Sabre Corp has outlined the future of travel tech in Asia to travel industry leaders during its first Asia Pacific Travel Technology Exchange in China.
Sabre shared updates on its business strategy to meet the evolving agency and supplier needs in the region.
This includes enhanced automation to reduce agency costs, better supplier merchandising and more personalisation for travellers.
Sabre’s business model has evolved beyond being just a GDS to a versatile, multi-layered platform, said Wade Jones, senior vice president of marketing and strategy for Sabre Travel Network.
"The traveler ecosystem has grown and diversified, and our Travel Network team has built an upgraded technology platform that’s modelled on this. At the heart of this platform sits the GDS. That core technology is still critically important. But now, if you look from top to bottom you also see Sabre supporting endpoints like mobile, new User Interfaces for agents and application services across our offerings," he said.
"In a nutshell, Sabre has created a modern, value-creation platform that’s driving the traveller ecosystem."
One major area of focus for Sabre is the potential to harness the power of Messaging Apps in the travel booking process.
"The travel industry, more than others, is well-poised for the uptake of messaging apps to automate components of the travel chain – from shopping and booking, and merchandising, to service and support," said John Samuel, senior vice president of design at Sabre.
"The key to a successful adoption will be creating the right mix of automation and human interaction. We are in an industry which has a wealth of human knowledge, and this directly complements the use of listening and answering engines embedded within a messaging platform for travel," he added.
The three day conference in Beijing attracted more than 500 delegates from 26 countries.
