Corporate travel data capture technology provider Traxo reports a “material uptick” in travelers booking outside of travel management companies among their customers over the first half of this year.
Non-TMC airline bookings among Traxo clients totaled 30.6 percent of bookings in June; in January, they totaled 18.7 percent of bookings, according to Traxo. The company’s data showed a steady increase in non-TMC airline booking from February through May, when non-TMC bookings totaled 31.3 percent of bookings.
In a statement, Traxo CEO and founder Andres Fabris said the increase has come amid the “push for direct distribution by airlines” via New Distribution Capability policies.
“While NDC was intended to be purely about upgraded technology, some airlines have shaped their NDC-related policies to achieve commercial goals such as direct bookings,” according to Fabris. “As a result, NDC has sometimes been ‘weaponized’ to encourage corporate travelers to book directly, attracted by benefits like enhanced personalization, dynamic pricing, and cost savings.”
