Global distribution giant Sabre is seeking to “out-think†the rest of the market through a series of innovations under development including boosting the volume of flight information, according to several reports.
The group is working on a number of projects enabling its customers as well as its own brands to remain competitive. Said Sabre vice president Ben Vinod:
“The most important thing is to be competitive and to out-think the competition. What are they doing and what would I do in their shoes? A sense of paranoia is always good for the business.â€
He said the company is seeking ways to improve the accuracy of online availability and price searches on websites through increasingly sophisticated algorithms.
Sabre is also developing technology to increase the amount of information airlines can display on the GDS so that agents can provide consumers with detailed product knowledge. He said:
“Airlines don’t want agents to just sell a seat because they have four distinct types of product and the challenge is how to get this information to the agent so they can explain it to the consumer.â€
He also said the growing importance of text mining is a way to make money out of user generated content in the future.
“We want it to go back and mine for key words so we can promote a certain destination because we don’t have unlimited marketing budgets. It’s taking all this UGC and trying to make money out of it and drive incremental bookings,†he said.
Report by David Wilkening
