Sabre Corporation recently surveyed 30 Asia-based airlines, and the results indicate that carriers are re-evaluating their strategic focus as they think creatively about new ways to generate revenue and increase yield.

Close to 70 per cent of the airlines who participated in Sabre’s study indicated that two main factors are influencing change: technological advancement and increasing traveller expectations. However, despite acknowledging the power of innovative technologies to enable new ways to sell, a majority of Asia-based airlines surveyed by Sabre admit to falling short of their ideal ancillary sales vision.

Image source: Travel Daily Media

With travellers expecting unique, targeted offers from their shopping experience, over half of the survey participants (53 per cent) believe that leveraging data intelligence, whether to gain insights into market trends or passenger behaviour, is a top growth area for their airline.
Yet, 80 per cent of the airlines surveyed claim to not have achieved their desired ancillary sales, and only one in five respondents have identified product differentiation as their airline’s strategic focus.

The results, which were announced by Sabre last week at STX Singapore, demonstrates a significant opportunity for Asia-Pacific airlines to create a personalised retail experience for the traveller as a means to differentiate their products and drive incremental revenue.

“With consumer trends evolving as fast as the markets they serve, airlines have the potential to generate significant growth by efficiently channelling their content with innovative technology solutions that harness artificial intelligence and machine learning,” said Rakesh Narayanan, vice president, air line of business, Sabre Travel Network Asia Pacific.

“Our Beyond NDC programme drives collaboration with airlines and agencies to help them create rich personas and micro-segmented offers using rich data that support their business objectives.”

Ancillary sales have increased by 88 per cent year-on-year in the region, but reports show the same top ancillary requests appear across all markets: baggage, seat selection and meals. While in-flight Wi-Fi is increasingly featured in the top three most popular ancillaries, accounting for a quarter of business traveller requests in Asia-Pacific, there remains room for airlines to partner with technology leaders to help them up the ante on competitive differentiation.

Sabre opined that successful retailers understand that the key to delivering curated experiences lies in tailoring offers to distinct buying personas, requiring a robust data-sciences approach to maximise individual consumer engagement as well as end-to-end profitability.

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From Treebo’s Hero app to Sabre’s cutting-edge technology, and GoIbibo’s ‘Secret’, we have curated the best of this week’s travel-tech launches for you.

Treebo Hotels launches mobile app ‘Hero’ to tap traditional offline sales channels

Treebo Hotels announced the launch of a new mobile app called ‘Hero’ aimed at tapping into the traditional offline sales channels, thereby expanding its customer base and creating new avenues for sales. With the Hero app, Treebo aims to target intermediaries like auto-rickshaw and cab drivers, individual agents, small shopkeepers, and others who typically operate at airports, railway stations, and bus stands. These intermediaries often help customers arriving in the city with their travel bookings, since many of these customers do not make prior bookings.

By bringing this traditional offline activity into the formal online space through ‘Hero’, the brand targets to drive higher awareness about its quality services and amenities through the direct recommendation of these intermediaries. It will thus allow Treebo to tap into a new customer segment that has conventionally transacted with and trusted these offline intermediaries only.

Commenting on the launch, Sidharth Gupta, Co-founder of Treebo Hotels said, “As a hotel chain we have always used both online and offline channels to drive sales for us, and we have deployed technology to drive convergence between them. With the launch of Hero we are tapping into another potent sales channel – the local offline intermediaries. We are not only excited about welcoming a new set of travellers who book through such intermediaries but also about creating opportunities for such micro entrepreneurs to enhance their incomes and become part of the digital economy.”

Goibibo launches ‘Secret Hotels’ feature for last-minute hotel deals

Goibibo unveiled a new feature on its platform – “Secret Hotels”, which will help customers who are looking for hotels at the last minute and have a set budget. The ‘Secret Hotels’ feature requires the customer to provide basic intents such as location, check-in date and basket of standardised amenities. Basis the options filled in by the customer, hotels are selected by an automated Goibibo algorithm that picks the best property suited for customer’s needs at their chosen price.

