SABRE tips

Travel companies laid off more than 6,600 employees in 2023. The total comes from more than 20 travel companies that disclosed layoffs for various reasons.

By making Sabre-sourced NDC content available to its customers and users, SAP Concur can help accelerate the industry’s shift from traditional EDIFACT to NDC distribution. In turn, corporations will gain access to more personalized offers to deliver a better travel experience to their employees.

Sabre has a long way to go to reach the power it had before the pandemic. That was clear from its 2023 annual report, showing its latest financials and other details about the business, including layoffs completed last year and plans for tech investment. 

IPO-boundhospitality and travel technology company Oyo has announced that it would open around 400 properties in popular spiritual destinations by year end.

American Airlines’ multi-year changes to its ticket distribution have had contentious implications for travel agents. The American Society of Travel Advisors in August filed an unfair trade complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation, accusing American of causing “substantially higher air ticket prices for consumers and frustrated travel management companies.”

Sabre said it had positive cash flow in the third quarter for the first time since 2019 – $39 million, a reversal from negative $123 million a year ago. Revenue jumped 12%, driven primarily by an increase in air and hotel bookings. 

TUI’s remote work policy, launched during the pandemic, is set to evolve as the travel giant looks to offer its staff free stays across its hotel and resort network.

Airbnb Posts Best Quarter Yet on Relentless Travel Demand: Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky says his company can thrive in boom and bust cycles if it keeps innovating. To meet that promise, his company will have to boost its pricing competitiveness and makes it easier for individuals to list properties. And make the case to Wall Street on unfair comparisons to 2021.

Sam Gilliland, who was the CEO of Sabre Corporation for 10 years, is taking the top role at Accelya.

In a bid to boost tourism’s contribution to the national gross domestic product to $122 billion a year by 2031, the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, launched the UAE Tourism Strategy 2031 on Friday. Eyeing an annual increase of $7.4 billion, the tourism startegy aims to attract new investments of $27.2 billion to the tourism sector in the country, and attract 40 million hotel guests in 2031. The strategy includes 25 initiatives and policies to support the development of the tourism sector in the country, according to the government media office. With the return of tourists, the United Arab Emirates’ tourism revenues surpassed $5 billion in the first half of this year.

Mastercard is planning to make a minority investment in Conferma Pay, a fintech company acquired earlier this year by Sabre Corporation.

Rocked by a Covid relief financial scandal that led to the jailing and resignations of now-former CEO Fabio Cannavale and chief operating officer Andrea Bertoli, Amsterdam-based Lastminute.com’s shareholders elected Luca Concone as an executive director, and he’ll serve as CEO.

Especially heavy layoffs at Google Flights, including senior managers and engineers who joined Google with the ITA Software acquisition in 2011, could signal strategy shifts in the company’s multifaceted airline business, Skift has learned.

Despite uneven demand in 2022, Sabre expects continued overall recovery leading to positive free cash flow for the company by the end of this year. 

Caesars Entertainment is adding an online travel agency business model, as it launches a new website that lets guests books flights as well as their accommodation.

With just one month to go, there’s a lot of noise about American Airlines’ decision to hold back 40 percent of its fares, mostly for business travel, for so-called New Distribution Capability-powered channels and direct channels, such as its own website.

Travel technology giant Sabre said on Wednesday that Sean Menke, who has been CEO of the company since 2016, will become executive chair of its board on April 27, at which time its current president, Kurt Ekert, will become its CEO, too.

The inner workings of the travel industry are changing as different sectors look for less expensive means of doing business, and much of that change could have a negative impact on the longevity of Sabre and companies like it. 

American Airlines is going live with its New Distribution Capability offers with global distribution system Sabre on April 3, marking the point of no return for its removal of 40 percent of its airfares from traditional retail channels.

Panama’s Copa Airlines is increasing its surcharge for tickets issued in Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport from $12 to $18 per direction.

Corporate travel agencies are now seeing wide discrepancies in airfares after American Airlines overhauled its ticket distribution strategy.