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where 26 percent of travel agents stated that they used their GDS platform more often than in the past and 19 percent said they used the GDS Shopping Displays more often than before.

"Travel agents are increasing GDS hotel use, and have once again confirmed their confidence in GDS Shopping and Booking Displays,"

Travel agents in 25 countries across the Americas, EMEA (Europe/Middle East/Africa) and Asia/Pacific regions who subscribe to one of the four major GDS systems were asked to participate.

n the survey, travel agents worldwide also indicated that promotional messages are effective and often prompt bookings: 66 percent of all travel agents surveyed who were aware of promotional messages requested additional information by looking at the screen attached to the promotional message.

"This survey definitively shows that promotional messages are not only an excellent way to reach travel agents, but also a valuable sales catalyst,

s the leading provider of revenue generating solutions for hoteliers across the globe. TravelClick offers hotels world-class reservation solutions, business intelligence products and comprehensive media and marketing solutions to help hotels grow their business.

is one of the fastest growing marketing research firms in the United States. With offices across the country and in Europe and partnerships with many of the largest companies in the financial services, consumer package goods, automotive, healthcare, media, technology and travel and leisure industries worldwide, PMI also offers advanced advertising and brand measurement along with direct marketing expertise.

pects of a franchisee’s business, from guest check-ins and housekeeping services to billing and finances. Over time new features have been rolled into the software platform making it more robust and useful for hotel owners—it’s currently distributed in eight countries and available in four languages. And while plenty of cloud-based PMS packages are now available from third-party vendors like Micros, Maestro, and RoomKey, Choice’s internal solution has garnered its fair share of attention. “We had been getting knocks on the door from IT vendors at other hotel companies and individual Choice franchisees that own other brands, saying they were interested in our product,” says Pacious, “So we set up a new division so we could take a look at other opportunities we could develop.” This led the company to launch SkyTouch last year, a new division that develops and markets cloud-based software solutions to hotels inside and outside the Choice system. Pages: 1 2 3 4 2013-06-18 Sean Downey !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })(); (function() { var li = document.createElement('script'); li.type = 'text/javascript'; li.async = true; li.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https:' : 'http:') + '//platform.stumbleupon.com/1/widgets.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(li, s); })(); inShare0 Related Articles attachment-3

Switching to the cloud from a client server platform pays off with a big drop in both the initial capital outlay and the ongoing operating costs for the property management and other systems.

his led the company to launch SkyTouch last year, a new division that develops and markets cloud-based software solutions to hotels inside and outside the Choice system. Pages: 1 2 3 4 2013-06-18 Sean Downey !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })(); (function() { var li = document.createElement('script'); li.type = 'text/javascript'; li.async = true; li.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https:' : 'http:') + '//platform.stumbleupon.com/1/widgets.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(li, s); })(); inShare0 Related Articles Hotel Market Insight: Cleveland a

This led the company to launch SkyTouch last year, a new division that develops and markets cloud-based software solutions to hotels inside and outside the Choice system.

But despite years of predictions that agent-booked travel would decrease, GDS bookings remain strong: In our sample of data from Sabre hotels, the number of room nights booked via GDS grew by 1.08 million from 2015 to 2016, an increase of 10.4 percent. These numbers underscore industry analysts’ expectations for growth in this channel.

Successful inventory and distribution management strategies also require the right technology platform 

deal boosted its accommodation offering by 30%.

interesting theory of whether GDSs can create their own network effect.

“We have increased our beach, resort and leisure content which allows us to be a much more attractive content sourcing partner to retail agencies and other online channels so it has expanded our customer base enormously.”

GDSs are investing in their lodging content but with travel distribution it’s rarely a case of just integrating content.

Waters says Amadeus has five million representations of hotels on its system but over a million unique hotels.

normalizes the data so it is only displayed once and travel sellers can see the same room, hotel and date and then compare prices and see what margin or commission they might make from a booking.

the standardization is driven by artificial intelligence

Sabre, which cites a similar figure for properties available via its new lodging distribution technology, has also worked on normalizing the data

The GDSs continue to see opportunity and growth in their hospitality divisions

Waters says the ambition is to continue growth and “become the default hotel platform for B2B channels.”

biggest, professional metasearch with bookability platform in the industry.” AmadeusBooking.comSabre

Like Lufthansa, which introduced a 16-euro fee on GDS bookings in the fall of 2015, Ukrainian argues that the fee is in response to what it calls the “growing fees of GDSs.”  

