WBS Blank Software GmbH, the leading German tour operator system, joined the OTDS Association on April 1, 2019. The Offenbach-based technology company migrated its pilot customer Schauinsland-Reisen to OTDS in April 2015 and has since opened up the potential of the powerful Open Tourist Data Standard to many more of its tour operator customers, including Alltours, BigXtra, ETI, Bentour and BENX, byebye, Olimar and Phoenix.
The special features of the tour operators migrated to OTDS are manifold – new facets of OTDS are developed and implemented by the WBS Blank team for almost every customer. However, all OTDS tour operators benefit equally from the advantages of the standard: Daily data production is much faster than with legacy formats, which is why the trips are available earlier in the various OTDS processing systems and also have better data quality. Even significantly larger quantities of offer data can be transported and processed faster with OTDS. The display of alternative flights, which is now increasingly being implemented in the sales systems and IBEs, is particularly interesting for tour operators.
“As service provider and thus mouthpiece for our many tour operator customers we find it only consistent to now play an active role in the association and to be closer to the future developments of OTDS. In addition, the access to the Thematic Specification, which is reserved for members of the association is of course very important for WBS Blank in order to fully exploit the constantly growing potential of the standard,” says Helmut Telgmann, COO at WBS Blank, explaining the step into membership.
Chairman Dr. Oliver Rengelshausen on behalf of the entire association comments: “Welcoming WBS Blank to OTDS e.V. is a special pleasure for us. As a multiplier and competent technology service provider, the company has played a major role in establishing OTDS as the data standard within the travel industry.” Further WBS Blank tour operators have already expressed their interest in mmigrating to OTDS as well.