Travelport has announced a further merchandising milestone as South African Airways becomes the first carrier in Africa to sign up for Travelport’s Rich Content & Branding.

Travelport Rich Content & Branding is highly progressive technology which enables airlines to more effectively control how their fares are visually presented and described on travel agency screens, bringing them more in line with the airline’s own website experience.

Now in final testing and due to be launched later in the year on Travelport Smartpoint agency desktops, Rich Content & Branding allows travel agents to access photos, images and extended descriptions aggregated into their usual booking flow to better inform and encourage customers’ purchasing decisions around fares such as cabin type, seat type, meals, baggage allowance and ticket flexibility.

“South African Airways continues to expand its range of dynamic travel products tailored towards our increasingly sophisticated customers and we are pleased that the merchandising technology offered through Travelport’s Travel Commerce Platform enables us to differentiate ourselves more easily,” commented Sylvain Bosc, chief commercial officer of South African Airways.

“We look forward to continuing to improve the shopping experience for our customers and their agencies through Travelport’s distribution.”

The solution has received significant support and interest from airlines with more than 60 airlines having signed up, including leading carriers such as Delta, Ryanair, British Airways, Iberia, easyJet, Hainan Airlines and United Airlines.

Will Owen Hughes, senior director airline services, Travelport Africa, Middle East and south-Asia, commented: “It is significant for Travelport to have signed up the largest airline in South Africa for our Rich Content and Branding technology and we look forward to implementing this with them over the coming months.

“The travel industry in Africa continues to grow and we’re convinced the availability of this industry-leading merchandising technology will be valued by travel agencies.”

He continued: “The signing of more than 60 airlines for our Rich Content and Branding technology indicates that our airline partners fully support and share our views on the benefits it presents in terms of how fares and ancillaries are presented to travel agents.”