Any new fee can generate a backlash, and particularly for price-sensitive leisure travelers, could lead to booking away from a particular carrier. 

Lufthansa German Airlines’ CEO recently raised eyebrows in the industry by predicting other airlines would match its controversial fee on all bookings made through Global Distribution Systems. But since then, the only news on this front has been from a relatively small carrier, Ukraine International Airlines, which said it will impose a new $9 surcharge on GDS bookings at the end of April.  

However, certain keywords can and do drive them to book a property, such as "price", "offer", "rate" and "discount". Globally, 4 out of 10 survey respondents agree these types of words would encourage them to book.

In our survey, 7 out of 10 agents say it's important to include icons with the words "free" or "complimentary" in ads. In 2020, hoteliers should review their current strategy for the GDS and consider whether they are using the platform to its full potential.

Rate parity (ensuring that the same room is priced identically across all distribution channels) will continue to be of utmost importance.

Our research shows that 9 out of 10 travel agents rank rate parity as 'very important' or 'important' in their search.

When the GDS does not offer full rate parity, 6 out of 10 travel agents actively book away from that hotel property.

Travel agents are booking hotel reservations on the GDS in record numbers, from 42 million ten years ago to 79 million in 2019. On average, they book 22X more room nights than consumers, making the GDS a prime channel for hotels looking to increase revenue.

the GDS does not offer full rate parity, 6 out of 10 travel agents actively book away from that hotel property.

ordin

Faster innovation With cloud-based hotel PMS, hotels can bring new properties online more quickly. Each new release brings new capabilities to help deliver great guest experiences, improve operating efficiency, and increase employee productivity. Lower IT complexity and costs With cloud-based hotel PMS, hotels can lower upfront capital expenditure on software and hardware. By going above-property, hotels can also reduce IT complexity and IT costs. Increase in RevPAR and ADR With cloud-based hotel PMS, hotels can effectively manage rates and allocation of rooms to various distribution channels, helping to maximize occupancy, rates, and revenue. Enhanced customer lifetime value With cloud-based hotel PMS, hotels get a single customer master with comprehensive guest profiles that allow them to personalize and differentiate guest experiences.

Until recently, hotel PMS solutions were often managed on premises. On-premises solutions include hardware that can take up a lot of space. Resources were needed to manage the systems and software updates, upgrades, and patches needed to be scheduled and installed manually by onsite staff. Cloud-based, mobile-enabled hotel PMS platforms offer hotels an innovative way to engage with guests while enabling hotels to reduce IT costs and simplify their infrastructure.

ncrease housekeeping efficiency with instant updates on housekeeping mobile devices when customers check out, freeing up rooms for cleaning

seamless guest experience.

that replaced time-intensive, paper and spreadsheet-heavy processes.

is now a critical business operations system

Enhanced customer lifetime value.

Hoteliers are challenged with providing a personalized guest experience

olutions help hoteliers deliver the experience guests want, while efficiently managing their business.

Connect operations and financial processes by leveraging prebuilt integrations

Increase room occupancy and ADR through real-time rate

ster innovation.

Lower IT complexity and costs.

rease in RevPAR and ADR.

aditionally, a hotel property management system was defined as a platform that enabled a hotel or group of hotels to manage front-office capabilities, such as booking reservations, guest check-in/check-out, room assignment, managing room rates, and billing.

OPERA Cloud hotel property management system offers hoteliers capabilities to enhance operating efficiency and deliver exceptional guest experiences. The platform integrates emerging technologies with ease, accelerating innovation to meet ever-changing demands. Hotel PMS Defined

The benefits of cloud-based hotel PMS solutions include:

r

T

Hotel PMS now integrates to other onsite services that impact the guest's complete experience, including:

OPERA Cloud hotel property management system offers hoteliers capabilities to enhance operating efficiency and deliver exceptional guest experiences. The platform integrates emerging technologies with ease, accelerating innovation to meet ever-changing demands.