Image source: Inc42

Commenting on the launch of Secret Hotels, Sanjay Bhasin, COO, Goibibo, said, “We want to consistently provide more choice and add to flexibility of booking hotels for our customers on Goibibo. With ‘Secret Hotels’, we aim to get our users a hassle-free hotel booking experience at special prices, even as they make last minute bookings.”

Sabre launches industry-first pricing technology to deliver end-to-end dynamic pricing strategy

At the Aviation Festival in London, Sabre Corporation launched Sabre AirVision Dynamic Availability and Sabre AirVision Fares Optimizer, two next-generation pricing solutions that uncover new revenue opportunities by enabling airlines to proactively address rapidly changing market conditions in real time. Underscoring the launch announcement, Etihad Airways and Aegean Airlines will be the first Sabre customers to implement the solutions.

“Pricing is one of the most complex issues in the aviation industry, and airlines are under immense pressure to adapt prices in line with constantly changing market conditions,” said Dave Shirk, President of Travel Solutions, Sabre. “Success requires pricing and revenue management technology that will not only push boundaries, but truly equip airlines for the next frontier. As part of our commitment to enable the digital airline of the future, our dynamic pricing solutions give airlines the intelligence needed to compete and grow revenue today and well into the future. This type of innovation can only come from close collaboration with leading airlines who help imagine the future alongside Sabre.”

Sabre AirVision Fares Optimizer empowers airlines to strategically adjust their fares based on real-time market data. It recommends pricing structures based on customer segmentation and competitor price checks, and generates fare recommendations by estimating each customer’s potential willingness to pay. Then, for more tactical adjustments, Sabre AirVision Dynamic Availability – a proven big data solution – enables airlines to quickly respond to ever evolving market dynamics. These two solutions, coupled with Sabre’s shopping data and Revenue Optimizer technology, empower airlines with a complete pricing and revenue management offering.

The new solutions are part of a broader strategic decision by Sabre, which announced earlier this year that it would build a new Digital Commercial Platform that delivers end-to-end personalized retailing for airlines.

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Sabre Corporation, the leading technology provider to the global travel industry, has signed a new agreement with Booking.com, the global leader in connecting travellers with the widest possible choice of incredible places to stay. Under the agreement, Sabre agency customers will have access to all Booking.com listings, including its alternative lodging listings, through the Sabre Content Services for Lodging.

Sabre Content Services for Lodging is an industry-first technology solution that integrates multi-source, multi-representation of GDS, aggregator, and agency-sourced hotel content into the Sabre GDS. TMCs and corporations will be able to more efficiently shop, sell and service millions of hotel options as active GDS bookings.

“We’re constantly working to expand our lodging offerings and bring even more options to our agency customers,” said Traci Mercer, senior vice president of lodging, ground and sea for Sabre Travel Network. “Our collaboration with Booking.com allows us to offer a comprehensive set of interesting and unique properties to our systems. Adding the Booking.com portfolio to Sabre’s lodging offering will allow travel buyers to meet the growing demand for alternative lodging options and deliver even more value to their travellers.”

One of the leading digital travel platforms globally, Booking.com offers more than 28 million listings including more than more than 5.4 million reported listings in homes, apartments and other unique places to stay, and facilitates bookings for more than 1.5 million room nights every 24 hours to over 135,000 destinations around the world.

“As our mission at Booking.com is to empower people to experience the world, this new partnership with Sabre will enable even more travelers to quickly and easily find their ideal place to stay,” said Ripsy Bandourian, senior director of partnerships and business bookers at Booking.com. “Working with Sabre enables us to expand our reach to their global network of high-value travel buyers, instantly connecting all of their customers with the unparalleled depth and diversity of our accommodation offering, including everything from great business hotels to convenient city apartments and boutique B&B options in every corner of the globe.”

Officially launching later in 2018, the new lodging solution will be available via Sabre APIs as well as the Sabre Red Workspace, GetThere and TripCase. The solution will help drive more efficiency and revenue with increased lodging choice as well as enable improved optimization capabilities to better manage chain, property, and rate-level preferred content.

