The OTDS community, which met on 18 November at Memox in the Marienturm in Frankfurt’s skyscraper district, was really diverse: around 70 participants from more than 40 companies gathered, driven by their interest in the current state of the format and in the experiences won in various use cases.
The event kicked off with an introduction that was both insightful and humorous by Norbert Fiebig, who reflected in the lounge talk on his career in the travel industry and his time as DRV President. Even though he admitted that he brings less expertise in travel data formats than in the Package Travel Directive, this session was clearly enriching for everyone.
The presentation by new member Odeon Software & Technology, the IT service provider of the Coral Travel Group, drew a great deal of interest. Odeon plans to implement OTDS not only in several of the group’s markets, but also at its DMCs and its bedbank. This will make OTDS an internationally used data format within the Coral Travel Group — both by service providers and for supplying offer data to sales platforms.
For the first time in this forum, Check24 shared information about the long-established direct OTDS processing at Germany’s largest OTA. By highlighting where details in the format or the creative ways in which data suppliers apply it can lead to practical challenges in OTDS processing, Claudia Junghanns ensured that her presentation will continue to resonate within the association and in the further development of OTDS.
That artificial intelligence and OTDS work well together became clear in BEWOTEC’s contribution. Using a chatbot based on a Large Language Model, Michael Becher and Markus Schweigerer demonstrated live how queries to a Cruise Player filled with OTDS offer data can be combined with information such as potential ports, vacation dates, or climate zones from other sources — creating a new level of offer quality.
AI also plays a role in the revamped price comparison system for travel agencies, “XENA,” by Schmetterling: travel agents appreciate both the ability to ask text-based questions via the AI chatbot and the display of alternative flights, cancellation rules, or multi-room options made possible through OTDS.
Just as exciting was the introduction of the OTDS Price Engine by Peakwork, which now enables native OTDS processing in the Player. OTDS data deliveries can be processed faster, more accurately, and at larger scale, making integrations even smoother. Robert Geldmacher demonstrated that cutting processing time by 50% can increase traffic by 150% and conversion by 200%.
The new members to the OTDS association also introduced themselves: the leisure travel provider ErholungsWerk Post Postbank Telekom, which already uses OTDS as the data format for travel offers on its website, and the travel tech company milzer GmbH, which favours the advantages of standardization.
The informative program concluded with a panel featuring the three board members: moderator Michael Aubermann (a-five), Thorsten Hendricks (schauinsland-reisen) representing OTDS suppliers, and Lothar Schmitz (Amadeus Leisure IT) representing OTDS processors. The core thesis was that data quality in OTDS can suffer when data volumes become excessively large. Whether a more dynamic OTDS format using live-request constructs to tour operator systems could offer a solution, will be a key task for the association in the coming year, when a newly elected board will take office.
Networking opportunities were eagerly embraced by this diverse group during the breaks and after the event — clearly, the engaging presentations and a tricky OTDS XML quiz provided plenty to talk about.
The positive feedback from all participants encourages the OTDS association to continue the event series and to invite attendees to OTDS in November 2026, where intensive and self-critical discussions will once again explore how current and future challenges can flow into further development of the OTDS standard.