Provide anytime, anywhere service to your guests using a mobile-enabled cloud-based hotel PMS.

Empower managers to improve ADR with extensive options for setting rates and advanced rate-management features for manual and semiautomated revenue management.

Centralize and secure customer data and improve the quality and accuracy of guest profiles with reporting and analytics.

With a cloud hotel PMS, hotels get a single customer master with comprehensive guest profiles that allow them to personalize and differentiate guest experiences.

Fraudulent Bookings: As the booking is not engaging the end user, some hotels may be the victim of unscrupulous visitors booking long-term stays (20 days or more) just to feed their Visa's demands for example

widened the form of payment accepted.

59%* of them will book somewhere again if they are able to pay quickly the first time.

D-EDGE and PayPal have partnered to enable hoteliers to accept payments quickly on their hotel website, from almost anywhere around the world, in a secure manner.

The account creation process is very fast and hoteliers can then start accepting payment instantly on their booking engine from almost anywhere around the world.

267 million active PayPal users around the world and offer them a simple way to pay i

rate can increase up to 87.5%** thanks to PayPal solution for mobile.

The app works by giving the user a list of all available hotels in the immediate area of the device which have same-day availability, with a two-step process if the user wishes to book from the handset.

Booking.com says it secured $1 billion in transactions via mobile devices in 2011

Validation of the marketplace for same-day bookings via mobile devices was illustrated again last November when HotelTonight secured Series B funding to the tune of $9 million in a round led by Battery Ventures.

There are several major global distribution systems that house and process the majority of data from hotels, airlines, and other distributors. These include Amadeus, Sabre, Galileo, Worldspan, Apollo, and Pegasus.

Because cruise travellers rely heavily on travel agents for their trip arrangements, it’s highly likely any hotel bookings will also be made through this channel.

Cruises tend to rely on more conventional channels like travel agents to reach and convert guests.

With the cruise industry currently in a state of growth, it represents a chance for hotels to get a slice of the revenue.

It appears travel agents are driving most of this success, with 70% of cruise bookings made via this channel.

Cruises do all the hard work to book their guests but often they will arrive a day or two early or depart a day or two after their cruise, booking at hotels for the extra time.

The GDS is often used to tap into the corporate travel market because it has the ability to present hotels, flights, and car rentals in one simple interface which is convenient.

Live rates and availability are sent from a hotel’s property management system (PMS) directly to the GDS and online booking websites via a channel manager.

What are the major GDS systems?

here are several major global distribution systems that house and process the majority of data from hotels, airlines, and other distributors. These include Amadeus, Sabre, Galileo, Worldspan, Apollo, and Pegasus.

There are several major global distribution systems that house and process the majority of data from hotels, airlines, and other distributors. These include Amadeus, Sabre, Galileo, Worldspan, Apollo, and Pegasus.

Amadeus GDS

Sabre GDS

Galileo GDS

Worldspan GDS

Apollo GDS

Abacus GDS

Pegasus GDS

– like the ones mentioned above – so you don’t have to worry about signing up to each one

individually.

In one fell swoop you can access all the retail and traditional travel agents you want:

There are a few specifications which will greatly aid successful GDS connectivity: Being centrally located Being located close to an airport Room capacity of more than 20 rooms Lodgings that are set up for corporate markets and not affected by seasons

Here’s a checklist to ensure you’re using the GDS to its full potential:

1. Pooled inventory

2. Commission-free structure

3. Integration capabilities

4. Comprehensive reporting

5. Ability to target specific markets

6. No lengthy contracts

7. Simple and affordable connection

Essentially, the GDS can increase hotel bookings and revenue by placing hotels on more ‘supermarket shelves’ globally. This approach is particularly effective at capturing international corporate travellers. You can gain lucrative international corporate business, particularly if you’re near a major airport gateway or close to government or commercial enterprises.

The number of bookings generated through a GDS generally outpaces that of direct bookings

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Sabre to boost direct and indirect bookings to our resorts.

This new agreement with Resorttrust, Inc. further strengthens Sabre’s existing presence in the Japanese 2fmarket, and 2fdemonstrates our ongoing commitment to the recovery and continued success of Japan’s tourism industry

improve the conversion rates of web browsers to bookings and deliver an improved guest experience.

