2. A paradigm shift in distribution
Travelport’s Merchandising Platform
transforms the way airlines distribute
and retail their differentiated products
to Travelport’s travel agency customers.
Travelport now provides its global agency
community with access to unrivalled airline
content comprising fares and ancillary
services from both traditional airlines and Low
Cost Carriers who recognize the value of the
travel agency channel.
Travelport’s airline customers are able to
present the value and differentiating features
of their products to Travelport’s agency
community using both traditional and API
based distribution technologies. Airlines who
choose to distribute through the travel agency
channel experience yields up to 18% higher
per ticket sold,relative to tickets sold in their
direct channels.
At the point of sale,Travelport’s
Merchandising Platform consists of 3
components designed to communicate
and compare both the fares and product
attributes being offered by airlines today:
• Travelport Aggregated Shopping:
Consolidates in a common booking flow
the shopping results for carriers who
connect through ATPCo and those with
whom we have an API connection.This
new capability includes new screens for
our Classic Desktops and Smartpoint
App™ interfaces. Shopping in Travelport
Universal Desktop™ and Universal API™
is automatically aggregated today.
• Travelport Ancillary Services:
Lets travel consultants sell airline
ancillaries within their existing workflow
so there is no need to navigate to airline.
com to offer the full range of products
from a carrier.
• Travelport Rich Content and Branding:
Allows airlines to communicate the
value of their content to and through
the agency community. In turn the
travel consultant has access to all of the
information on an airline’s product within
the booking flow improving efficiency and
levels of customer service.
Executive summary
Contents
Inside Travelport’s Merchandising Platform
Chapter 1 03
Answering industry needs
Chapter 2 06
The value of choice
and flexibility
Chapter 3 08
Retail
Chapter 4 09
The architecture,
capability components
Chapter 5 10
The Travelport
merchandising platform
for airlines
Chapter 6 13
The Travelport
merchandising platform
for agencies
Chapter 7 14
About Travelport
For our airline customers:
We enable an airline to distribute
all of its content in any way that
it chooses.
For our travel agency customers:
We enable agents to access all airline
content in their normal workflow in
any way that they choose.
yourway
Retailingmarketingyourbrand
yourway
Unrivalledcontent.Yourworkflow.
3. 03
What does Travelport’s Merchandising
Platform mean to airlines?
We enable airlines to distribute all of
their content in any way they choose.
The Travelport Merchandising Platform
means an airline can achieve consistency
in how their product is presented and sold
across all channels. Airlines maximize the
return on their investment in branding
and new products by ensuring clear
differentiation from their competition
and increased ancillary sales.
What does Travelport’s Merchandising
Platform mean to travel consultants?
We enable agents to access all airline
products in their normal workflow
through any Travelport point of sale.
Travelport’s Merchandising Platform
means agencies can access the full range
of airline products in a consolidated and
integrated working environment that assists
them in making the best informed choice
even as airline offerings become
increasingly complex.
This means better service,expertise and
productivity with lower training costs.
What are the industry challenges we aim
to solve?
AIRLINES
Airlines need to be more competitive,drive
profit and get target their offers more
effectively.Some airlines do not believe they can
deliver their full product portfolio with equal
impact across all distribution channels.They
may question the indirect channel’s ability to
support retail and marketing techniques that
they increasingly rely on to differentiate their
brand and products to drive success.
In the search for profitability airlines need to be
able to deliver their full product portfolio with
equal impact across all distribution channels.
They need to know that the indirect channel
can enable them to communicate their brand
effectively,articulate the value of their product
and differentiate their services in a competitive
market to grow transactional value and win
market share.
AGENCIES
Agencies need to offer a complete service to
both airlines and consumers but often they
cannot access all airline products from their
points of sale.They leave their workflows to find
products and services from other channels,such
as an airline’s own website,and are therefore
affected by inefficiencies inherent in a disrupted
booking flow.If an agency chooses not to offer
these services,well-informed consumers may
detect a discrepancy in the product offering
compared to what they have seen on other
channels which may lessen the travel agency’s
credibility and question the added value they
bring as a travel expert.