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Sabre Corporation launched a pilot programme of an AI-powered chatbot that leverages Microsoft’s Bot Framework and Microsoft Cognitive Services, a set of tools that organisations can use to add intelligent and conversational features to their applications. Sabre is initially piloting the chatbot with the travel agency Travel Services International USA (TSI) and the travellers they serve.

“We are excited to start pilot testing for the bot,” said Chad Callaghan, Head, Sabre Studios incubation team. “We believe the self-service convenience the bot offers will improve travellers’ ability to resolve routine support requests. At the same time, we are happy to help our travel agency customers ensure agents can focus on supporting more complex traveller requests. We will be interested to track how travellers learn about and interact with the bot,” Chad added.

Image source: Sabre

TSI will test a white-label version of the chatbot with their corporate travellers, who will access the chatbot via Facebook Messenger to address common service and support requests related to existing flight reservations. Using the bot, travellers will be able to ask trip-related questions, make voluntary changes to existing flight reservations, request a special meal, select and pay for a seat and request an emailed copy of an itinerary. The chatbot will divert to a live travel agent if it is unable to fulfill a request.

“We’ve named the TSI bot, Ella,” noted Claire LeBuhn, VP – Support Services, TSI USA. “Ella represents TSI’s heritage of innovation and commitment to exploring new technologies and tools that can help our corporate customers and their busy employees. Travellers can access Ella via the TSI app or directly from TSI’s Facebook page. Ella supports reservations originated by TSI. We are eager to understand how corporate travellers engage with Ella and the kinds of emerging conversational interfaces that she represents.”

Throughout the test, Sabre and TSI will evaluate travellers’ preferences for how often and when they engage the chatbot and when they are likely to divert to a live agent. The companies expect to gain a better understanding of the best way to engage travellers with chatbots and solve for some of the most common friction points associated with chatbots, such as how travellers will initially find the bot.

In developing the chatbot, Sabre is leveraging Microsoft Bot Framework and a selection of Microsoft Cognitive Services, including Language Understanding Intelligent Service (LUIS). LUIS provides simple tools to build language models that allow any application or bot to understand commands and act accordingly.

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Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR), the leading technology provider to the global travel industry, today announced an expanded three-year partnership with Far Eastern Air Transport, opening a wider variety of travel options within Taiwan and internationally.

Established in 1957, Far Eastern Air Transport operates services from Taiwan to Southeast Asia, South Korea and Palau. The company is currently the leading carrier for domestic routes in Taiwan, serving an estimated 60 percent of all Far Eastern Air Transport routes.

“Opening our offerings to distribute and sell both international and domestic flights on Sabre is a strong testament to our confidence in Sabre as the best travel technology partner of choice. Partnering with Sabre was a clear choice for us,” said Joseph Lee, President of Far Eastern Air Transport. “By leveraging their technology and footprint, we will not only boost our presence in the global travel scene, and maximize our reach to now attract higher-yielding corporate travellers, but also have access to one of the industry’s most powerful revenue-generating system. With a strong partner, we have gained a competitive edge in the market and the flexibility to offer a wide array of value-added services to our customers.”

Kelvin Woo, account director, Air Commerce, Sabre Travel Network APAC, Rakesh Narayanan, vice president, Air Commerce, Sabre Travel Network APAC, Joseph Lee, president, Far Eastern Air Transport, David Wu, chariman, Sabre Travel Network Taiwan and Lisa Tsai, vice president, Sabre Travel Network Taiwan

To celebrate this partnership, a signing ceremony was held in Taipei on 10 November, 2017 as Sabre and Far Eastern Air Transport enter a strategic agreement to fuel tourism growth and facilitate ease of travel in Taiwan.

