5 Years of NDC: Are We There Yet?
Tue Aug 26, 13:00 - Tue Aug 26, 14:30
Innovation City
ABOUT
5 Years of NDC: Are We There Yet?
A WiT Pop-Up Series event
Event Details
Date: Tuesday, 26 August 2025
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Venue: Innovation City Cape Town
Five years ago, NDC (New Distribution Capability) was set to transform the airline industry. Promising richer content, more transparency, and fewer intermediaries, it sparked a wave of digital ambition across the travel ecosystem.
But five years in - are we there yet?!
Join us for our second instalment of our Web in Travel Africa Pop-Up Series for a frank panel discussion where we’ll unpack the gains, the gaps, and the growing pains of NDC implementation. Who’s winning? Who’s lagging? And what will it really take for NDC to move from promise to performance?
Who should attend:
Travel tech founders
OTAs, airline and GDS professionals
Fintechs in travel
Product teams
Anyone invested in the future of travel distribution
SPEAKERS
CEO - The Travelstart Group
The TravelLab Group is a modern travel tech company rethinking how distribution works in a fragmented global market. Prior to this, he served as Managing Director at Amadeus Southern Africa, where he led one of the region’s most significant digital transitions toward NDC adoption.
Andy’s earlier work at Travelstart helped shape the e-commerce strategy of Africa’s largest OTA, where he oversaw partnerships, direct integrations, and market expansion across the Middle East and Africa. With over 20 years of experience bridging technology and commercial travel operations, Andy brings a rare, 360-degree view to the challenges and opportunities of travel’s evolving tech stack.
General Manager: Supply, Pricing & Marketing – Flight Centre South Africa
Sue Garrett is a seasoned executive with over two decades of experience in the travel and tourism industry. As GM of Supply, Pricing & Marketing at Flight Centre South Africa, she brings a strategic and commercially astute lens to the evolving travel landscape.
Having led businesses and teams across multiple countries, Sue is known for her authentic leadership style and deep expertise in marketing management, pricing strategy, and both business and leisure travel. She is passionate about navigating change, building strong supplier partnerships, and delivering customer-centric solutions in a rapidly transforming sector.
General Manager – Amadeus Southern Africa
Caroline Smallwood is the General Manager of Amadeus Southern Africa, where she leads the regional strategy for one of the world’s leading travel technology providers. With extensive experience across the global hospitality and travel sectors, Caroline is known for her clear communication, high attention to detail, and ability to navigate complex stakeholder environments.
She is a strong advocate for digital transformation in travel and brings a practical, grounded perspective to discussions about innovation, automation, and the evolving role of technology across the industry.
Regional Manager, Central & Southern Africa – Singapore Airlines
Based in Johannesburg, Dale Woodhouse is the Regional Manager for Central & Southern Africa at Singapore Airlines, overseeing commercial operations across 29 countries. He brings a wealth of international experience, having held leadership roles in Australia and Italy, and contributed to high-level global sales initiatives during his time at the airline’s Singapore headquarters. While in Singapore, Dale authored the internal Sales Playbook; Singapore Airlines’ global guide to sales strategy, which included early references to NDC in its infancy (2018). With deep insight into airline distribution and a strong grasp of the commercial shifts driven by digital transformation, Dale brings a grounded and global view to the evolving travel landscape.