Latest news with #NewDistributionCapability
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Yatra Leans Hard into Business Travel, Plans Co-Branded Corporate Card
Yatra is doubling down on corporate travel: Results in its most recent quarter, announced Friday, were driven largely by the strength of enterprise travel and meetings. And now it is preparing to launch a co-branded credit card aimed at corporate customers. The company added 148 corporate clients over the past fiscal year, representing an estimated INR 7.5 billion ($87.6 million) in annual business. 'Corporate travel is now 65% of our gross bookings, and we expect this share to increase,' Wholetime Director and CEO Dhruv Shringi told analysts during an earnings call. 'There's a clear shift underway. We're replacing lower-value consumer bookings with high-value corporate ones. The margins and realization on corporate travel are significantly higher.' Yatra now claims a market share of 11–12% by spend in India's managed corporate travel space, and serves approximately 1,150–1,200 clients in this vertical. With a corporate client retention rate of 97%, Yatra believes this business has built a strong moat. Yatra already has a co-branded credit card for consumer travel with India's largest bank State Bank of India (SBI), but the corporate one is new. Shringi said over 30% of Yatra's bookings are on corporate credit card platforms. While many large corporates currently use cards from providers like Amex, HDFC, and Citi through standard business or corporate travel account platforms, Yatra plans to roll out its own offering to capture more value from transactions and reduce working capital needs. 'That is the general idea. There are nuances, but that's the direction,' confirmed Shringi when asked about plans to shift corporates from third-party card platforms to Yatra's own. Shringi said one-third of Yatra's income could potentially come from the expense management and card solutions. Yatra's acquisition of Globe is already bearing fruit, particularly in the high-margin MICE space (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions). Last year in September, Yatra announced its decision to acquire Globe All India Services (Globe Travels), a corporate travel services provider, for INR 1.28 billion ($15.25 million). Over the past nine months, the combined platform handled over 600 trips and served more than 80,000 travelers. The company believes it's on track to become one of the top three MICE players in India this year. 'This broader portfolio opens up meaningful cross-sell opportunities across our hotel inventory and expense management solutions, allowing us to deliver more integrated and customized travel programs to corporate customers,' Shringi said. The Indian MICE market is projected to grow from $3.3 billion in 2023 to $10.5 billion by 2030. Yatra has also taken a lead in adopting IATA's New Distribution Capability (NDC), integrating it with its self-booking platform for corporate travelers. This enables access to richer fare content, dynamic pricing, and ancillary services not available through traditional channels. AI is also playing a growing role in Yatra's corporate offerings. The newly introduced 'Low Fare Finder' tool can automatically alert travelers if fares drop after booking, allowing rebooking at lower prices up to six hours before departure. Yatra is also developing intelligent bots to handle email and call queries more efficiently. 'These bots will reduce servicing costs significantly,' Shringi said. 'We're using technology to redefine what proactive travel services can look like.' Yatra's consumer business, which had been under pressure, showed signs of stabilization in the fourth quarter, with gross bookings down just 6%. SEO improvements and more bundled offers through the corporate channel helped stem losses. But the long-term focus is clear. Yatra ended fiscal 2025 with annual revenues of INR 7.9 billion ($92.5 million), up 87% year-on-year. Adjusted EBITDA rose 25% to INR 667 million ($7.8 million), and net profit surged to INR 366 million ($4.3 million) from a loss the previous year, an improvement of 912%. In the fourth quarter for fiscal 2025, Yatra delivered a growth of 103% year-on-year in revenue of INR 2.2 billion ($25.6 million). Its net profit grew by 173% to INR 152 million ($1.8 million) in the fourth quarter, which was the highest quarterly reported PAT in Yatra's history. Adjusted EBITDA surged 62% year-on-year to INR 251 million ($2.9 million) in the fourth quarter. Get breaking travel news and exclusive hotel, airline, and tourism research and insights at Sign in to access your portfolio
Travel Weekly
14-05-2025
- Business
- Travel Weekly
Finnair launches offer-and-order capabilities
Finnair has created its first "native order" with Amadeus' Nevio technology as the carrier transitions to an offer-and-order system and away from traditional booking methods that use passenger name records and e-tickets. Finnair is the launch customer for Amadeus' Nevio offer-and-order platform, which is built on modular and open technology. Native orders are a foundational retailing capability that allow airlines to manage customer orders directly in a single record, aligned with IATA's One Order directive, according to the carrier. The order brings together flight details, services, preferences and personal information and will combine separate documents in the traditional system into an integrated customer record. "The move to Offers and Orders supports our move towards modern retailing, enabling dynamic product bundles and enhanced ancillary sales, and improved relevancy to customers with personalization in the future," Finnair VP of digital customer and revenue Tiina Vesterinen said in a statement. Finnair has been aggressive in its move to New Distribution Capability (NDC) technology and modern retailing systems, announcing in 2021 that it planned to remove all legacy GDS content by the end of 2025, but last June said it would not meet that goal. Finnair said the change to NDC and modern retailing has been slower than anticipated. Source: Business Travel News
Travel Weekly
14-05-2025
- Business
- Travel Weekly
Hawaiian Airlines scraps GDS surcharge
Hawaiian Airlines has done away with its GDS surcharge, as expected. Also, Hawaiian's interisland flights are once again available to book in legacy GDSs. The moves, implemented May 1, are part of the merger integration between Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian. Alaska Air Group completed its acquisition of Hawaiian last September. Alaska Airlines has never had a GDS surcharge. "We continue to identify areas across our combined organization that ensure we're delivering on our promises of increased benefits and greater value for our guests and partners," said a Hawaiian spokeswoman. Hawaiian's $7 GDS surcharge had been in effect since 2022, which is also when it removed interisland flights from GDS booking channels without New Distribution Capability (NDC).
