Redefining air commerce

To date, over 90 carriers have
signed up to use Travelport’s
rich content and branding
solution, including four African
carriers: SAA, Air Mauritius,
Comair/kulula.com and
Jambojet.
There is a big focus on
technology and demand from
agents to access the broadest
range of travel content, so
they can get closer to the
customer and what he or
she wants and upsell airline
product.
Today’s traveller expects
more options, and the
agency that can offer them
a personalised service and
take advantage of these
new revenue streams will be
around tomorrow. Ancillary
sales have grown seven-fold
in the United States, says
George Harb, Travelport
regional director for Southern
Africa. According to research
undertaken by Travelport, twothirds
of travellers indicated
that they were interested in
adding extras to their trip,
yet only 21% of agencies
are booking ancillaries – and
only a third of those booked
via the GDS. “This has cost
implications – agents who
break away from their workflow
to book through the airline’s
website or via a call centre
are wasting time, and time is
money,” he said.
Travellers also expect fare
and product parity; they
expect agents to know their
preferences; they want a
hyper-personalised digital
experience, with new forms of
payment options and virtual
cards, and the next-generation
travel agent will have to be
one step ahead of them,
George said.