Business Travel News EuropeBusiness Travel News Europe
Business Travel News Europe
  • NEWSOpen Menu
    • Accommodation
    • Air Travel
    • Ground Transport
    • Management
    • Meetings
    • On the Move
    • Payment & Expense
    • Sustainability
    • Technology
    • TMC & Distribution
    • Travel Procurement
    • Recent Issues
  • FEATURESOpen Menu
    • View All Features
  • CONVERSATIONSOpen Menu
    • Interviews and Q&As
    • Guest columns
    • Podcasts
    • VIEW ALL CONVERSATIONS
  • RESOURCESOpen Menu
    • NEW! People & the Planet
    • The BTN Academy
    • Spotlight Series: Ground transport
    • The Traveller Experience Index
    • Spotlight Series: Air travel
    • Connected Content: The distribution report
    • Spotlight Series: Travel management companies
    • BTN Europe's 2023 Hotlist
    • Powered Up: The travel tech of today & tomorrow
    • The Future of Meetings
    • Smart Money: Cards, payments & expenses
    • The Journey Towards Sustainable Business Travel
    • Safety Measures: Risk, duty of care & wellbeing
    • Stepping It Up: Small & midsized travel programmes
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in business travel
    • Business Travel Rebooted
    • New Horizons: The 2022 sourcing guide
    • Wheels in Motion
  • EVENTSOpen Menu
    • Webinars
    • Business Travel Show Europe
    • Business Travel Show Europe Kick Off
    • Business Travel Awards Europe
    • Business Travel Intelligence Summit Europe
    • Business Travel Accommodation Summit
    • Business Travel Tech Talk
    • Entertainment Travel Summit
    • Global Travel Risk Summit
    • Strategic Meetings Summit
    • Sustainable Business Travel Summit Europe
    • VIEW ALL EVENTS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSOpen Menu
    • Accommodation
    • Air Travel
    • Ground Transport
    • Management
    • Meetings
    • On the Move
    • Payment & Expense
    • Sustainability
    • Technology
    • TMC & Distribution
    • Travel Procurement
    • Recent Issues
  • FEATURESOpen Menu
    • View All Features
  • CONVERSATIONSOpen Menu
    • Interviews and Q&As
    • Guest columns
    • Podcasts
    • VIEW ALL CONVERSATIONS
  • RESOURCESOpen Menu
    • NEW! People & the Planet
    • The BTN Academy
    • Spotlight Series: Ground transport
    • The Traveller Experience Index
    • Spotlight Series: Air travel
    • Connected Content: The distribution report
    • Spotlight Series: Travel management companies
    • BTN Europe's 2023 Hotlist
    • Powered Up: The travel tech of today & tomorrow
    • The Future of Meetings
    • Smart Money: Cards, payments & expenses
    • The Journey Towards Sustainable Business Travel
    • Safety Measures: Risk, duty of care & wellbeing
    • Stepping It Up: Small & midsized travel programmes
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in business travel
    • Business Travel Rebooted
    • New Horizons: The 2022 sourcing guide
    • Wheels in Motion
  • EVENTSOpen Menu
    • Webinars
    • Business Travel Show Europe
    • Business Travel Show Europe Kick Off
    • Business Travel Awards Europe
    • Business Travel Intelligence Summit Europe
    • Business Travel Accommodation Summit
    • Business Travel Tech Talk
    • Entertainment Travel Summit
    • Global Travel Risk Summit
    • Strategic Meetings Summit
    • Sustainable Business Travel Summit Europe
    • VIEW ALL EVENTS
  • SUBSCRIBE
Business Travel News Europe
  • Business Travel News Europe on Twitter
  • BTN Europe on LinkedIn
  • BTN Europe on Facebook
  • NEWS
    • Accommodation
    • Air Travel
    • Ground Transport
    • Management
    • Meetings
    • On the Move
    • Payment & Expense
    • Sustainability
    • Technology
    • TMC & Distribution
    • Travel Procurement
    • Recent Issues
    SubscribeBTN Europe NewsletterBTN Europe Magazine
  • FEATURES
    • View All Features
    Airport passengers 2023Frequent-flyer levy: a good or bad idea for business travel?
    Transient and meetings hotel spendAll together now: Integrating travel and meetings spend in hotel negotiations
    Hotel reception business travellerHotel RFPs: The negotiating outlook for 2024 rates

