Executive director Valyn Perini (left) said, “We believe standard XML structures are critical to the growth of any segment or region, and we have a history of expanding into new segments (cruise, rail, long-tail) and regions (US, Europe, Middle East) as they go online.
“We’re ready to support Asia as we have supported other emerging regions and segments.”
It is currently working on a project in China with the Chinese Ministry of Rail (CMoR) which is building a high-speed network in eastern China, connecting major industrial and population areas, including a large multi-modal site in Shanghai.
“They need a reservation system and distribution platform to support the network, and have decided that XML and OpenTravel’s schema is the best way to connect to websites and trading partners for the distribution of rail inventory.
“The Center for High-Speed Rail Technology (CHRT) at Tsinghua University in Beijing is a member of OpenTravel and is working with us to provide CMoR’s distribution requirements. We have other rail providers and companies working with us on this project – IBM, all the GDS’, the US railway Amtrak and UIC, the Union for International Railways based in Paris.
“We have had rail-specific messages in our library for several years. This project is updating those messages to reflect current rail business practices, and is creating new messages as the rail industry to reflect the increasing sophistication in the online delivery of rail information and transactions.
“We’ll publish new and updated messages twice a year (beginning this December) twice a year for the next few years as these companies define and deliver business requirements that we can turn into XML code.”
Asked how different it was working in China versus the US on such a project, Perini said, “Like all trade associations, we are governed by a code of conduct so competitors (like GDS’) can work together without fear of being accused of collusion or anti-trust violations.
“Part of that code requires that all companies that work in the travel distribution arena be allowed to participate, and that all meetings be open to all members. This is sometimes a novel concept to companies, as it was to CHRT, and I had several discussions over 18 months with representatives of CHRT to explain the concept to them, answer their questions and provide references and examples.
“Not every company believes in openness – it depends on their business model and, frankly, their technical and commercial maturity. We are very pleased CHRT and CMoR ultimately decided to participate. We believe it gives them credibility in the world rail marketplace, especially as they look to build outside China.”
The alliance though faces challenges in spreading its cause.
Asked what kind of environment was needed for open standards to thrive, Perini said, “Generally, open standards are created to address a regulated or commoditized function – electricity delivery, file structure (MP3s), even food packaging (can/box/bottle size).
“Companies shouldn’t spend their time creating new commodities – it is a losing proposition. Companies should spend their time refining their products and services and identifying the best sales channels for those products.
“For open XML standards to thrive, companies need to understand that XML schema is a commodity. Distributing travel information/products is completely invisible to consumers and the consumers DO NOT care how clever the companies’ XML code is; they just want to see and/or book the product where they want to see and/or book it.
“Once a company understands that concept, open standards can thrive.”
She added, “I should point out the difference between an open standard and an ‘open platform’ or ‘open API’.
“OpenTravel creates XML that ALL companies in the travel industry contribute to, and do not serve the need of one company. Because XML has become so ubiquitous and cheap, many companies in the travel industry (see TripIt as an example) promote ‘open’ API development using XML.
“However, their ‘open API’ only benefits their own product or service, not the industry as a whole,” she said, stressing she was not judging TripIt, just using it as an example.
The challenges facing OpenTravel include the ubiquity and cheapness of XML – membership and participation in any standards body requires a financial and human resource commitment, and the baseline ROI calculation may make a company decide to just build their own, she said.
“However, building one’s own adds to interoperability noise and overhead in the industry, and does nothing to streamline communication and connectivity. And once a company’s distribution strategy moves from simplistic to complex, the cost of XML connectivity exponentially increases.”
Another challenge to OpenTravel is the difference between not regions but travel segments. “Companies in the long tail are very different structurally and conceptually from a legacy airline, for example, and we realize the complexities of schema needed by airlines or a large hotel group or railway (CMoR isn’t too different from the US train provider Amtrak) is not what is needed by a golf distributor or a tours/activities supplier.
“We are addressing this directly, currently conducting an internal prototype project now to modify our process to meet the needs of the long tail segments.”
The biggest beneficiaries of open standards, she said, are consumers – “being able to easily and cheaply connect to distributors and websites allows companies to meet consumer demand in a timely and accurate manner.
“There’s talk out there that only aggregators/distributors benefit from standards but I don’t understand that argument. Sure, Orbitz has to connect to multiple airlines/hotels/car rentals/railways/etc., but suppliers have to connect to multiple distributors to be where their consumers can see them and book them. No supplier has just one connection, not anymore.”
Currently, the non-profit trade body, which is supported by membership dues, has only six members in Asia. It has 64 members in North America, 41 in Europe, two in Oceania and one in South America. Its members are companies representing airlines, car rental firms, hotels, cruise lines, railways, leisure suppliers, service providers, tour operators, travel agencies, solutions providers, technology companies and distributors.
Featured image credit (hand drawing): Ockra/iStock
