Ryanair has been busy building up a series of sales and booking partnerships with online travel agents (OTAs) in recent months – among them On the Beach, Expedia, eSky, Lastminute.com, Kiwi, Braganza, loveholidays, El Corte Inglés, Etraveli and TUI.
It has also partnered with flight aggregators – including the world’s largest, Travelfusion. That partnership formally went live last week.
In light of that development, ITTN’s Geoff Percival sat down with Ryanair Chief Marketing Officer Dara Brady to talk through the new model and see what it means for the industry and how it can benefit Irish travel agents.
With the Travelfusion partnership now live; and Ryanair’s other aggregator partnership with Paxport due to go live in the coming weeks, what is the significance for the travel industry and does it represent a shake-up in booking trends?
Our partnership with Travefusion represents a significant development for the travel industry; Up to now, we’ve only done direct ‘Approved OTA’ partnerships, which have allowed us to work together with our OTA partners to ensure price transparency, direct myRyanair account access and other key benefits for our customers. But our ‘Approved OTA Aggregator’ partnership with Travelfusion furthers this, enabling us to bring more OTAs onboard indirectly via Travelfusion without needing a separate plug for each, while guaranteeing the same terms and conditions as our direct OTA partnership agreements. It’s a highly efficient approach and gives the OTAs who may not have the same level of resourcing as our direct ‘Approved OTA’ partners a way to offer Ryanair’s low fare flights to their customers – they can simply sign up to Travelfusion’s OTA network and benefit from speed to market, tech support and ultimately the same benefits as our direct ‘Approved OTA’ partners.
The Travelfusion announcement follows a large number of individual OTA booking partnership deals agreed by Ryanair in recent months. Why is Ryanair partnering with OTAs at this time?
Following the OTA’s boycott back in December last, we were approached by Loveholidays to see if there was a way that we could work together, and we were able to come to an agreement that satisfied both parties, but most importantly maintained our customer-centric approach. The main thing for us was that customers were not being misled with hidden charges and that we were provided with their actual contact and payment info to ensure that we could communicate directly with them. That first agreement set a new precedent in the industry, demonstrating that airlines and OTAs can work together in a transparent way that benefits the customer. Since then, the rest have realised that its better to work with us rather than against us and have followed suit…
Does this signal a change in Ryanair’s sales approach – from a centralised model to a more travel agent-centric approach?
No, Ryanair will continue to focus on our direct sales approach. Customers will always get the best value by booking directly with us. It does however mean that customers looking to book a package holiday – something that we don’t offer directly ourselves – can now avail of Ryanair flights as part of their booking, once made through our Approved OTA partners. So really our OTA partnerships compliment and diversify our direct sales.
Most customers still book directly with Ryanair; is there a growing percentage of passengers booking via travel agents and tour operators?
No, we’re actually seeing an increase in direct Ryanair bookings; See customers tend to know that they get the best value and lowest fares by booking directly with Ryanair. The main reason any of them book through OTAs is for package holidays or virtual interlining, which we don’t offer ourselves. But the great thing about our ‘Approved OTA’ partnerships, including our ‘Approved OTA Aggregator’ agreement with Travelfusion, is that customers can now book Ryanair’s low fare flights as part of their package holidays or virtual interlining packages with full price transparency, direct access to their myRyanair account and the guarantee that we have been provided with their correct contact and payment info – it’s the best of both worlds.
How many passengers per year book Ryanair flights via OTAs?
It’s impossible to know exactly how many of our bookings come through OTAs, but we believe it’s currently around 10-15%.
What are the benefits of these partnerships to Ryanair? What are the benefits of these partnerships to customers? What are the benefits of these partnerships to OTAs?
The real benefit is to customers; Previously, customers would book Ryanair flights through an OTA, but in the background some OTAs would make the booking with a different payment card (often virtual) and provide a different email address which meant that customers couldn’t access their booking, they weren’t receiving important communications regarding their flights and in the rare case where a refund was required, it was going back to the OTA rather than to the customer. It was a nightmare for customers – and for us too. But now, under our ‘Approved OTA’ agreements, our partners have agreed to provide customers’ correct contact and payment information, which means that their customers have direct access to their myRyanair account without needing to complete Customer Verification, removing any of these pitfalls for customers.
Should deals like this be welcomed as good news by the Irish travel trade/travel agents?
Absolutely, it’s a huge step forward for the industry and has paved the way for airlines and OTAs to work together in a positive and transparent way to the benefit of customers. That’s why the vast majority of the big OTAs have come on board. Its just the few OTAs that remain outliers, which just beg the question why?
What does it mean for – and how can it benefit – smaller agents?
Our partnership with Travelfusion opens up a whole new opportunity for OTAs, particularly smaller ones that wouldn’t have the same level of resources. The agreement means that OTAs who sign up via Travelfusion will now be able to offer Ryanair flights to their customers without needing a direct connect – just like Ryanair’s direct “Approved OTA” partners. So ultimately Travelfusion has done the heavy lifting for the smaller OTAs on their network, with the added benefit of direct tech support too.
