Africa’s aviation sector is rapidly adopting New Distribution Capability (NDC), compelling Travel Management Companies (TMCs) to adapt swiftly. This transformation is set to significantly impact business travellers and corporate clients across the continent, underscored by seven African airlines already achieving NDC certification.
Bonnie Smith, GM of FCM, emphasises the critical nature of NDC readiness for TMCs serving African corporate clients. She advocates for proactive engagement between businesses and their TMCs regarding NDC preparedness.
“Ensure your TMC can seamlessly integrate NDC content with traditional booking methods,” Smith advises. “This capability will be instrumental in optimising your corporate travel programmes moving forward.”
While discussing the challenges of NDC adoption, Smith alludes to her company’s approach: “As part of a global organisation, we’ve invested significantly in integrating NDC content alongside our traditional booking channels. This strategy helps address the complexities of varying NDC adoption rates across African markets.”
The African NDC scene: A sleeping giant awakens
While TMCs worldwide are preparing for NDC, Africa’s situation is unique, with its own set of challenges and opportunities. The continent is still in the early stages of its NDC journey, but things are starting to pick up speed.
IATA’s airline retailing maturity index shows seven African airlines have already achieved NDC certification: Ethiopian Airlines, Air Mauritius, Kenya Airways, Fly Egypt, Air Cairo, Egypt Air, and Air Link. Tunis Air is next in line, with at least five more African airlines expected to join the NDC club by the end of 2024.
This growing adoption suggests a domino effect, with more airlines across the continent likely to implement NDC in the coming years.
Africa’s slower uptake of NDC can be traced to a few key factors: infrastructure limitations, varying levels of tech readiness, complex regulations, and the initial costs of implementation. However, despite these hurdles, NDC presents significant opportunities for the African travel industry. These include more personalised content for travellers, the potential for more competitive pricing, and richer data to help optimise travel programmes.
Smith notes, “While Africa may be playing catch-up in some respects, this also means we can learn from early adopters and potentially leapfrog some of the teething problems experienced elsewhere. The key is for TMCs and their clients to start preparing now, so we’re ready to capitalise on the benefits as NDC gains momentum across the continent.”
The corporate travel conundrum
Corporate travel managers working in Africa are facing a bit of a juggling act. With different countries adopting NDC at various speeds, it’s creating some headaches for big companies operating across multiple African nations. They’re grappling with issues like inconsistent content in different markets, potential changes to their hard-won corporate rates, and the need to tweak travel policies to fit with this new NDC world.
As this shift to NDC unfolds, businesses must ensure their TMC is ready for the change. Smith points out that getting NDC-ready isn’t a small undertaking – it requires significant investment.
“It’s vital for businesses to check that their travel agent or TMC is gearing up for this change,” Smith explains. “Smoothly accessing and managing NDC content can make a big difference to how efficient and competitive your corporate travel programme is.”
Here’s how you can check if your TMC is ready for NDC, based on Smith’s advice:
- Has your TMC upgraded their systems to handle NDC content? Ask them how they integrate various NDC sources and if their tech can juggle NDC and traditional booking methods.
- Are the booking agents up to speed on NDC processes and tools? Make sure they’re equipped to navigate these new booking waters and can still give you quality support.
- With NDC offering a broader range of options, how is your TMC planning to wrangle all this new content? They should have a game plan for effectively filtering, displaying, and comparing offers from different sources.
- NDC throws some curveballs when it comes to enforcing corporate travel policies. Check that your TMC has a solid strategy to keep everything compliant across all content sources and can tweak policies as needed.
- NDC serves up richer data – is your TMC ready to make the most of it? They should be able to capture, crunch, and present this data in a way that gives you actionable insights to fine-tune your travel programme.
“It’s about ensuring your TMC is not just NDC-aware, but NDC-ready,” Smith emphasises. “For TMCs and corporate travel managers in Africa, the time to act is now. While NDC adoption on the continent may seem slow, the global push towards this standard means we must be prepared. Those who proactively engage with their TMCs to ensure readiness will be best positioned to leverage the full benefits of NDC, ensuring they can offer competitive, comprehensive travel solutions to their corporate clients in an increasingly complex environment.”