus for airfare retailing, though core GDS platforms in recent years have made retailing strides with non-NDC branded fares and other features that support airlines in their quest to differentiate their products.
Neither Travelport's release nor the CEO's comments to the industry at the Business Travel Show mentioned NDC as part of the upcoming platform, but the company has been offering NDC content from select partner airlines since October 2018 as part of what it previously characterised as a "phased approach" to NDC. The company achieved Level 4 NDC certification in February last year, just prior to the Covid-19 pandemic crisis.
In his comments at the Business Travel Show on Thursday, Webb positioned Travelport as coming out of the pandemic as a stronger, more agile company with more to offer.
"When you find yourself in challenging situations, you have two options: Accept that things are tough and times are hard and try to carry on as normal, or double down [and] focus all your energy on making sure you come through the hard times accelerat[ing] on the other side," Webb said. He added that the new platform would launch "very soon," but did not detail a concrete timeline.