For years, the travel industry has been caught up in discussions about NDC – who has it, who doesn’t, and what it includes.

In the early days, there was a rush to develop the technology. Airlines pushed for it, technology providers built solutions and agencies worked to integrate it. The focus was on certifications, API connections, and ensuring that NDC could match the capabilities of traditional EDIFACT content. It was a long, complex process that required major investments.

Now that NDC is firmly in place, it’s time to move beyond the adoption phase. What’s next? The real question isn’t whether NDC is available, it’s about how to make it work in a way that benefits customers, agencies and the wider travel ecosystem. Furthermore, what problems can we solve for the travel community?

NDC was never meant to be the final goal. It was designed to increase choice, enable personalisation and offer richer content. But if implementation remains fragmented and difficult to manage, then the technology won’t deliver on its promise. The industry needs to focus on how to use NDC to improve travel experiences and create efficiencies for corporate travellers and agencies.

Out-of-channel bookings haven’t wavered below 30%, with fare parity being a key component. NDC will help reduce that, but now that the technology is in place, we face a new challenge: how to make sure agencies can deliver NDC content efficiently without adding complexity, inflating costs or reducing service quality.

“NDC was never meant to be the final goal”

Increasing the volume of the current customer base is a key objective of the account management and customer success team. This will drive an increase in bookings and bottom-line growth. Unit economics should improve, with streamlined operations enhancing productivity.

Many agencies – across corporate, leisure, and OTA segments – are still struggling with fragmented content, workflow disruptions, servicing difficulties, and inconsistent pricing. If these issues aren’t addressed, friction will persist across the entire industry, impacting both managed and unmanaged travel.

While this opinion focuses on corporate travel, the conversation about what comes after NDC extends far beyond it. The next phase of evolution isn’t just about integrating content, it’s about transforming how travel is normalised, harmonised, serviced and personalised across all segments.

The ability to streamline operations, enhance automation, and improve the traveller experience will be key to delivering value industry-wide. This will increase SOW and improve unit economics.

The goal now isn’t just to provide NDC access, it’s about making sure it fits into established workflows so agents can do their jobs without unnecessary hurdles. Searching, comparing, and booking NDC content must be as seamless as traditional processes.

Mid- and back-office systems also need to evolve so that servicing, reporting, and reconciliation work as smoothly as they do with legacy content. Smarter automation can help, ensuring that agents aren’t bogged down by complexity.

GDSs have always done more than simply supply content, they keep the travel ecosystem running. As we move beyond the first phase of NDC adoption, GDSs must step up, not just as technology providers but as true partners in solving operational challenges. This means improving usability, simplifying servicing, and ensuring industry collaboration to create scalable, standardised solutions. It also means investing in tools that make managing travel easier, from booking to post-trip reconciliation.

You’ll hear plenty about normalised content from different providers, but where is it really happening? Right now, most of that focus is on shop, book, and order processes but what about everything that happens after booking? How many providers are truly normalising post-booking automation or seamlessly integrating EDIFACT and NDC servicing to reduce friction for agencies and technology partners?

“GDSs have always done more than simply supply content, they keep the travel ecosystem running”

This is where Sabre is stepping up, delivering a fully orchestrated set of APIs and POS tools that don’t just connect content but empower agencies with a smoother, more automated experience from start to finish.

But the conversation shouldn’t stop at NDC. The next evolution of travel will be shaped by greater personalisation, making it easier for travellers to shop and book the options that suit them best.

Blended travel is worth a staggering $933B annually, according to Grand View Research, and TMCs should be scrambling to add leisure as part of the business booking basket. Multimodal travel will become more important, integrating flights, rail, and ground transport into the booking. Again, this boosts SOW.

Sustainability will also take centre stage, with real-time carbon tracking helping corporate buyers make responsible decisions. As the industry moves forward, servicing will need to be faster and more intuitive, with AI-powered virtual agents resolving issues in real time.

“The next evolution of travel will be shaped by greater personalisation”

The industry is at a turning point. The focus should no longer be on who has which capabilities, but on how those capabilities are being used to create better experiences for travellers and better outcomes for travel resellers. The winners in this next phase won’t be those who simply offer NDC content, they will be the ones who integrate it seamlessly and provide solutions that go beyond distribution, with a user experience that delights Gen Z and captures additional room nights from blended travel in one basket.

Sabre is leading this transformation by embedding NDC into an intelligent marketplace that simplifies access to multiple content sources. But overcoming NDC’s challenges requires a new mindset.

Sabre has prioritised reliability, efficiency, and scalability by ensuring that NDC integrates smoothly into agency workflows, automating servicing, and making multi-source content easier to manage. Shopping qualifiers help airlines present the most relevant offers, while multi-source caching reduces system strain and improves response times. These steps give agencies the ability to manage NDC bookings with the same confidence as traditional content, reducing disruptions and improving efficiency.

GDSs are evolving. They’re no longer just distributors of content, they are now the foundation of a more intelligent, adaptable travel marketplace, one that moves beyond NDC to redefine how travel is retailed, serviced and personalised across the industry at scale, while solving problems for travel resellers beyond content. This is a new era, and one where we are challenged to drive value for the travel community.

This insight was written by Richard Vilner, Sabre Head of Corporate Travel UK, with contribution from Nilo Sirinivasan, the group’s Director of Strategic Projects.

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