  • CONVERSATIONS
    • Interviews and Q&As
    • Guest columns
    • Podcasts
    • VIEW ALL CONVERSATIONS
    Decoding the ROI of corporate travelDecoding the ROI of corporate travel
    How AI will unleash the value of travel risk intelligenceHow AI will unleash the value of travel risk intelligence
    Interview: Stefan Cars, founder and chief executive, SnowfallInterview: Stefan Cars, founder and chief executive, Snowfall
  • RESOURCES
    • NEW! People & the Planet
    • The BTN Academy
    • Spotlight Series: Ground transport
    • The Traveller Experience Index
    • Spotlight Series: Air travel
    • Connected Content: The distribution report
    • Spotlight Series: Travel management companies
    • BTN Europe's 2023 Hotlist
    • Powered Up: The travel tech of today & tomorrow
    • The Future of Meetings
    • Smart Money: Cards, payments & expenses
    • The Journey Towards Sustainable Business Travel
    • Safety Measures: Risk, duty of care & wellbeing
    • Stepping It Up: Small & midsized travel programmes
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in business travel
    • Business Travel Rebooted
    • New Horizons: The 2022 sourcing guide
    • Wheels in Motion
    Tools & ResourcesEurope's Leading TMCs 2023Booking tools – the essential guideTraveller Experience IndexTravel entry requirementsCorporate Travel Index EuropeBTN Europe podcastsBTSE Kick Off - CEO InterviewsRecent issues of BTN Europe
  • EVENTS
    • Webinars
    • Business Travel Show Europe
    • Business Travel Show Europe Kick Off
    • Business Travel Awards Europe
    • Business Travel Intelligence Summit Europe
    • Business Travel Accommodation Summit
    • Business Travel Tech Talk
    • Entertainment Travel Summit
    • Global Travel Risk Summit
    • Strategic Meetings Summit
    • Sustainable Business Travel Summit Europe
    • VIEW ALL EVENTS
    12th Annual Business Travel Tech Talk London

    16 October, etc.venues Monument

    Business Travel Awards Europe

    30 October, JW Marriott Grosvenor House

    4th Annual Business Travel Accommodations Summit Europe

    1st November 2023, etc.venues County Hall

  • SUBSCRIBE

Management

Travel managers ‘confused and concerned’ about NDC

By Molly Dyson / 11 October 2018 / Contact Reporter
Share

A new study reveals that the majority of travel managers believe there could be both benefits and potential challenges for corporate programmes stemming from New Distribution Capability (NDC).

The study, The Evolution of Air Distribution, was conducted by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE Global) and American Express Global Business Travel (GBT). It explores travel managers’ experiences and attitudes toward changes in air distribution, including NDC.

The research shows travel managers do expect to see some benefit from NDC, with 64 per cent saying it could improve the booking experience and 56 per cent believing it could help contract negotiations with airlines.

However, an astounding 89 per cent of travel managers fear that fragmentation created by NDC could threaten cost control, as well as policy compliance (87 per cent) and duty of care (77 per cent).

According to respondents, fragmentation is already occurring because of airline ancillary purchasing, with 49 per cent of travel managers saying their travellers by out-of-policy ancillaries from airline websites ‘some of the time’.

ACTE says this leakage from corporate online booking tools (OBTs) is a direct consequence of the trend of airlines unbundling fares into paid-for components such as baggage fees and seat selection. This in turn ‘hinders’ the traveller booking experience and prevents travel managers from gaining full visibility on air spend.

To add to the confusion surrounding the future of airline distribution, 23 per cent of respondents said they are ‘not at all’ confident in their understanding of NDC and what it means for their programmes. A further 58 per cent are only ‘somewhat’ confident in their comprehension.

As a result, 63 per cent of travel managers said they are not exploring any new platforms beyond their OBT at the moment.

This lack of understanding has led to the majority (90 per cent) of travel managers saying they think NDC will lead to reduced functionality of their OBT if NDC content was incorporated into existing policies. Eighty-nine per cent believe the unbundling would lead to higher costs, while some say it could cause a lack of available data and reduced fare transparency (88 per cent each).

