While the NDC standard is poised to take over the airline sector, the Travel Managers don't seem to have fully mastered this crucial issue. Worse still, their distrust of the new standard and its consequences is growing, according to a study published by the Business Travel Show. Organisers of the London show, which takes place on 20 and 21 February, have surveyed 134 travel buyersThe majority (74) were British. And the results raise questions about the contribution of NDC.
Last year, for example, four out of ten Travel Managers (39%) did not know whether the airlines' new distribution strategies were a good thing or not. They are now 59% of undecideds. A quarter of professionals (26%) now consider NDC to be a "good thing", compared with over a third (35%) at the time of the last survey. previous edition of the Business Travel Show.
It has to be said that the early signs of NDC among travel buyers are far from reassuring. Indeed, for 28% of those surveyed, the new standard has led to a price increase. This figure has also deteriorated, since only 18% said that there had been a fare increase last year. As for the transparency often highlighted in defence of the NDC, only 16% of travel managers can attest to this, compared with 18% last year...
I'm still very worried about NDC
" I am still very concerned about the NDC "says Helder Mendesresponsible for relations with travel suppliers at NetJets Europe. " It is too early for [NDC to have produced] visible results. However, if the airlines are able to work with NDC as they claim, business buyers should be able to buy precisely what they need, rather than what the airlines push them to buy. In other words, if my company needs air tickets at a decent fare, with an allocated seat, one piece of hold luggage, one piece of hand luggage (...), a fast track ticket service and a semi-flexible ticket, we should be able to get exactly that, rather than having to buy full flexible tickets or higher fares. It remains to be seen whether this is what will happen. "concludes Helder Mendes.
To help Travel Managers get a clearer picture of NDC - for better or for worse - the Business Travel Show programme includes two dedicated conferences: " NDC - Will travel buyers gain or lose? "(20 February at 2.30pm) and " NDC - What, why, how, and roadmap to 2020 "(20 February at 4pm).
