This is a roundup for product news and announcements for travel DISTRIBUTION in tourism and hospitality for December 2016.
Wednesday 28 December 2016:TravelSky renews with
China Southern Airlines- China's GDS and one of China's three largest airlines have signed a new two-year agreement, in which TravelSky will provide revenue management software and related tools for two years. China Southern Airlines happens to be a part-investor in the GDS.
Tuesday 27 December 2016:Gerry's Travel picks
Sabre- The Pakistan-based travel agency has selected Sabre as its provider of air, hotel and other travel product content. The agreement includes use of Sabre's PowerSuite platform to handle its front, mid and back-office agency services.
Wednesday 21 December 2016:Travelport flies with
UTAir Aviation- Travelport-connected travel agencies will be able to access to the Russian carrier's fares and inventory as part of the multi-year agreement. UTAir, a provider of both domestic and international flights, ha also signed up to the Travelport Merchandising Platform's Rich Content and Branding service.
Tuesday 20 December 2016:Travelport signs
S7 to content package
- The Russian airline will participate in the Travelport Merchandising Platform's Rich Content and Branding service, giving it the ability to showcase services and ancillary products to travel agencies in the same as it would online. S7 (formerly known as Siberian Airlines) operates domestic flights around Russia and to destinations in the rest of Europe, Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
Thursday 15 December 2016:Travelport renews
Vipservice- The Moscow, Russia-based leisure and corporate travel agency will continue to use Travelport access hotel, car rental and air content. The company launched the Biletix online travel agency in 2008, which is included in the new agreement.
Trainline includes Benelux
- The rail online booking and information service now includes the entire Benelux region on its roster of destinations, available on both desktop and mobile platforms. The company claims to have 24,000 stations in 24 European countries, served by 48 rail operators.
Wednesday 14 December 2016:Blacklane adds dozens of APAC cities
- The private car booking service has launched in 64 new cities in 12 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, giving it a total of 250 worldwide. Destinations on the portfolio now include Canberra in Australia, Goa in India, Manila in the Philippines, Phuket in Thailand and Beijing in China.
Monday 12 December 2016:Air Seoul picks
Sabre- The Asiana Airlines-subsidiary, low-cost carrier will initially use Sabre as its first GDS partner, following its launch earlier this year. The carrier flies to domestically in South Korea, as well as international destinations in Malaysia, Japan, Cambodia and China.
Friday 9 December 2016:GetYourGuide gives
BookingKit distribution
- Operators on the BookingKit platform will get access to the consumer-facing online agency for tours and activities. Products will be automatically placed on GetYourGuide, with full booking and availability included.
Bidroom scraps commission model
- The European hotel booking website has introduced a two-tier structure to its platform, giving property owners the chance to have a zero commission model for a free listing and limited details. A premium service (paid-for) alows to add more images, higher placement in search results and other details.
Bokun strikes
Expedia deal
- The tours and activities marketplace has integrated with Expedia Local Expert so that its customers can obtain real-time availability and booking on the consumer-facing platform. Bokun currently manages more than 10,000 reselling agreements with suppliers and travel agencies.
Global Travel Management renews Travelport agreement
- The UK-based corporate travel agency will continue to use Travelport to access air, hotel and other travel-related content, including branded fares and ancillaries from airlines. The TMC will also use the Smartpoint desktop platform as part of the deal.
Wednesday 7 December 2016:Travelport renews
China Southern- Travelport has signed a new agreement with China Southern Airlines meaning the carrier will continue to use Travelport Digital Media Solutions for the fourth year. China Southern already uses Rich Content & Branding and will continue to use Travelport's Sponsored Flights technology.
Tuesday 6 December 2016:Sabre partners with
GuestCentrix- The CMS Hospitality-run platform has integrated with Sabre so that hotels customers can manage rates and distribution. The platform also allows properties to capture booking data to help manage corporate and direct channels.
Monday 5 December 2016:Yapta signs on with
Egencia- Airfare and hotel price tracking service Yapta,is providing its Fare Savings Finder to Expedia Inc's corporate travel agency, Egencia. The product dynamically scans for lower fares on the exact same flights, alerting agents to rebook when savings are found.
BA links with
Airlines Technology- Airlines Technology, a portfolio company of Travel StartUps Incubator, has signed a deal with British Airways (BA), providing the airline with its NDC-compliant aggregation services. The move will help BA sell inventory and ancillary services through third-party distributors such as online travel agencies.
Friday 2 December 2016:Vueling brands with
Travelport- The IAG-owned carrier will use Travelport's Rich Content and Branding service, part of its Merchandising Platform. The tool allows the airline to display its fares and content to travel agencies in the same way as it would with its consumer-facing website.
Thursday 1 December 2016:KDS drives away with
TBR- TBR Global Chauffeuring will make its portfolio of executive cars available to KDS's Neo users as part of the agreement, including reporting and duty of care requirements. KBR has 15,000 vehicles in 3,000 cities around the world.
PKFare picks
Amadeus- The China-based travel aggregator will use Amadeus to receive flight content through the Master Pricer tool. The agreement is being used as a spearhead for the company's ambitions to expand into international markets.
DCS Plus secures
Emirates direct deal
- Emirates content will be available on the DCS Plus platform, using the NDC-based standard. Alongside schedules and fares will be the inclusion of special offers and ancillary services. DCS Plus signed a similar direct-connect deal with Lufthansa earlier this year.
NB: Travel distribution image via Shutterstock.