Tongcheng-Elong partners Travelport to empower traveler shopping experience in NDC trial

BEIJING, 27 May 2021: Leading Chinese online travel agency (OTA), Tongcheng-Elong and worldwide leader in travel retail, Travelport, today announced an agreement with Tongcheng-Elong to trial Travelport’s new modern, lightweight, highly functional microservices API, part of the recently launched Travelport+ next-generation platform.

The initiative would enable Tongcheng-Elong to access IATA New Distribution Capability (NDC) functionalities, including the NDC content from the multiple airlines Travelport has built NDC connections with. Combined with Tongcheng-Elong’s platform advantages, this in turn will enable Tongcheng-Elong to create more personalized experiences for its travelers, embedded across all its sales channels.

This pilot will build on Tongcheng-Elong’s existing integration of Travelport technology, which powers its bespoke shopping and booking engine. By adding NDC to the existing range of air content Travelport already provides, combined with the wealth of big data on its platform, Tongcheng-Elong will be able to up-level its merchandizing capabilities by providing travelers with personalized and dynamic offers designed to improve the traveler experience, while maximizing customer loyalty and boosting ancillary sales. All of this can be easily integrated into the different channels and devices Tongcheng-Elong’s customers use, including its mobile client and Wechat mini-program.

“NDC has huge innovation potential, which will be instrumental for us to match consumer expectations in today’s age of modern digital retailing,” said James Xu, Senior Vice President at Tongcheng-Elong and CEO of its airline ticket business group. “We’re confident that the wealth of big data on Tongcheng-Elong’s platform, combined with Travelport’s strong roster of NDC content and their new lightweight Travelport+ technology, will enable us to leverage NDC to its full potential.”

“The ability to personalize the traveler shopping experience is crucial for any modern digital travel retailer, and the cutting-edge NDC technology in Travelport+ is designed to do just that,” said Rob Brown, GVP and Managing Director, Global OTA at Travelport. “We’re certain the trust Tongcheng-Elong has shown in selecting Travelport as their GDS partner to develop NDC will pay ample dividends.”