Travel associations set out to tackle content fragmentation

Three business travel associations have set out to address the growing problem of content fragmentation within the corporate sector.

The UK’s Business Travel Association (BTA) has teamed up with GEBTA in Spain and the Australia-based Association of Travel Management Companies (ATMC) to commission a white paper, released this week, which looks at “addressing the growing challenge of content fragmentation” and how TMCs can help to solve the problems it causes for both corporates and their travellers.

Marcel Forns, general manager of GEBTA, said: “In Europe, we see the challenges of content fragmentation playing out across borders, impacting both pricing and service delivery.

“This paper offers essential insights and practical strategies that will help TMCs, suppliers and corporate clients navigate these complexities while maintaining a competitive edge.”

The report, which was produced by UK-based consultancy Black Box Partnerships, includes input from TMCs, travel buyers and suppliers across airlines, accommodation, aggregators, ground transport and technology providers.

Raj Sachdave, managing partner at Black Box, called fragmentation within corporate travel a “really pertinent subject that is not going away”, adding that it was creating “unnecessary headaches” for many in the industry.

“60 per cent of suppliers globally said that fragmentation is an urgent issue and 100 per cent of corporate buyers agreed that fragmentation needs to be addressed urgently,” he added.

Clive Wratten, CEO of the BTA, said the report was the first piece of work that the three business travel associations have carried out together.

Wratten compared the increase in fragmentation to a game of “whack-a-mole” as suppliers continued to change their distribution strategies.

“We realised that we had the same problem in all three countries and we need to change that,” added Wratten.

He said that the white paper was designed to “start a conversation whether you agree with it or not”.

Tass Messinis, chairperson of ATMC, added: “NDC is a great thing to allow rich content and personalisation. But every airline has got its own version of NDC and each airline has its own distribution strategy around that.”

Read the white paper here.