“With Sabre’s Travel Marketplace, we are well-positioned to connect Far Eastern Air Transport to more than 425,000 travel agents globally, supporting their business growth and extending their reach across the globe. This means that travellers and agents have access to the best possible deals available while creating more revenue opportunities for the airline and travel agents,” said Rakesh Narayanan, vice president, Air Commerce, Sabre Travel Network Asia Pacific. “As we continue to ramp up our efforts to help customers with efficient, multi-channel distribution strategies, this partnership with also help us to continue enhancing our unique offering to global corporate agencies and travel management companies.”

About Sabre Corporation

Sabre Corporation is the leading technology provider to the global travel industry. Sabre’s software, data, mobile and distribution solutions are used by hundreds of airlines and thousands of hotel properties to manage critical operations, including passenger and guest reservations, revenue management, flight, network and crew management. Sabre also operates a leading global travel marketplace, which processes more than US$120 billion of global travel spend annually by connecting travel buyers and suppliers. Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, USA, Sabre serves customers in more than 160 countries around the world.

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Sabre Corporation, the leading technology provider to the global travel industry, has announced a multi-year agreement to provide Sabre MIDT Network Plus data to Hong Kong Airlines. The purchase is expected to be central in providing the airline with much-needed intelligence as they chart their expansion plans into North America.

Hong Kong Airlines will now have access to booking data from Sabre agents worldwide for all traveller origins and destinations where Hong Kong Airlines operates at least one segment of the traveller journey. The data also includes information on preceding and follow-on segments for those routes, which will help Hong Kong Airlines better understand passenger traffic patterns and design their network to meet market demand, provide passengers with increased choices and maximise revenues.

“Through our sophisticated business intelligence tools, we are helping customers unlock deeper data-driven insights and adapt to changing market influences and trends,” said Rakesh Narayanan, vice president of Air Commerce, Sabre Travel Network Asia. “Hong Kong Airlines recognises the value of Sabre’s big data and intends to use the insights in their business decision-making, making improvements to marketing, revenue management, network and operational decisions,” he added.

Hong Kong Airlines will be flying its inaugural direct flight to Los Angeles, USA in December 2017. Following this first destination in continental United States, the airline hopes to further expand its network in North America and provide more travel options to its customers.
“The expansion to Los Angeles is an exciting milestone for Hong Kong Airlines as we further expand our international network,” said Wayne Wang, Assistant Director of Hong Kong Airlines. “As a market leader globally with deep knowledge of North America, we are confident Sabre will provide us with critical insights that can help us with making the right informed decisions,” Wang added.

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Sean Menke, president and CEO of global travel technology leader Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR), told senior executives gathered at an industry conference in Dallas that the continued growth of low cost carriers (LCCs) and downward pressure on airline pricing are driving factors of the new technology landscape. Menke emphasized that Sabre is committed to leading on the development of next generation distribution and retailing solutions that leverage the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) New Distribution Capability (NDC) in ways that will benefit airlines, travel retailers and consumers.

Menke said that the development of NDC standards was just the first step in a series of changes that will impact the way airlines market their services and how travel agencies retail those services to consumers. But there are a host of other implications, including airline revenue management, ticketing fulfilment and servicing and other back-office functions that travel agencies provide in support of airlines – most especially travel management companies that support business travellers. “Sabre has a history of bringing together the interests of travel suppliers and travel retailers and finding ways for technology to move the industry forward. The conversations we have today with airlines and agencies are very different from our discussions even a few years ago. The forward-thinking people are focused on driving value creation for airlines and agencies alike. That’s how we will make NDC work. Over the coming months, we’ll be talking more about how we will bring this to market, but we have no intention of giving up the technology leadership role we have played historically,” said Menke.

Menke observed that while there is a perception of airline industry consolidation steering airline financial results, “the real impact on airline economics has been the explosive growth of low cost carriers, impressively moving beyond the leisure travel market and successfully driving pricing and competition across both the business and leisure travel segments,” said Menke. “These factors – which we see at various levels in all regions of the globe – require traditional carriers to differentiate their offerings and find new ways to drive revenue growth while still competing for the price-conscious traveller.”