Our goal with the new features is to rescue hotel event and sale managers from software that was developed over 25 years ago,” said Jonathan Morse, founder and CEO of Tripleseat. “When it comes to selling and managing group business, hotels do things differently than our restaurants customers. We developed these new features specifically with hotels in mind. Tripleseat is a complete web based sales and event management application that is simple to use and will help hotels increase their group business sales.”

Tripleseat is the fastest growing sales and event management platform that helps restaurants, hotels, and unique venues streamline the planning process and increase event sales. Tripleseat was founded in 2008 by Jonathan Morse and Kevin Zink. To date, the Tripleseat platform has helped venues book over 5.5 million events and captured $12 billion in event leads. More than 45,000 event managers use Tripleseat every day to book and plan the perfect event for their customers.

As far as integrating NDC into its agency points of sale, Morgan said some capabilities are expected to be integrated into Sabre Red 360 by the third quarter this year.

By 2020, IATA wants 20% of sales with a group of airlines known as the Leaderboard to be powered by NDC.

Five airlines are currently supplying NDC content on Travelport's platform, and Ferguson said more will be introduced throughout the year; access to NDC content via Smartpoint will also continue to expand.

Considering many major airlines' bookings are split roughly 50-50 between direct bookings and agents, Ferguson said meeting IATA's goal would require that about 10% of agent bookings are powered by NDC by the end of 2020.

Gianni Pisanello, head of Amadeus' NDC-X program, said that in 2018, the company worked to develop NDC using test programs with airlines and agencies. This year, Amadeus is in deployment mode.

"We're trying to implement this with as many airlines as we can and as many agencies as we can this year," Pisanello said. "Next year, 2020, is really going to be a fine-tuning year." 

"We are dependent on airlines and their airline systems to be ready before we can do our bit as a GDS provider," Pisanello said. "And, of course, then the agencies are dependent on us as an intermediary to upgrade them and enable them to integrate those services into their own systems. So there is a sequential path here to the deployment of NDC."

The ability to make NDC bookings is expected in Amadeus' point of sale app, Selling Platform Connect, by this summer. As with the other GDSs, functionality will initially be limited. At first, agents will be able to complete an essential booking flow: the ability to search, book and settle. Additional features, such as the ability to change bookings, will be rolled out as they are developed.

Now is the time for travel advisors to step up and get involved with their GDS's efforts to implement IATA's New Distribution Capability (NDC), thus helping to shape its future

Carefully choosing the right time to upsell a guest's hotel booking is crucial to a hotels' additional revenue stream. After a booking has been made there is a fresh window of opportunity to upsell, as guests will reflect on their budget spend and perhaps feel there is room to spare on extra luxuries and see what they may be missing out on.

Having all the data in one system makes presenting and acting on the data much more effective. For example, Amazon don't deliver packages 100% of the time but the rest of the experience they control, making it so easy for people to buy from them. Hotel systems will need to move this way in order to provide similarly strong guest experiences." Says Andrew

Consumers are becoming accustomed to self-service systems as they appear across retail, leisure & transport industries. Another study, suggested that guests favour hotel self-service check-in's as it provides a faster service, results in more privacy and waiting time/lines are much shorter3. Hoteliers could consider how their core data system might be centralised as much as possible in order to make it a less complex & more efficient guest journey from booking to check in. Technology such as guest portals can be efficient for customers to retrieve their invoices quickly and will centralise all the data for the hotelier.

Omni channel platforms enable you to centralise operational systems, take back control of your revenue flow and transparency of guest data, so hotel management can focus on creating the best experience for customers.

In a recent survey of 2,654 consumers by the Travel Leaders Group, 78% of respondents said they would like to see self-service kiosks more widely available for check-in2.

A key part of Alice’s system is its ability to let guests, front-of-house workers, and back-of-house staff communicate and track requests. For instance, a guest request via a text message for, say, more linens, can be conveyed to the right worker using Alice, the company said.

It now processes more than 50,000 requests a week, up from the 10,000-a-week pace it had a year ago. The company anticipates hotels will handle more than two million requests on its platform over the next year.

Alice has more than doubled its count of hotel clients this year.

