Distribution

Scroll down to review The Company Dime‘s coverage of travel distribution.

The travel industry thrives on a complex network of channels connecting travelers with desired experiences. The Company Dime‘s travel distribution category delves into this intricate system, offering subscribers invaluable knowledge and insights. Our in-depth articles explore the various channels that constitute corporate travel distribution, both traditional and emerging.

Getting all the relevant, bookable inventory in front of business travelers is a never-ending challenge. Airlines, hotels and other suppliers constantly tinker with their products and pricing, and often favor direct distribution over third-party channels. That creates complexity in business travel technology.

Readers can expect thorough coverage of the relationships and dynamics between airlines, hotels, travel management companies, global distribution systems and other suppliers and intermediaries. We closely examine developments associated with the New Distribution Capability (NDC), direct booking initiatives and the rise of new entrants looking to disrupt legacy models.

Subscribers benefit from our scrutiny of the often-opaque world of distribution costs and revenue streams, including incentive payments, agency commissions and booking fees. We shed light on these essential commercial arrangements.

We also track the technological forces reshaping distribution, from the positioning of online booking tools to the potential of emerging solutions like artificial intelligence, blockchain and virtual payment. Readers stay informed on innovations that could unlock efficiencies and improve the traveler experience.

Our coverage clarifies major industry debates, such as the relative merits of GDS and NDC content, and our Op Eds deliver provocative thought leadership from all corners of the industry. Contributor insights on timely issues — like rethinking travel management company commercial models — make for essential reading.

With a critical eye and a healthy dose of skepticism, The Company Dime delivers must-have intelligence for anyone seeking to understand the present and future of travel distribution.

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You get what you pay for, and most travel industry business news is free. We sell insight. Our mission is quality journalism for those interested in business travel services, expense management practices and travel industry change. Our features, exclusives and analysis equip business travel professionals with vital info for top performance.

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U.K.-Based Snowfall Travel Agrees To Buy PSNGR1 Online Booking Tech

England-based tech firm Snowfall Travel agreed to acquire corporate booking tool developer PSNGR1 and bring on some employees, Snowfall founder Stefan Cars confirmed Thursday.  A final deal and related announcement are expected “shortly,” said Cars, who founded Snowfall in 2000. He said the firm “absolutely” would offer PSNGR1’s tech as a corporate booking solution. “The…

TravelPerk Reveals Direct Connection With Hilton, Which Claims No Agreement

[CORRECTION, Aug. 15, 2022: “There is no direct integration in place between TravelPerk and Hilton,” according to a prepared Aug. 8 statement from TravelPerk. The company apologized “for any confusion or misunderstanding” and indicated that when TravelPerk chief commercial officer JC Taunay-Bucalo said during a July phone interview that the company had a direct connection…

Op Ed: Norm Rose On Attacking Corporate Travel Pain Points With Web3 And Smart Contracts

Travel technology consulting veteran Norm Rose urges a push for smart contracts to improve the efficacy of negotiated corporate travel agreements. Emerging as the next generation of the internet, Web3 has a broad definition. It includes virtual reality in the metaverse, blockchain, token-based economics and decentralization of technology. For the corporate travel industry, the focus…

As Hopper Spawns Flexibility And Price Protections, Corporate Booking Tech Is On The Way

Apparently Hopper is building a corporate online booking tool. Marketing materials suggest B2B clients can “offer an end-to-end OBT that leverages Hopper’s technology, supply and design.” Scores of job openings describe a new corporate travel team that would “make Hopper’s consumer booking experience available to corporate travelers with corporate controls” through an “elegant, user-centric” solution….

IATA: Of Every 200 Indirect Airline Bookings, Less Than One Uses NDC For Corporate Travel

Ten years after the International Air Transport Association introduced its New Distribution Capability standards for web-based protocols to sell airline products, corporate travel bookings using those protocols remain a drop in the bucket.  Including leisure bookings, NDC’s penetration of indirect distribution for IATA member airlines in the quarter ending in March was 10 percent, driven…

McKinsey Challenges Airlines To Make Corporate Discount Programs Worthwhile

To engender loyalty, improve client performance and ensure that deals with corporate accounts generate incremental value, airlines need better data and new thinking on tailored discounts and service add-ons, according to McKinsey.  As it is, some airlines “struggle to quantify” the impact of individual client relationships on route profitability, a McKinsey spokesperson wrote by email…

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