Greeley Koch, executive director of ACTE Global, warns that travel managers can’t afford to wait to address new models.

Koch said: “When it comes to NDC, the biggest unknown is whether travel managers will be able to maintain visibility into costs and traveller behaviour. But they cannot afford to wait to address the issue. Travel managers must evaluate their policies and technology now so that they’re prepared for the potential disruption. If caught on the back foot, they will be left grappling with a more fragmented, less safe and, ultimately less effective programme.”

Mike Qualantone, executive vice president of global supplier relations at American Express GBT, added: “We continue to advocate the greatest consolidation of content, across all booking channels, to best meet customer and traveller expectations, while controlling both programme management cost and booking processing fees. NDC has tremendous potential, and GDSs are moving towards readiness and NDC compliance, so it will be key to ensure airlines then fully utilise these comprehensive, efficient and NDC-ready channels.

“Travel managers should educate themselves on NDC, evaluate options with their TMCs, and ensure suppliers do not use NDC to add booking processing costs or limit access to content. Meanwhile, they should look at fortifying travel policies to control cost and compliance while striving to keep travellers productive, safe and happy.”

Read the full study here

More Travel Management
Related
sustainability reportingSustainable travel costs hindering adoption, says BCD report
ATG introduces carbon reporting through SquakeITM launches guide to building a responsible travel programme
European flags parliamentEU’s ETIAS travel system set for further delay

SPONSORED CONTENT

How frictionless mobility leads to better business travel
How frictionless mobility leads to better business travelBy Enterprise National

The reality of day-to-day business travel is millions of short business trips criss-crossing Europe,... KEEP READING

The workplace has changed. Does your travel & expense match up?
The workplace has changed. Does your travel & expense match up?By Cytric by Amadeus

Does your travel & expense match up?... KEEP READING

The eight trends shaping ground transportation
The eight trends shaping ground transportationBy Enterprise National

Eight emerging ground transportation priorities shaping business travel in 2022 and beyond... KEEP READING

More Travel Management

Sustainable travel costs hindering adoption, says BCD report
ITM launches guide to building a responsible travel programme
EU’s ETIAS travel system set for further delay
Business travel transactions close to 2019 levels, says Advantage
Business travel transactions close to 2019 levels, says Advantage

VIEW ALL
  • Most Read
  • Most Shared
  1. EU’s ETIAS travel system set for further delay
  2. Amadeus and Microsoft to pilot AI-generated travel assistant
  3. Navan adds NDC content from four European flag carriers
  4. London Gatwick cancels flights due to ATC staff sickness
  5. UK government to increase the cost of visas from October
  1. Italian TMC lambasts Ryanair following antitrust probe
  2. Sixt invests 'significant' amount in Blacklane
  3. Dutch buyer association CORTAS appoints interim MD
  4. Qantas to invest $80 million to improve customer ‘pain points’
  5. Aviation industry hits back at French airport tax proposal
Business Travel News EuropeBusiness Travel News Europe
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • EDITORIAL CALENDAR
  • Business Travel Show Europe
  • Business Travel News Europe on Twitter
  • BTN Europe on LinkedIn
  • BTN Europe on Facebook
BUSINESS TRAVEL NEWS EUROPE
NORTHSTAR TRAVEL GROUP
Business Travel News
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Editorial calendar
  • Editorial guidelines
  • Subscribe to BTN Europe
  • Subscribe to BTN U.S.
  • Subscribe to Travel Procurement
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms & conditions
Northstar Travel Group
  • Corporate travel
  • Business Travel Show
  • Business Travel Awards
  • BTN U.S.
  • The Beat
  • Travel Procurement

  • Travel Technology
  • Travel Tech Show
  • Phocuswire
  • Phocuswright
  • Intelliguide
  • Meetings & incentives
  • M&IT
  • AMI
  • ConventionSource
  • M&IT Awards

  • Retail travel
  • Travel Weekly
  • Travel Pulse

  • Northstar Travel Group
  • View all Northstar brands
BTNGroup
Business Travel News EuropeBusiness Travel NewsTravel ProcurementThe BeatBusiness Travel Show Europe
Northstar Travel Group
Copyright ©2022, Northstar Travel Media Ltd, The Epworth, 25 City Road, London EC1Y 1AA, UK
RRManagement rrtestprocurement