The annual Business Travel Show — which is being staged in London next week — has a life cycle similar to a travel management tender: the main event may garner the attention but the real business is more visible in the pre and post stages.
In the pre stage many industry research and white papers are released, not the least significant of which is the results of the BT Show's own surveys of European travel managers.
This week the findings of a survey of buyers' attitudes to IATA's NDC (New Distribution Capability) were released. The results probably owe as much to human nature (resistance to the new and unknown, more acceptance coming with more familiarity) as to the intrinsic benefits and otherwise of NDC.
"More than a third (35%) of buyers now regard NDC as a good thing. This compares to just over one in ten (11%) a year ago."
The chart below shows how travel buyers rate its value:
"However, despite this apparent increase in their acceptance of NDC, there still appears to be a lot of uncertainty and confusion with 39% of buyers (down from 55% last year) still unsure whether it is a good or bad thing."
NDC was initially greeted with suspicion when IATA introduced its plans more than five years ago. But a steady campaign of communication and education, coupled with market developments from TMCs and technology companies achieving levels of certification through airline fee initiatives and a growing personalisation of travel, have all contributed to create a more welcoming environment.
The perception of benefits of NDC is also fascinating:
They seem to indicate more of an observation, rather than an endorsement, of change.
And that change comes from changing distribution models as much as solely from IATA's initiative.
Indeed HRG, whose planned acquisition by American Express GBT was announced this week, has NDC level 3 certification. It also has honed its direct connect strategy. American Express is one of a clutch of TMCs that signed an agreement to allow it to book without the booking fee that BA and Iberia have imposed on GDS bookings, so long as they work with the carriers to evaluate how NDC can be used to improve the process for managed travel programmes.
NDC is more in favour because the corporate travel community accepts that big changes in how content is distributed and booked and underway — and inevitable.
Whether that is through NDC on a GDS or through other means such as direct connects is still under consideration.