CONSUMERS
Consumers today are expert shoppers and
expect a consistency of service regardless
of where,when or how they purchase. For
airlines, the challenge is ensuring that this
omni-channel experience is supported
effectively in indirect channels of distribution.
Chapter 1
Answering industry needs
4. Inside Travelport’s Merchandising Platform
How will Travelport solve these challenges?
• By enhancing the retail capabilities
of the indirect channel.
Travelport’s Merchandising Platform
establishes parity in direct and indirect
distribution channels by making all airline
products available to travel agents and by
presenting their product offers in a way
that allows airlines to clearly communicate
and differentiate the value of their product
offer. An example is the way many websites
visually represent, describe, promote and sell
their products, and this is not just limited
to the display:it also includes the ability to
allow relevant tailored offers to be pushed to
consumers, for instance when they have been
identified by their frequent flyer number.
• By allowing airlines to choose how to
deliver their fares and ancillary products
to Travelport.
Airlines are now able to choose
to distribute
– through existing Industry Standards,
based on EDIFACT messaging and
filling through ATPCO.
– beyond those standards for example
through an XML based Application
Programming Interface (API).
– through a mix of both approaches.
Travelport ensures that technology is
not a barrier to the airlines’preferred
technology approach for their
distribution strategy.
• By presenting all airline products
(flights, fares and ancillaries), inside
a consolidated workflow.
All airline product offers, whether from
Industry Standard airlines and API
connected carriers, are compared in a
single view and workflow.
• By providing the technology to showcase
these products through rich user
interfaces.
Whether an airline chooses to deliver
their content to Travelport via Industry
Standards or an API Connection we offer
the capability to display product images,
product descriptions, branding and fare
families on the agent’s desktop in a way
that allows them to quickly and easily
understand the carrier’s differentiated
product and value proposition and
communicate these effectively to
customers.
What are the Industry Standards we refer
to in this document?
In the main we mean ATA/IATA Reservations
Interline Messaging Procedures – Passenger
or AIRIMP. In IATA’s own words these are:
“The sole reference source of universally agreed
upon communications standards for the
handling of Passenger Reservations Interline
Messages.The AIRIMP standards are used in
millions of transactions between Travel Agency
and Airline systems and by Airline to Airline
systems.”
These standards along with the fare filing
processes associated with ATPCO and SITA
and the fulfillment mechanisms governed by
ARC/BSP make up the Industry Standards we
are referring to in this document.
5. 05
How relevant is IATA’s proposed
New Distribution Capability (NDC) to
Travelport’s Merchandising Platform?
Travelport’s Merchandising Platform is
the result of Travelport’s recognition of
the need to reduce the barriers to indirect
distribution presented by both technology
and existing Industry Standards around
fares and ancillaries.Travelport has invested
in enhancing its current distribution
capabilities and point of sale experience to
lower technical barriers and overcome the
challenge of differentiating products and
services within the constraints of a common
industry format.While these goals are similar
to those ascribed to IATA’s New Distribution
Capability project,Travelport has already
moved beyond standards and beyond the
pace of the industry to bring compelling
capabilities to its distribution channel.
Both airlines and agencies have the
unparalleled opportunity to satisfy
consumers’requirements to find,select
and purchase value based products and
ancillary offers.
IATA have also recognized the limitations
of existing Industry Standards and
technologies and are moving to upgrade
those standards to an XML based schema
which they believe will enable their member
airlines to better communicate their products
across all channels.
However Travelport will continue to drive
at pace our own innovation and that of
our airline customers and not wait for a
single industry standard, to be defined and
adopted.There will always be airlines who
will innovate beyond any industry standard
as well as airlines who do not wish to be
members of IATA or follow their standards.
At Travelport we acknowledge that standards
will continue to evolve and that the need for
airlines to seek competitive differentiation
means that we will continue to work not only
with the adherents to an industry standard
but also the innovators who are looking to
push the boundaries of distribution.
It is in fact Travelport’s existing capability to
source,manage and merge airline products
directly from carriers today and how we
harness these capabilities today that is
revolutionary.
