TEXAS: Sabre Corporation, the leading technology provider to the global travel industry, announces the release of Sabre Content Services for Lodging. This new solution will power agency and corporate booking tools, integrating traditional GDS content from hoteliers alongside content from Booking.com, Bedsonline, and Expedia Partner Solutions, making it easier for agents to find the perfect property and rate for their traveler. Travel buyers can shop and book over one million property options from multiple sources in a single screen.
Solving for growing buyer demand and content fragmentation, Sabre Content Services for Lodging provides access to more options and a more consistent shopping experience to include the way content is displayed at the room and rate level. Sabre’s API-driven solution will deliver more efficiency and revenue with increased lodging choice, as well as improved capabilities to better manage preferred content. Travel agencies have full flexibility to choose the aggregator content they would like to access.
“We looked at the pain points and needs of customers on both sides of the network – the ‘demand’ side including TMCs, leisure agencies and corporations and the ‘supply’ side including hoteliers and lodging aggregators. Then we challenged ourselves to see how – given our unique positioning – we could help move the industry forward,” said Traci Mercer, Senior Vice President of lodging, ground and sea for Sabre Travel Network. “The solution that we’ve developed to this long-standing and complex challenge will revolutionize the way travel agents shop and book hotel content – making it easier and simpler for them to provide the best experience for travelers.”
To ensure Sabre’s solution would truly meet the needs of customers, the company formed a partner advisory board to get iterative feedback while building out Content Services for Lodging. Lodging Advisory Board member Jane Bleddyn from Altour said “What (Sabre) is releasing is better that what you painted as your vision; I think it is great and very much needed.”
Sabre is normalizing and structuring the shopping response, making it easier for agents to comparison shop lodging options – something the industry has struggled with. In a usability study, Sabre found that product normalization helped agents reach a booking decision 30 percent faster. Another key benefit is that all bookings, even those through an aggregator, will be active GDS segments, making it easier for travel agents to service bookings.
The new API capabilities will soon be incorporated across all Sabre points of sale including Sabre Red 360 and GetThere. Additional API enhancements will be added to Content Services for Lodging into 2020.
