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report
Lufthansa answers critics
with Direct Connect
Tourvest Travel Services is first SA retailer to plug in
by Sarah Cornwell
RETAIL groups will need to be convinced of real shared benefits before direct connect distribution agreements become
commonplace in this market but Lufthansa Group’s first deal
with Tourvest has illustrated a desire for personalised deals and
exclusive offers.
Tourvest was the first TMC in South Africa to establish a
Direct Connection with the Lufthansa Group in March, and
TravelIT, Tourvest’s online technology platform, is the first B2B
online travel management platform to complete the full end-toend Direct Connect integration.
The agreement circumvents a €16 distribution surcharge for
GDS and non-NDC enabled bookings for the German group’s
airlines, Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Air-
African corporate and public sector travel bookers.”
Other South African retailers are pursuing similar projects
and Lufthansa said it would provide costs and technical requirements to potential partners.
The airline was subject to widespread criticism and threats by
retailers to offsell when its €16 distribution surcharge was introduced in 2015 but Direct Connect partnerships evolved from
discussions with retailers to create a new middle ground.
Dr. Schulz claimed the digitalisation strategy and “content
freedom” benefitted all parties.
He said Direct Connect partnerships might require advanced
technology but “Tourvest comes with a solution that fits in very
nicely with the requirements… I would guess that they are not
H Through the Direct Connect
partnership, TTS customers will
see more inventory and special
Lufthansa Group deals. Pictured
(from left): Morné du Preez,
Tourvest Travel Services CEO; André Schulz, Lufthansa Group GM
Southern Africa and Philip Katz,
TravelIT CEO.
lines and provides access to exclusive offers and inventory.
Tourvest Travel Services Chief Executive Officer Morné du
Preez said that created a compelling competitive advantage.
“In the future TMCs will be able to access specific sales
promotions or discounted ancillary products via the Direct
Connect distribution channel to offer onto their clients,”
explained Lufthansa Group General Manager Southern Africa
André Schulz.
IATA’s NDC is at the centre of the carrier’s distribution strategy and he said differentiated offers would be developed in line
with customer preferences.
Philip Katz, CEO of TravelIT commented: “By offering our
customers direct booking access into a major international
airline group, we are now able to offer a wider range of flight
options to customers at a reduced price. This forms part of a
long-term strategy… to use technology to shorten the supply
chain and reduce the cost of travel for our 300,000-plus South
the last. It is an important signal. This is not only a global topic;
it has reached South Africa.”
“The biggest complexity for me is the more sources I have got
to go to [to book] the more time consuming it is going to be.
Once we hit Europe, there are hundreds of flight options… We
are back in an age of very human intensive way of doing things.
Through our travel technology, it is right there in front of me,”
commented Mr. Du Preez, “… but I’m not going to do this for
every single supplier.”
He maintained: “It is a partnership. Ultimately, the extent of
the partnership is going to be what the result is: what we are
able to sell our customer... We want those sorts of partners,
who see South Africa as a value market.”
Mr. Kalitz said: “South Africa is able to compete with levels
globally. The service delivered here is the same as what’s being
delivered worldwide.”
“If not better and faster,” Mr. Du Preez maintained.
“This forms part of a long-term strategy to use technology to
shorten the supply chain and reduce the cost of travel…”
– Philip Katz, TravelIT
18 Travel Industry Review | April/May 2018