We enable more and richer content from
airlines,regardless of technologies or
standards to be displayed across our agency
points of sale – in effect transforming the
indirect channel into a best-in class retail
environment.
6. Inside Travelport’s Merchandising Platform
What is the inherent value in allowing
an airline to choose how they connect
to Travelport ?
There are multiple airline business models,
some are suited to working within Industry
Standards and others are built precisely to
by-pass some of the inherent complexities
that are necessary to work through standards
– these airlines have found alternative
methods of distribution and mainly use
APIs to deliver their content.
Carriers that favor APIs – typically Low
Cost Carriers (LCCs) and focused on leisure
travelers – have become extremely successful
and often dominate in their domestic regions.
But as they mature, there is an increased
focus on the agency channel to reach new
and high yield business and potentially
target higher paying business travelers.
This presents opportunities for those carriers
working with Travelport as we are able to
work‘beyond standards’and seamlessly
integrate content sources directly from
the airline.
It is entirely feasible that one airline is running
multiple models:these may be legacy carriers
needing heightened flexibility to compete with
an LCC domestically while at the same time
running a successful long haul or partnership
strategy within a traditional model.
Why would an airline choose to connect
using APIs?
Through an API an airline can be more
flexible and agile, responding faster to
business conditions, and enabling the
airline to:
• distribute some or all flight availability
through an API which enables an airline
to sell and revenue manage those routes
more dynamically
• adjust fares rapidly according to the latest
flight demand forecasts or competitive
activity or an agency’s performance
• code share is supported for
API-connected carriers
• tailor,add or remove certain optional
services such as ancillaries with speed
• distribute fares though an API to unlock
customer-centric selling capability
• recognize which agency or customer is
requesting which flights and return a
customized offering based on a frequent
flier tier level,agency identifier or a
corporate ID
• recognize consumer trends and booking
history to return relevant tailored offers
for both price,upsell opportunities or
ancillaries
Why would an airline choose to connect
through Industry Standards?
Through Industry Standards an airline is
part of an established process particularly
well suited to more complex international
routes or itineraries. Industry Standards allow
airlines to:
• interact with other carriers,support
partnerships,code sharing and interlining
• distribute fares or schedules for flights –
such as long haul – that may not require
such regular or dynamic changes
• align to common agency fulfillment
processes that permit efficient payment
and agency ticket issuance globally
Chapter 2
The value of choice and flexibility
7. 07
Why would an airline choose to connect
through a blend of Industry Standards
and API?
Through a hybrid model,using both API and
Industry Standards connectivity,an airline
can choose which fares or schedules are best
suited to fast-moving situations that require
change and reaction – such as their domestic
business,or those routes or product offerings
needing less dynamic change.
Don’t GDSs already accept airline content
through APIs?
Yes but until now this content was not
integrated into agency workflows.
The Travelport Aggregated Shopping
component of the Merchandising Platform,
will aggregate availability,fares and
ancillaries from all airline types:displaying
LCCs or API carrier content alongside Industry
Standard carriers in the same booking flow.
If API connections are so flexible, then why
wouldn’t all airlines want to use it?
Many airlines’existing operations,both
internally and with partner airlines,are
deeply integrated with the existing Industry
Standards and it is not simple to move
away from those standards to something
wholly based on exposing content through
an API. Newer airlines attribute much of
their competitive advantage to the fact that
they consciously chose not to adhere to the
existing standards.Their business models
did not require interoperability with other
airlines and therefore only did not need to
use Industry Standards to focus on selling
their products through their own website.
In addition,not all airline APIs are created
equal. Some are feature-rich and enable
all functions such as modify/amend, the
ability to hold a booking without payment,
or support forms of payment other than
credit card. However other airlines only offer
shop,price,book and retrieve and not all of
their available optional services such as paid
baggage are supported.
There are other limitations as well. Interline
connections are not currently available
in any airline’s API and for large airlines
that participate in alliances and other
partnerships that is a sizable limitation.
Code share is usually supported.
Don’t GDSs already accept Low Cost Carrier
content through ATPCO standards?
