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Travelport Celebrates Over 220 Airlines Using ‘Rich Content and Branding’ Solution

Bryan Conway, Head of Travelport Digital; Joëlle Watkins, Senior Marketing Manager, Airlines; and Ian Heywood, Global Head of Product & Marketing, Air Commerce.

Bryan Conway, Head of Travelport Digital; Joëlle Watkins, Senior Marketing Manager, Airlines; and Ian Heywood, Global Head of Product & Marketing, Air Commerce.

By Nikos Krinis

Travelport, a leading Travel Commerce Platform, has announced that over 220 airlines have signed up to its Travelport “Rich Content and Branding” merchandising solution since its launch some three years ago. The announcement was made to delegates during the CAPA Airline Leader Summit 2017 annual event in Dublin, Ireland, last week.

Travelport's Rich Content and Branding merchandising solution allows airlines to differentiate and create new revenue opportunities.

Travelport’s Rich Content and Branding merchandising solution allows airlines to differentiate and create new revenue opportunities.

Launched in 2014, the popular merchandising technology, which is integrated into the company’s Travel Commerce Platform that includes the solutions Travelport Aggregated Shopping and Travelport Ancillary Services, enables airlines to retail their products more effectively to the global travel trade, making the job of travel agents much more easier.

The Greek Travel Pages (GTP) caught up with Travelport’s Global Head of Product & Marketing, Air Commerce, Ian Heywood, who said he was really proud of the solution’s progress.

“I think the numbers say everything you need to know and I don’t know of any other product where anyone in the GDS world has launched that has gone from zero to 220, which is over half of the airlines we have on our database in such a short period of time… It is really impressive and no other products have been as successful,” Heywood told GTP.

The solution allows airlines to control how their products are visually presented and described to agents, utilizing images and descriptions very similar to what airlines provide on their own web sites, in order to drive sales of core fares.

Heywood, who is of an airline background, said that the Rich Content and Branding merchandising solution offers great sales material and sales opportunity to airlines.

“They can just get accross their basic message in a marketing way if they want, they can do tailored offers which ‘explain’ their product to specific travel agents,” he said.

Derek Sharp, Senior Vice Present and Managing Director, Air Commerce; Paul Broughton, UK and IE Country Manager; Simon Ferguson, Vice President and Managing Director Northern Europe; and Ian Heywood, Global Head of Product & Marketing, Air Commerce.

Derek Sharp, Senior Vice Present and Managing Director, Air Commerce; Paul Broughton, UK and IE Country Manager; Simon Ferguson, Vice President and Managing Director Northern Europe; and Ian Heywood, Global Head of Product & Marketing, Air Commerce.

Some of the many benefits of Rich Content and Branding to travel agencies include: potential increase in ticket sales; the ability to book through their usual, preferred booking processes, rather than having to go to an airline’s website for more information; and significant upselling opportunities on both core fares and ancillaries.

Travelport’s Heywood said that travel agents in the near future should expect Travelport to be leading in the products made for them.

“We want to make sure that we are at the front and we are delivering everything that they are looking for,” he told GTP, adding that the company aims to bring in as much content as it can for travel agents.

“Then we want to present that in the points of sale in the way that they book it as effectively and efficiently to enable them to do their job as good as they can.”

Headquartered in Langley, UK, Travelport provided distribution, technology, payment, mobile and other solutions for the global travel and tourism industry and has a presence in some 180 countries.

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