How Spotnana addresses content fragmentation

To provide travelers with the best experiences, it’s essential for modern travel platforms to address the growing problem of content fragmentation. While it once was possible to source all available content through GDSs alone, now travel platforms must build integrations with a complex landscape of APIs from a range of aggregators and suppliers.

Seth Anagnostis, Spotnana’s Director, Content Partners, joined a panel of industry leaders on Business Travel News’ NDC Ecosystem Update 2024 podcast to discuss how Spotnana’s modern technology empowers travelers, travel programs, and travel suppliers.

Here are three takeaways from the podcast.

Quotes have been edited for clarity and length.

Global content

Spotnana’s approach to the challenge of content fragmentation in corporate travel is driven by our embrace of modern technology.

Anagnostis explained how Spotnana’s platform approach helps travelers find the best options by ingesting content from a variety of sources and enabling travel managers to control what travelers can book when they shop.

“A key component of our strategy, which has really enabled us to be at the forefront of so many things on NDC, is that we have our own Content Engine in Spotnana, where we are ingesting content from a variety of different sources. To the end traveler, the experience is seamless,” said Anagnostis. “The traveler will not see whether a fare is NDC, EDIFACT, or from somewhere else.”

Seamlessly integrating content from multiple sources allows travelers to trust that they are getting the best deals available, while still adhering to company travel policies. Anagnostis emphasized that as buyers become more informed and empowered, TMCs must be able to deliver the widest possible array of global content options or risk travelers booking out of policy.

“We’ve taken the perspective that we can’t wait for this stuff to happen, and we want to take what we can in our own hands to be able to build,” said Anagnostis. “We have our own System of Record and our technology essentially eliminates the mid-office… we want to make that technology available to others who might say, ‘Hey, we want to move faster than is possible in some of these ways. So let’s use the tech stack that enables us to cut that line.’”

Seamless servicing

Spotnana’s Travel-as-a-Service platform also enables seamless servicing for travelers by connecting booking and trip data across channels. This empowers travel agents to quickly assist travelers regardless of where a booking was made and do away with the traditional separation between online and offline corporate travel bookings.

“There’s no world of online versus offline [bookings],” said Anagnostis. “The traveler can see everything. The agent who is using the Spotnana Agent Desktop to do almost all of their servicing, they are seeing the same things as the traveler in a single pane of glass.”

In addition to benefiting travelers and travel managers, Spotnana’s unified global platform allows for suppliers to bring innovations more quickly to their customers.

“[Our platform] allows us to build a future-proof infrastructure where there are new innovations happening. As there are custom bundles that start to emerge or additional fares, [they] can slide into the booking experience seamlessly,” said Anagnostis.

Looking ahead

The conversation in corporate travel is shifting, with experienced travel managers embracing the benefits of modern technology. NDC has become a priority for travel programs, with travel managers looking for the next wave of innovation that will improve their program.

“The thing that we’ve really noticed over the last year is that the conversation, particularly when it comes to travel managers and their perspective on NDC, has shifted [away] from whether it will ever happen,” said Anagnostis. “Now the conversation’s gone on to a higher level where not only are travel managers actively asking where we are on NDC roadmaps, they are asking what airlines we are connecting to next and what new functionality we are enabling for them.”

Beyond NDC and content distribution, travel managers now see the value of building their travel programs on modern tech stacks. They understand that a platform like Spotnana provides them with the flexibility and control they need to deliver a seamless travel experience for their employees.

“Folks will walk with their feet,” said Anagnostis, if a TMC doesn’t have a future-looking plan for improving its infrastructure. “They’re not going to accept that answer anymore because they’re starting to see what is possible when you don’t take that approach.”

To learn more about providing unparalleled travel experiences to travelers, get a demo of Spotnana today.