Yes,all GDSs accept a fairly significant
amount of LCC content through traditional
standards. However Travelport believes that
by lowering barriers to indirect distribution
it can enable more LCCs to gain the benefits
of using Travelport’s global distribution
capabilities to compete effectively for both
leisure and business customers. Up until
now, this decision has been one that LCCs
make as their initial markets mature and
they start to look to wider markets and
business customers to either drive improved
load factors mid week or drive increased
average yields per passenger.Travelport’s
philosophy is that Low Cost Carriers are now
able to consider indirect distribution as a key
element of their distribution and marketing
mix sooner.
Through Travelport,no airline is held hostage
to their technology.There are no restrictions
and a carrier can participate within the
Travelport Global Distribution System using
the technical approach that is right for them
and their business model.
8. Inside Travelport’s Merchandising Platform
Why is Travelport’s Merchandising Platform
so important to airlines, agents, consumers
and the industry as a whole?
1. Omni-channel distribution,
sales and marketing
Any business that operates a multi-channel
retail strategy will want each channel to be
effective and equally able to demonstrate
value,generate sales and provide a consistent
brand experience. For airlines and consumers,
an omni-channel strategy,with seamless
interaction and tracking between an airline
and a consumer across multiple touchpoints,
is key to a positive consumer experience and
exceptional customer service.
2. What consumers expect today
Consumers, who are now experts in online
shopping,expect consistency whether
interacting with an airline’s website or
through an agent or any other channel.The
best retailers provide this with multi-device
capabilities and a continued dialogue with
consumers before,during and after the
booking flow.
3. Websites do have boundaries
Website penetration can only go so far.
Domestic penetration is naturally much
higher but even that can’t access certain
higher value passengers who may be required
to book travel through an agency aligned
to corporate policy. Equally it is expensive
to raise brand awareness outside your
home country,particularly in a trade setting
with agencies.Travelport’s global reach
provides airlines with a highly cost effective
channel beyond the natural boundaries and
limitations of direct distribution.
4. Airlines need to use rich content to
describe a product - from economy to first
class – to promote their value and their
differentiators
Agents today go to the website,if a carrier
is lucky, to understand the product being
offered by that carrier.This takes time and
slows down the booking process. Much
better to give the agent the information they
need at the right point in the booking flow
to enable an informed choice to be made.
Merchandising is by definition:
“the planning and promotion of sales by
presenting a product to the right market at
the proper time,by carrying out organized,
skillful advertising,using attractive displays,
etc”(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/
merchandising)
At Travelport we want to enable airlines to
communicate to the agent and end consumer
seamlessly within the booking flow.
5. Enhanced personalization
Personalization happens today with Frequent
Flyer based pricing for ancillaries as well as
deals done with agencies and businesses
to try and capture their booking volumes.
Greater personalization and targeting of
relevant offers is happening and is key to
airline profitability.Where this doesn’t harm
competition and the consumer then it will be
supported by the Merchandising Platform.
6. The changing travel agent
Agencies offer a clear and valuable service,
but travelers are now better informed and
airline products are more complex with more
attributes than ever before. Agents need to
be focused on their service value proposition
and recognize that they need solutions
which provide them with rich information
on available offers,and the ability to focus on
listening to customers,understanding their
needs and matching the available products
to those needs.
Chapter 3
Retail
9. 09
Chapter 4
The architecture,capability components
What are the technology developments that
drive Travelport’s Merchandising Platform?
1. We have redesigned how our Air Content
Hub (where we manage airline APIs)
interacts with the Travelport GDS.
2. We have designed new agency screens
which aggregate industry standard filed
content with fares and ancillaries from
the Air Content Hub,enabling all content
to appear in the agent booking flow.
3. We are enhancing all desktop solutions to
integrate the new content while taking
advantage of the features agents know
and love.
4. We are rationalizing our API solutions
by offering a single way for online travel
agencies to gain access to all the content
available in Travelport though Travelport
Universal API™.
5. We are using a Service Oriented
Architecture to ensure that content and
functionality is provided seamlessly and
consistently to all points of sale.
What is the Travelport Merchandising Platform Architecture?
