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Celebrating Corporate Travel Managers: How Accelya NDC can simplify their lives in 2025

One of the hottest topics in corporate travel today is NDC (New Distribution Capability). While it hasn’t always enjoyed the best reputation, it’s important to remember that transformative changes often take time. Yes, it’s been a decade since NDC entered the scene, but the travel industry doesn’t exactly move at the speed of light. 

Still, NDC matters—and it matters because of what it can deliver to your travel programs and the value that it brings to your corporate travelers. Here’s why it’s important: 

  • Tailored Content: NDC unlocks access to exclusive corporate rates, bundles, and ancillary services in real time that aren’t always available through legacy systems. Accessing richer and more contextual offers allows you to meet your travelers’ needs and expectations in ways that traditional options can’t. For example, according to the Navan NDC Savings Index, more than 50% of Lufthansa Group fares on many routes are often exclusive to direct or NDC channels.  
  • Cost Savings: Dynamic pricing enables you to secure more competitive rates, helping you stretch your travel budget further without sacrificing quality.  Melissa Watson, Group Travel & Corporate Events Director at Informa, shared that her organization is on track to save around $215K this year by leveraging NDC.   
  • Policy Compliance: With better access to tailored options, you can steer travelers toward choices that align with corporate policies, reducing leakage and increasing program adherence. This means more control and visibility for travel managers. 
  • Enhanced Traveller Experience: NDC enables travelers to adjust bookings directly with airlines or via corporate tools, giving them greater flexibility. For instance, travelers can more easily select seats, bid for upgrades, or manage itineraries. These improvements cater to the growing demand for personalization and convenience in corporate travel. 

While not all airlines are at the same level of maturity in their adoption of NDC, we’re seeing great examples of success in how NDC enhances travel retailing and improves customer experience. For instance, despite all the challenges caused, on September and October this year, by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton which disrupted travel across the southeastern U.S. and Caribbean, 99.5% of impacted corporate travelers using KAYAK for Business and Blockskye’s platform rebooked or canceled digitally, bypassing the need for support from KAYAK’s call center. This seamless NDC integration enables real-time updates and effortless itinerary management, empowering businesses and travelers to adapt swiftly in an unpredictable travel landscape. 

Corporate travel at Accelya experienced an impressive 157% growth in tickets issued via NDC between October 2023 and October 2024, reflecting the strong resurgence of business travel in a post-pandemic world. This milestone also signals a positive shift in the adoption of NDC technology, even as some corporate buyers remain cautious in fully integrating it into their travel programs.  

To provide more context, this growth is based on comparisons made using the same travel management companies (TMCs) as last year. The increase can be attributed to two key factors

  1. Expansion of NDC-Enabled Airlines: Many of the TMCs we support have added more NDC-capable airlines to their offerings, creating greater access to NDC content for corporate buyers. 
  1. Organic Growth in TMC Usage: The same TMCs have seen their overall corporate travel volume grow significantly, driven by the revival of business travel demand post-pandemic. 

Notably, during this period, the top four ancillaries purchased by corporate travelers were all related to seating preferences—standard, preferred, extra legroom, and main cabin extra. This indicates that comfort during travel has become a key priority for business travelers, reaffirming the value they place on personalized and high-quality travel experiences. 

These insights offer a clear message: tailored, comfortable travel solutions resonate deeply with corporate travelers and play a significant role in their overall satisfaction. For corporate travel managers, this underscores the importance of leveraging NDC capabilities to create seamless, efficient booking processes and curate travel options that meet the evolving expectations of business travelers. 

Your expertise in navigating NDC technology and providing the right balance of flexibility and comfort is not only enhancing traveler satisfaction and productivity but also contributing to the broader acceptance and success of NDC in the corporate travel landscape. As our industry continues to evolve, embracing such innovations will be critical to staying ahead and delivering exceptional value to your organizations and travelers alike. 

At Accelya, we’re committed to helping travel managers like you bring NDC to life in your organizations. Despite the initial growing pains, we believe in its potential to improve corporate travel for the better. The opportunity lies in collaborating with airlines to create corporate bundles or design offers tailored to your organization’s needs, ensuring they are easily accessible and relevant. 

So, whether you’re just starting your NDC journey or looking to optimize your program further, know that we’re here to support you every step of the way. 

Thank you, corporate travel managers, for all that you do. Your hard work and dedication are what keep this industry moving forward, one trip at a time. 

Here’s to you! 

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