Expedia’s interest in Alice suggests that the online travel company is curious about possibly providing more back-end software services for the hotels that use it to market and distribute their inventory globally.

Expedia officially began to market a series of new tools for hoteliers that it has been adding to its extranet for suppliers since 2015 under the name Expedia Powered Technology. Tools include help with revenue management and messaging with guests.

There are other hotel tech brands that offer software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions that overlap with what Alice’s platform provides, such as the housekeeping-focused services of Amadeus Hospitality’s HotSOS. Other potential players in the market include Sabre Hospitality Solutions and Oracle Hospitality.

Expedia’s suite of data analytics tools includes a free service that aims to help hotels set their rates to command the most revenue and Expedia’s first meetings-and-events booking tool to help hotels automate requests for proposals — which today is still, largely, a manual process.

Priceline Group has, since 2015, been investing in business services for its hotel partners under the BookingSuite brand. The tools include revenue management software and digital marketing help for a property’s own branded website.

Trivago, the hotel metasearch brand that is backed by Expedia (but operates independently), is also offering hotel services, such as for revenue management and hotel management (like Base7booking).

year-over-year increase of over one million hotel bookings.

year-over-year increase of over one million hotel bookings.

industry's first and only GDS advertising reporting platform that measures performance across all four major global distribution systems, and does so in a way that is aligned to measuring other forms of digital advertising.

revealed that travel agents continue to report record use of global distribution channels to make hotel reservations

Advertising on global distribution systems displays continues to be important for hoteliers

49 percent of survey respondents said they are booking alternative lodgings less often than they were two years ago

Last year, however, Southwest announced plans to grow integration with business travel platforms, making it possible for corporate travel managers to book, modify and cancel Southwest reservations with ease

more Southwest loyalists will have access to the carrier’s flights for work-related travel, when their options may have been limited before. Road warriors may have a worthy new alternative, too

with another appealing program to choose from, elites sticking with legacy carriers could end up battling fewer travelers for upgrades and preferred seats — a win-win for customers across the board

The price tag could be relatively “hefty” — as in more than $300 million — speculated one source who is knowledgeable about the tours and activities sector.

Both deals — FareHarbor and Reserve — accentuate an accelerated focus on in-destination activities, whether they are visiting a hot restaurant or tours and attractions.

Airbnb officials recently said that they plan on being in 1,000 cities with their Experiences product by the end of this year, and they project profitability in Experiences by 2019.

The purchase denies TripAdvisor’s Experiences unit a chance to enhance its relationship with suppliers and to make the end-to-end technology experience more seamless between suppliers and consumers.

Notable players in B2B tech include Bokun, Musement, Once There, Palisis, Redeam, Regiondo, Rezdy, Rezgo, Tiqets, TourRadar, TrekkSoft, Trip.me, and Veltra.

FareHarbor debuted a predictive pricing platform powered by artificial intelligence to help operators select optimal rates for activities.

The modern GDS system evolved from this early labour-intensive manual system, thanks to the collaborative team efforts of American Airlines (AA) and IBM.  The result of that collaboration? The first airline industry mainframe-based system, SABRE.

Promotional messaging to agents through GDS cores like the most prominent airline national distribution systems (Amadeus, SABRE, Galileo, and Worldspan) alert agents to special rates, fares, and travel packages – an effective marketing tool for passing savings on to agents, and from agents to their customers. 

GDS booking has increased worldwide over the past 4 years yet some industry observers suggest that GDSs may become nearly obsolete by 2020. But like many technology/software-based systems, GDS may evolve, instead.

GDS is probably not going to fall into disuse any time soon. Rather, it will continue to evolve as it did from the Lazy Susan system of the 1950s.

most organizations still don't have any standardized processes or solutions to manage small meetings, the way they do for large events or transient business travel."

many of our clients spent up to 70% of their meetings and events budget on small meetings

aking the search and booking process simple and efficient for meeting organizers

The standard version of the platform, which is ideal for one-off meetings, is free for any meeting organizer to use and allows planners to easily search, compare and instantly book meetings.

Preferred venues and partners can be highlighted within the tool and made to appear at the top of the search results.

a customizable option for large companies looking to automate their meeting booking processes