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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British Airways expects later this month to share more details about its distribution strategy. Possibly in conjunction with a surcharge on GDS bookings, BA will discuss use of IATA’s New Distribution Capability. Lufthansa made its big splash along these lines nearly two years ago. Last week the Germany-based airline group hyped NDC-enabled direct connections with…
Pioneering a new airline distribution program has its perks. The Lufthansa direct-connect initiative with Siemens will benefit the conglomerate’s travelers even when they don’t book that way. More than eight months into the program, Siemens officials last week briefed The Company Dime on progress and lessons learned. It was always part of the plan to provide…
Air Canada reduced travel agency compensation on certain fares, effective April 1. The change followed increases in the airline’s sales and distribution costs as a percentage of passenger revenue in each of the past three years. A spokesperson confirmed that the carrier reduced commissions paid on some international airfare types, including interline and business-class fares….
Concur still isn’t saying much about its plans for Hipmunk, but a client conference this month featured a roadmap for its natural language processing capabilities. According to a March 15 tweet by Concur VP of business development R.J. Filipski, Hipmunk showed attendees it was enabling “chatbot-based business travel booking via Concur and your preferred TMC.” Meanwhile,…
Industry practice stipulates that hotels don’t pay commissions on penalty charges when travelers don’t show up, even if the rate they booked was commissionable. Yet, one expert said some travel management companies get hotels to stray from the standard practice. No-shows are fairly rare, but the topic could become more relevant if hotels continue to…
Amadeus expects this year to reach a major milestone, decommissioning the last of its mainframes. This is the culmination of a multi-year process to achieve “more flexibility and resiliency.” Sabre isn’t there yet. Under new CEO Sean Menke, the company has embarked on a general tech upgrade program. “We will make investments in our IT…
Delta Air Lines in 2015 started offering tailored packages of products and services to corporate accounts. It’s not doing that anymore. It has other ways to enrich commercial relationships with add-ons. The change in strategy reflects two different ways airlines view the concept of corporate bundles. Travel managers for a while talked up the idea of…
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