Airlinewithchoiceofcontentprovision
Airline content Travelport Points of sale Travel agents
Fares
Industry
Standards
API
Ancillaries
Industry
Standards
API
Richcontentfeed
Travelport
merchandising
management
portal
Aggregation of
airline fares from
both sources
Aggregation
of ancillary
services
Rich content
display
ViewTrip
Universal
desktop
Smartpoint
Universal API
Worldspan™
Galileo™
Apollo™
ClassicDesktops
All content
in the
agent’s
workflow
Sharedservices
Hybrid
10. Inside Travelport’s Merchandising Platform
Chapter 5
API
Airline Fares
Participation
and Airline
Ancillaries
Hybrid
Industry
Standards
FLEXIBLE CONNECTIVITY
Dynamic
Pricing
CUSTOMER CENTRIC SELLING
Travelport
Advertising
Tools
Travelport
Rich Content
Branding
MARKETING RETAILING
Travelport
Aggregated
Shopping
Travelport
Rich Content
and Branding
Travelport
Ancillary
Services
Merchandising
at the point of sale
SELLING SOLUTIONS
Travelport
Merchandising
Platform
Airline Solutions
11. 11
1. Flexible connectivity:
Airline fares participation:
The objective is to
• give airlines the choice of the method
of content distribution that best suits
their distribution strategy and technical
capabilities in order that they maximize
their reach and hence their revenues
• distribute airline API connected
content globally which will promote
additional airline participation,
expanding the content available
within the Travelport GDS
• normalize API content‘display’into
a single workflow for all Travelport
agencies and points of sale by providing
new screens and creating a common
booking flow for our Air Content Hub
(ACH) carriers alongside our GDS-
connected carriers
• aggregate our Customer Centric
Shopping capability (which returns
ACH shop results) alongside ePricing
shop results (which returns GDS shop
results).Whether distributed via Industry
Standards or via API,product offers from
all airlines will be displayed alongside
each other,fares and ancillaries included
In simple terms,all airlines no matter
whether they connect through Industry
Standards or through APIs and their
corresponding fares and ancillaries will be
displayed together on agency screens.
Airline Ancillaries:
The objective is to
• implement API-published ancillaries
(through the Air Content Hub) and
Industry Standards-filed ancillaries
(through the GDS) to allow airlines to
generate extra revenue through the
sale of airline merchandise and into all
points of sale
• aggregate our Customer Centric
Shopping capability (which returns
ACH shop results) alongside ePricing
shop results (which returns GDS shop
results).Whether distributed via Industry
Standards or via API,product offers from
all airlines will be displayed alongside
each other,fares and ancillaries included
Airlines may choose to sell ancillaries such
as paid seats,extra luggage,lounge access,
meals andWiFi on certain routes or for all
routes depending on their commercial and
marketing strategy.
12. Inside Travelport’s Merchandising Platform
2. Customer-centric selling
(through API Participation)
Dynamic pricing
The objective is to
• allow the agent – during the initial
shopping request – to include a set of
unique identifiers such as a Frequent
Flyer, corporate or agency number
which then allows the airline to return a
personalized offering which could be a
special fare or free bag or seat allocation
This ability to provide customer centric selling
will enable
• offers to be tailored to the actual traveler
– special fares to Gold Card members
– allow access to a limited capacity flight
– Inclusion of ancillaries
• enable agile corporate deals
– enable an airline to be more competitive
while negotiating with travel buyers
– deals could be set to provide greater
discounts as bookings rise
– push short-sharp offers at speed –
without the expense or time associated
with fare filing
• agency deals to be more dynamic
– routes and rates can be adapted
at speed by airlines,made to vary,
reflecting fast moving market
conditions
– discounts can be aligned to
increases in sales
3. Marketing and retailing
Rich content branding and advertising tools
The objective is to
• allow airlines to showcase their ancillaries
and fare products supported by a solution
that allows them to include extended
description and images
• allow airlines to differentiate their
content early within the agent flow
• allow airlines to distribute their content,
branding and positioning through all
channels,providing consistency for the
end users
• allow airlines to display the value and
scope of their product offers to allow
agents to compare and contrast different
offers along side each other and so
promote upselling opportunities
• promote airline offers directly onto
agency screens
4. Selling solutions
Aggregated shopping,ancillaries,rich content
branding and advertising tools,at the point
of sale
The objective is to
• incorporate API content and ancillaries
into a single workflow for all Travelport
agencies and points of sale by providing
new screens and creating a common
booking flow for our Air Content Hub
carriers alongside our GDS-connected
carriers
• showcase and display branded airline
offers that reflects contemporary retail
and marketing techniques
• allowairlinestouseandalsounderstand
ouragencychannelmoreeffectively.Our
solutionsactivelybringthesupplierand
retailchannelsclosertogethertoserveanew
generationofconsumerswhoexpect more
13. 13
Chapter 6
Rich Content and Branding
The objective is to
Communicate the value and
differentiation of each airline’s
offering in a way that informs the
agent and keeps them productive.