Menke spoke at The Beat Live, an annual gathering of travel industry executives who represent airlines, hotels and travel management companies. He reiterated Sabre’s commitment to NDC standards, saying that the company is already Level 1 compliant with a roadmap to become Level 2 and Level 3 compliant in 2018.

“NDC started the public conversation about building out a new level of technology standards that enable airlines to offer more customized products and services, indicative of the branded fares, ancillary services and digital retailing trends that characterize air travel today,” said Menke. “We are fully committed not only to incorporating NDC standards, but giving them broader application so that airlines, agencies and consumers will get the full benefit of what NDC intends to accomplish.”

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TravHQ Note: The article below is a reproduction from Anupam Bokil, Vice President, Technology, Sabre Travel Network Asia Pacific. It is a commentary with insights on the use of emerging technologies in airports across Asia.

As dispensable income grows in Asia and Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) bring air travel to millions – airports infrastructure are being taxed heavily. Airports are turning to technology, be it the usage of mobile technology (as Asia sees a huge penetration of mobile devices), personalization or automation.

The benefits of technology investments in the travel industry extends beyond automation and efficiency; for the traveller, it means they are able to enjoy a more relaxing, seamless and hassle-free experience.

While some of the Asian airports have been slower to adopt new technology, the top 3 airports from Skytrax’s World Airport Awards 2017 were all Asian airports. The success of these Asian airports lies in their ability to put the traveller experience at the core, from the physical environment, to security and immigration. While specific operating models are vastly different, they all utilise a common underlying technology-based ecosystem consisting of adaptive architecture, personal engagement and sense of place, smooth connectivity, seamless intelligence and operational excellence to create a truly “smart” airport.

The airport of the future is an intelligent environment: connected, immersive, personalised and multisensory. Airports are experimenting with this concept in various ways, such as tailoring the complete airport operating model to suit specific airline and traveller needs.

For airports and all their stakeholders – including airlines, travellers, retailers and ground service providers – a number of key technologies are likely to catalyse the development of entirely new business processes, connecting biometric identity management, RFID-tracking, service robots and augmented reality.

Adoption of new technologies may still be an infancy stage in Asia but it is imaginable that they may soon become part and parcel of the travel industry.

Anupam Bokil
Vice President, Technology Sabre Travel Network Asia Pacific

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As the world’s ideas of wealth and status change, travelers’ ideas of luxury are changing to match. High-end travelers increasingly choose subtle indulgence over flashy logos and conspicuous consumption. And they’re gravitating toward travel that enables them to live out their personal values and fulfill their dreams through exclusive experiences.

In this new landscape, “luxury travel” can mean flying by helicopter to a remote desert peak for an exclusive yoga class. Or, it could mean passing up the comfort of a resort stay for a once-in-a-lifetime dive to the wreck of the Titanic – a “vacation” that requires specialized training in addition to the ultra-premium price.

A newly-released report, The Future of Luxury Travel, by Sabre Hospitality Solutions in collaboration with TrendWatching reveals five key areas impacting how customers will choose luxury accommodations and experiences in the years ahead.

“The evolution of high-end travel is creating a marketplace where ‘luxury’ is defined by the most exclusive, unique experiences that reside at the intersection of affluence and access,” said Sarah Kennedy Ellis, vice president of global marketing and digital experience at Sabre Hospitality Solutions. “We see guests moving beyond traditional ideas of status and embracing highly-bespoke travel opportunities that focus more on the individual traveler’s personality and values and less about expressing opulence.”

Each of the five trends have immediate implications for the hospitality industry, showing how luxury brands and innovative startups can attract high-end travelers by providing fresh, unique opportunities and experiences.

Luxury drives growth in wellness tourism: According to figures from the Global Wellness Institute, the global wellness tourism segment is expected to grow by over 37 percent to USD $808 billion over the next three years. A major driver of this growth will be luxury travelers looking for opportunities to better themselves. Those trips could include rare and highly-shareable moments like the exclusive Museum Workout at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art – a 45-minute exercise session and tour held before the gallery opens to the general public.

