Leading travel commerce platform Travelport has announced that over 250 airlines now benefit from its Rich Content and Branding merchandising tool which gives agencies and travel bookers a graphically rich experience when searching for and booking branded fares and ancillaries. 

The announcement confirms Travelport’s commitment to helping airlines deliver their brand and product proposition to travel agents and travellers through all points of sale.

Launched in 2014, Rich Content and Branding allows network airlines and low-cost carriers to differentiate themselves through strong visuals and detailed descriptions of their products and services. This gives online travel agents (OTAs), travel agencies and bookers a real understanding of each airline’s offering and an excellent service to their customers when booking.

Having passed the milestone of 250 carriers, Travelport has now extended its leading position in airline merchandising by offering richer content to five times as many airlines as its nearest competitor.  Airlines benefiting from branded fares and ancillaries include:

• Etihad Airways: seamlessly integrate Fare Choices into travel agency screens with the ability for Etihad Airways to vary descriptions and imagery.
• British Airways: branded fares across its domestic and global network
• Air France/KLM: branded fares as well as bags, sports equipment and pets
• Lufthansa: branded fares and several ancillaries such as bags and unaccompanied minors
• Iberia: branded fares as well as bags
• Smaller and low-cost airlines such as Aegean, Ryanair and Loganair

Major airlines currently or soon offering access to their branded fares through Rich Content and Branding include Delta, Air France/KLM, British Airways, Iberia, Lufthansa, China Southern Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Avianca.
In addition, an increasing number of airlines such as Etihad Airways and Jetstar are introducing no-bag fares on long-haul routes, a development fully supported by Travelport’s Rich Content and Branding tool.

The Portuguese airline TAP has enjoyed its benefits since 2015. Riccardo Lo Presti, the carrier’s vice president sales and distribution, said: “Travelport's Rich content and Branding helps TAP Air Portugal stand out against our competitors. It has helped us improve our ability to sell more than just a seat. Its graphics, just like you’d see on our website, drive significant adoption of ancillaries.  It is a great way of showing a product.”

Agencies have also been reaping the rewards:
Mustafa Filizkok, managing director of online agency Fly365, commented: “Branded fares and ancillaries has increased all of our sales across the board. The results that we are seeing from this particular product is that we have managed to be able to upsell which gives us a great revenue stream.”

Philipp Brinkmann, CEO of Tripsta, said: “The results from Travelport’s GDS agnostic Branded Fares solution exceeded our expectations. They were completely as Travelport had forecast. So Tripsta is now is becoming a more valuable partner to airlines by selling higher-value brands of fares and our customers are responding positively to the wider choice of fare solutions.”

Travelport’s leadership in travel technology was confirmed last month when it was certified by the International Air Transport Association (Iata) as a “Level 3” aggregator under Iata’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) initiative intended to create a new distribution standard for the airline industry.

Travelport’s chief commercial officer, Stephen Shurrock, said: “The achievement of this milestone highlights the multiple benefits Travelport delivers to carriers and agencies by displaying content in a way which replicates the consumer experience online. In an era when agencies and airlines receive and send content over multiple channels, Rich Content and Branding continues to stand out as a highly effective means of selling and upselling products - from branded fares and ancillaries such as paid seats to the recently introduced no bag fares on long haul services. In 2018, Travelport is now the best equipped platform to serve airlines and agencies with the content they need to serve their customers.” - TradeArabia News Service