Our purpose as a company is to build leading technology that makes the experience of buying and managing travel continually better for everyone, so raising awareness of the support available for travellers with different needs is something we all are passionate about.– Fiona Shanley, chief customer and marketing officer at Travelport
LANGLEY, UK - A campaign launched by travel technology company Travelport to raise awareness of a special Special Service Request (SSR) booking code has made impressive gains since its launch in March this year.
Requests for assistance for airline passengers with intellectual disabilities have nearly doubled in the first six months of the campaign.
Use of the DPNA SSR code on flights booked through Travelport has increased globally by 89% year-on-year. At a regional level, use of the code on flights is now up 273% in Asia, 259% in Africa, 94% in Europe and 22% in Oceania. Use remains low in both North and South America.
Little known SSR codes are used in the airline industry to communicate traveller preferences or needs to airlines. They are delivered through standardised four-letter codes defined by IATA.
The DPNA SSR code can be used by travel agents, among others, to alert airlines when a passenger has intellectual or developmental disability and needs assistance.
Many airlines, as well as airports and hotel groups, have initiatives in place to meet travellers’ individual needs if they are made aware at the time of booking that they require additional support.
Travelport launched its Travel Unified campaign after it found evidence of exceptionally low use of the code on bookings made through its global distribution system. A poll of travel agents and conversations with non-profit organisations confirmed this was due a lack of awareness.
As part of its campaign to raise awareness of the DPNA SSR code, Travelport has shared educational ‘sign-on alerts’ and graphical ‘prompts’ more than 10 million times with hundreds of thousands of travel agents across the world through Travelport Smartpoint, its flagship Point of Sale solution that is used by travel agents, among others, to search and book airline seats, hotel rooms and more.
The digital media used to reach travel agents is typically sold by Travelport to travel providers, like airlines and hotels, as advertising space.
Fiona Shanley, chief customer and marketing officer at Travelport, said, “Our purpose as a company is to build leading technology that makes the experience of buying and managing travel continually better for everyone, so raising awareness of the support available for travellers with different needs is something we all are passionate about.
“We’d like to call on all airlines, airports, hotels and other members of the travel family to do more to ensure everyone has the travel experience they deserve, including the 200 million people worldwide with intellectual disabilities.”
Linda Ristagno, external affairs manager at IATA, added, “The correct use of DPNA provides airlines with the relevant information that they need to support passengers with intellectual disabilities.”