Low-key luxury: Increasingly, luxury travelers identify themselves as “post-status” – choosing subtle indulgence over prominent logos and showy opulence. The “no-frills chic” phenomenon sees travelers choosing travel that contrasts with traditional luxury – which, itself, is a new way of showing off one’s status by defying convention.

Indulgence without guilt: Another factor driving consumer choice is a desire for guilt-free luxury. The Future of Luxury Travel report cites examples of emerging high-end products and services whose selling points include positive environmental or social impact. From ice cream made from fruit that would otherwise have been sent to a landfill, to lab-grown gems that offer an ethical alternative to diamond mining, wealthy consumers are choosing luxury products that help make the world a better place.

The Future of Luxury Travel report provides in-depth examples of all five trends across multiple industries, along with guidance to help hoteliers prepare to leverage these trends. The full report is available for download here.

About Sabre
Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR) is the leading technology provider to the global travel industry. Sabre’s software, data, mobile and distribution solutions are used by hundreds of airlines and thousands of hotel properties to manage critical operations, including passenger and guest reservations, revenue management, flight, network and crew management. Sabre also operates a leading global travel marketplace, which processes more than $120 billion of estimated travel spend annually by connecting travel buyers and suppliers. Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, USA, Sabre serves customers in more than 160 countries around the world.

About the Research Methodology
Trends in this report have been identified by TrendWatching, powered by a global network of 3,000+ trend spotters delivering unrivalled, cross industry insight into changing consumer behaviour. TrendWatching focuses exclusively on consumer trends, generating insights on how consumer behaviour and preferences are changing, and how to prepare for or benefit from these changes.

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Sabre’s newest technology forecast, the 2017 Radar Report, evaluates how tech trends like blockchain, neural interfaces and space tourism are reshaping the travel landscape

Sabre Corporation the leading technology provider to the global travel industry, has released its latest technology forecast, Sabre Labs’ 2017 Radar Report. The report evaluates nine key technologies with an outsized impact on the travel landscape, looking at what’s happening today and what to expect for tomorrow.

“We are in the midst of increasingly rapid and dramatic technological change, poised to revolutionize how and where we travel,” says Mark McSpadden, vice president of emerging products and technologies for Sabre Corporation. “Technologies like artificial intelligence, neural interfaces and quantum computing each have the potential to produce change as dramatic as the growth of the Internet”. Here’s a sneak peak at what’s included in the Radar Report.

Blockchain – Being hailed as the new “Internet of Trust,” blockchain is awash in innovators looking to transform industries, governments, commerce and culture. We look at short and long term effects most likely to change the travel landscape.
Neural interfaces – When it comes to the mind, there are two very different chal­lenges: extracting information out and transferring new information in. Neural interfaces attempt to address one or both challenges, and can do so in either an invasive or non-inva­sive way.

Space Tourism – Mars is the final frontier of human travel for our lifetimes, but closer to home, commercial and government competition is heating up as a 21st century “space race.” It’s not just promising orbiting hotels, but trickle down technologies that will bring all corners of the earth closer together.

“The next generation will see a radical transformation of how we live, work and play,” says McSpadden. “We see tremendous opportunities for businesses to start experimenting with and implementing technologies like blockchain, augmented reality and trusted presence to help shape a more seamless, safe and personalized future for travel.”

Sabre Labs is the travel and technology innovation team within Sabre devoted to exploring how new capabilities will impact travel over the next decade. The full 2017 Radar Report is freely available for download here.

About Sabre Corporation
Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR) is the leading technology provider to the global travel industry. Sabre’s software, data, mobile and distribution solutions are used by hundreds of airlines and thousands of hotel properties to manage critical operations, including passenger and guest reservations, revenue management, flight, network and crew management. Sabre also operates a leading global travel marketplace, which processes more than US$120 billion of global travel spend annually by connecting travel buyers and suppliers. Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, USA, Sabre serves customers in more than 160 countries around the world.

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