Most European and UK travel buyers are concerned about the impact of content fragmentation and the acceleration of airlines’ NDC strategies, according to a new survey by Business Travel Show Europe.
A poll of nearly 90 buyers found that 70 per cent thought that fragmentation and NDC was a problem as it was creating difficulties in accessing airline content through their preferred booking channels.
This is leading to several issues for buyers including more complaints and queries from travellers (69 per cent), as well as increased questioning of the value of both the travel management company (52 per cent) and the travel programme (44 per cent).
Some buyers also said that their relationships with both airlines (37 per cent) and TMCs (32 per cent) were deteriorating due to changes in airfare distribution.
The biggest consequences for buyers of not being able to access all airfares has been missed savings (61 per cent), following by having to demonstrate the value of using a TMC to their bosses (60 per cent) and increasing leakage from the programme (44 per cent) as more travellers book outside preferred channels.
Many buyers are also having to make more exceptions for out-of-channel bookings (42.5 per cent) while nearly one-third (32 per cent) are now spending more on offline TMC fees as a result of more fragmented content.
Those surveyed were equally split about whether the current challenges relating to NDC would be resolved within the next two years. Some 48 per cent said they were not confident that these issues would be resolved, although 49 per cent were either “very” or “somewhat” confident that the situation would improve.
Around 44 per cent of respondents were UK-based buyers with another 43 per cent located in continental Europe and 13 per cent from other parts of the world.
Business Travel Show Europe, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2024, takes place at London’s ExCeL exhibition centre on 19-20 June. Registration for the show is now open.