Strengthening Its Connections
The Flight Centre Travel Group (FLT) has reinforced its commitment to providing customers with the widest choice of airfares by increasing its investment in TP Connects (TPC).
The company has agreed to increase its equity interest from 22.5% to 70% in the Dubai-based software as a service (SaaS) business, which has been at the forefront of ongoing changes to traditional distribution models.
Initially, FLT invested in TPC in February 2020 with a view to supercharging the development of TPC’s innovative technology platform, which aims to shape the future of travel distribution by aggregating content from multiple sources such as Global distribution systems (GDSs), direct feeds from low-cost carriers (LCCs), emerging supplier-direct channels and other third party NDC aggregators.
TPC has a proven track record in NDC and provides a centralized NDC Gateway which services customers in both the aviation and travel agency sectors. The business offers travel agents a range of solutions to access aggregated air content via the TPC universal API (application programming interface), which can be directly integrated into any user interface, or via agency business-to-business (B2B) platforms such as the NDC marketplace portal.
Chris Galanty, Global CEO of Flight Centre Corporate believes FLT’s increased stake in TP Connects firmly positions the company’s corporate businesses at the forefront of the developments that are taking place in the distribution landscape. Galanty observes that: “As airlines continue to disrupt the way in which they distribute their content, we recognize the need to be able to offer a seamless and integrated experience for our clients that gathers the broadest range of relevant content through all available channels.”
He continues: “By strengthening our investment and deepening our alliance with TP Connects, we are able to leverage their expertise and NDC-enabled technology to enhance our ability to service our corporate customers and meet their travel program aims both in terms of options and value. “In this dynamic environment, it’s critical that we continuously evolve innovative solutions that complement our GDS partnerships and keep us a step ahead from our competitors now and in the future – and our collaboration with TP Connects does just that.”
In utilizing TPC technology, the company’s corporate customers automatically benefit from the widest choice of global content, access to best available rates as well as exclusive private fares – all fully supported by expert travel consultants.”