Tourism Breaking News
06-05-2025
- Business
- Tourism Breaking News
Verteil Technologies becomes launch NDC aggregator for Riyadh Air
Post Views: 29 Riyadh Air and Verteil Technologies announced a strategic partnership that will see Verteil become the launch NDC (New Distribution Capability) aggregator, marking a major milestone in Riyadh Air's offer and order-based digital distribution journey. Through this collaboration, travel sellers across the globe will gain seamless access to Riyadh Air's NDC content via Verteil's industry-leading platform, Verteil Direct Connect (VDC), reinforcing a shared commitment to innovation and excellence in airline retailing. With this partnership, Riyadh Air NDC content will be accessible to travel sellers globally as it rolls out a modern and efficient distribution strategy that prioritises transparency, personalisation, and direct connectivity. Verteil's proven expertise in deploying scalable NDC solutions for leading airlines ensures that travel sellers can access a full suite of content and functionalities, including real-time availability, rich fare options, ancillary services, and instant ticketing across multiple points of sale. Vincent Coste, Chief Commercial Officer, Riyadh Air, said: 'Riyadh Air aims to set a new global standard for airline connectivity and innovation. Partnering with Verteil at this early stage allows us to ensure a strong foundation for modern distribution technology that is both future-ready and aligned with our digital-first strategy.' Jerrin Jos, Founder and CEO of Verteil Technologies, said: 'We are thrilled to partner with Riyadh Air as their launch NDC aggregator. This partnership reinforces our shared commitment to modernising airline distribution, facilitating true retailing and enabling global travel sellers with direct access to richer content and better customer experiences.' Verteil's robust integration and flexible deployment capabilities make it easier for travel sellers – whether OTAs, TMCs, or Consolidators – to adopt NDC without heavy technical or operational burdens. As Riyadh Air prepares to launch its inaugural flights, this partnership ensures that distribution is already live and ready, empowering sellers to start doing business in the offer order world without delay. The announcement took place during the Arabian Travel Market 2025 in Dubai, which concluded on Thursday with record attendance.
Trade Arabia
05-05-2025
- Business
- Trade Arabia
Verteil named launch NDC aggregator for Riyadh Air
Riyadh Air and Verteil Technologies have announced a strategic partnership that will see Verteil become the launch NDC (New Distribution Capability) aggregator, marking a major milestone in Riyadh Air's offer and order-based digital distribution journey. Through this collaboration, travel sellers across the globe will gain seamless access to Riyadh Air's NDC content via Verteil's industry-leading platform, Verteil Direct Connect (VDC), reinforcing a shared commitment to innovation and excellence in airline retailing, said a statement. Verteil's proven expertise in deploying scalable NDC solutions for leading airlines ensures that travel sellers can access a full suite of content and functionalities, including real-time availability, rich fare options, ancillary services, and instant ticketing across multiple points of sale, it said. Vincent Coste, Chief Commercial Officer, Riyadh Air, said: 'Riyadh Air aims to set a new global standard for airline connectivity and innovation. Partnering with Verteil at this early stage allows us to ensure a strong foundation for modern distribution technology that is both future-ready and aligned with our digital-first strategy.' Jerrin Jos, Founder and CEO of Verteil Technologies, said: 'We are thrilled to partner with Riyadh Air as their launch NDC aggregator. This partnership reinforces our shared commitment to modernising airline distribution, facilitating true retailing and enabling global travel sellers with direct access to richer content and better customer experiences.' Verteil's robust integration and flexible deployment capabilities make it easier for travel sellers – whether OTAs, TMCs, or Consolidators – to adopt NDC without heavy technical or operational burdens. As Riyadh Air prepares to launch its inaugural flights, this partnership ensures that distribution is already live and ready, empowering sellers to start doing business in the offer order world without delay. The announcement took place during the Arabian Travel Market 2025 in Dubai, which concluded on Thursday. – TradeArabia News Service