Travelport
Aggregated
Shopping
Travelport
Rich Content
and Branding
Travelport
Ancillary
Services
Merchandising
at the point of sale
Aggregated Shopping
The objective is to
Present all products from all airlines
in a common workflow for agents
regardless of the technology used
to bring in those products to the
Travelport GDS.
Ancillary Services
The objective is to
Enable the sale in a common workflow
of the ancillary services which are
so vital to airline profitability. Ensure
payment methods match all possible
derivatives or preferences for carriers,
consumers and agents.
14. Inside Travelport’s Merchandising Platform
Providing the broadest range of
travel content
As one of the world’s largest travel
organizations,Travelport powers business
success by enabling providers and agents to
sell how and what they want through
an enhanced travel buying experience.
• Operating in 170 countries
• Serving travel agencies, travel suppliers,
corporations and travel wholesalers
• Global travel distribution and transaction
processing services
• Comprehensive travel technology
portfolios
• Mission critical airline IT applications and
multi-host platform
• Global travel market intelligence and data
analysis solutions
• 3,500 employees,with worldwide sales,
service and support offices
• 2011 annual revenues of USD $2billion
World-class global data center
Our data center offers a state-of-the-art
facility that has completed comprehensive
technology upgrades to the latest IBM
processing and storage platforms.The
combined facility features an industry-leading
technology platform in terms of functionality,
performance,reliability and security.
• Advanced hybrid technology
infrastructure running the Apollo™,
Galileo™ andWorldspan™ global
distribution systems (GDS),and several
major airlines
• 99.99 percent core system uptime
• Less than 300 milliseconds average
system response time
• Up to 2.2 billion unique travel-related
messages processed daily
• Average of 77 million daily availability
searches for flights,car rentals and hotels
alone
• Real-time bookings with guaranteed fares
and rates
Chapter 7
About Travelport
15. Connecting buyers and sellers of travel
worldwide
Travelport offers the unparalleled reach
and strengths of two of the world’s leading
global distribution systems (GDS),Galileo and
Worldspan. As the world’s leading provider
of informed travel choice,we enable travel
companies to provide travelers worldwide
with the most exceptional travel experiences.
System participation among the world’s
leading suppliers
Airlines
• 400+ participating airlines
• 6 billion+ stored airfares
Hotels and resorts
• 91,000 GDS properties worldwide
• 300 hotel chains
• 27 million hotel room nights booked
annually
• 650,000 hotel offers from over
250 hotel properties via Travelport
Rooms and More™
Car rental companies
• 30,000 locations worldwide
• 25 car rental suppliers
• 17 million car rentals booked annually
Rail operators
• 12 major domestic and international
rail networks
• 2 million European rail tickets
booked annually
Additional suppliers
• More than 760 travel suppliers
• Thousands of bookable travel products
and services,including ground
transportation,ferry, travel insurance,
excursions, theater tickets,restaurant
reservations and more
Points of sale through subscribers on nearly
every continent
Traditional and online travel agencies
• 67,000 travel agency subscribers
worldwide
• A strong and growing presence in the
Americas,EMEA and Asia-Pacific,and an
expanding global footprint in emerging
regions,including the Middle East,Africa,
Asia and Eastern Europe
15
