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Although GDS is now a widely used way to promote sales in nowadays' airline and hotel industry, there are still some disadvantages. This article summarized five main concerns when a company choose a GDS, which are money, priorities, industry stagnation, declining, and controversy. GDS is not always the right answer, a company should make the right decision according to its specific situation.

This article introduced how GDS controlled the whole industry in the last decades. Most airline companies and hotels use GDS and the traditional distribution channels and travel agencies dry up. But after 2001, things become different. Hotels need to do marketing and distribution by themselves to survive. But many of them are not professional, so they lock themselves into OTA contracts. They need reinvented hotel marketer by themselves. 

Pegasus is one of the leading GDS in online travel distribution system. Hotels chain in India have joined this giant in order to gain more exposure and compete in the global market.  The clients who joined the new Pegasus will benefit from personalized service, new tools such as automated sales tools, market performance that can certainly increase the profit margin of those chains' hotels. 

Sabre and American Express has teamed up for a new service "to provide a more personal travel experience" to their clients. Now American Express Global Business Traveler clients who book through TripCase, Sabre's mobile app, are allowed to access real-time data. Clients can receive flight updates and live synching of itinerary from Amex to their TripCase app. Cardmember's also receive information through the app about card benefits and deals, one example the article gave was airport lounge access and free Wi-Fi access. Amex has gone as far as making sure cardmember's are automatically updated whether they book their business trips online or over the phone, making it easier for last minute changes to be accommodated.

This article highlights the importance of a GDS within the hospitality industry. The main highlight I found is that the GDS system makes a hotel, global instead of only being able to showcase itself locally. For example someone using a GDS can see a small resort that they otherwise would not know of.

Don't sleep on the GDS systems. The are making their mark and proving to be an important asset in the process of making a booking. Whether it is a hotel, car, cruise, or airline reservation, the GDS systems got you covered. Being that nowadays, travel agent would use this system for their non-tech savvy clients, bookings are expected to be at a record high this year. In a report generated by TravelClick, out of the $12 billion dollars generated in the second quarter alone, GDS systems accounted for a little over 16% of that total; the highest percentage came from direct bookings, of course. So at least we can count on the use of these GDSes to help turn a profit within our industry. 

Just wanted to add to the group.

Just wanted to add to the group.

Our Philosophy "We believe that independent hotels and smaller chains deserve the chance to compete with well-established hard brands with massive budgets. With that in mind, we develop smart, innovative and affordable tools to help even the playing field. May the best hotel win!" This company (evolution) looks to distinguish their brand by giving the opportunity to independent or small chain hotels the chance to fight with big chain hotels. Having said that, in this article they (evolution) state that a 40% of a corporate negotiated rate is no visible on the hotels' GDS. As stated previously, this percentage refers to that of a small chain hotel or independent hotels, not big chain hotels. After researching this sector, of corporate customers, they found that the GDS nor the CRS nor the CM (Channel manager) are sufficient for a satisfactorial system. Thus saying that these systems do not work on this specific market because the information provided through them is probably erroneous for many reasons. Such reason are stated by the article as follows: 1. wrong access codes provided by travel agents (miss communication) 2. hotel's rates are visible but not go according with the contract. 3. incorrect access city codes have been supplied (miss communication). 4. availability for those rooms are not applied in time by the hotel (probably because of lower staff). 5. lower rates from other sources (other sites give better rates than corporate GDS). 6. wrong rates loaded for the corporate customers (wrong information and not having glanced at it on time); among other possible reasons. I believe all this can be fixed by taking proper actions (evolution also offers solutions to these problems), but not everyone has a desire or the focus to attack them, thus falling on these situations.

Amadeus is working with travel agents to ensure their clients get the most personalized experience possible while booking their vacations especially, airfare. After a study done by Amadeus with Frost & Sullivan, the found that many travelers would respond to messages that they can relate with their interests. Also, they found out that travelers would respond to offers related to their locations. The article summarizes that GDS were not providing the most conclusive and personal content to travel agencies. Amadeus has developed 'fare families' for airlines. These fare families are able to combine options and services that appeal to consumers and give travel agents the ability prepare targeted offers with the GDS in place. Additionally, using consumer relationship management data, like spending patterns and social media, will lead to better customer response. Travel agents rely a great deal on global distribution systems. Amadeus is going in the right direction in giving travel agents the proper tools to succeed in a market that is increasingly booking directly with suppliers. This new personalized offers that Amadeus is bringing to the table may actually give travel agents an advantage over the competition.

Luxuryres GDS brand - How it is extremely simple for hotels to use, and ends up saving them time and money

All of the big three global distribution systems were still expanding as well as increasing productivity and revenue as of June 2014. Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport have each made significant moves in the hospitality industry, although primarily for airlines. Amadeus is by far the largest and currently most successful GDS with the highest profit, booking volume, and market share (air travel). As of 2014 Southwest Airlines was their biggest client, but they provide GDS services and access to over 100 other airlines as well. Sabre is second best to Amadeus. The company elected to go public in 2014 and since then their billable bookings, booking share and growth have all increased modestly. During the same year they gained American Airlines, newly reformed at the time, as a client. Presently, the company expects continued improvement in revenue. Travelport has made the decision not to compete directly with Amadeus or Sabre in that they have chosen not to provide "full passenger services systems to airline on a multi-host basis." However the company is still working closely with Delta Airlines and researching "add-on" features with their main focus being the continued growth of "beyond air" activities. Honestly, I was shocked that Amadeus is the largest and most successful GDS. I truly expected it to be Sabre. This belief was based on what I have personally experienced: every OTA I have used required a link to the Sabre GDS, but I can only recall one that required one to the Amadeus GDS. After reading the chapter 8 of D.V. Tesone's "Hospitality Information Systems and E-Commerce, along with the research report from our discussion forum I have changed my paradigm. Regardless, GDSs are still used widely in the hospitality industry. Different segments of the market prefer to book in different ways: via offline Travel Agents, OTAs, hotel websites or on the phone. Those that use either form of TA are using a GDS.

Leisure guests tend to book for themselves with rare exceptions including some forms of international travel and cruise travel. These guests use OTAs or intermediaries such as Travelocity (Owned by a GDS company) or TravelZoo. In the case of TravelZoo, a guest uses the TravelZoo website to access information such as availability and pricing that TravelZoo pulls from a GDS before making a selection and processing a transaction. On the other hand, business and corporate travelers are more likely to use an offline TA. An offline TA is better equipped to meet the needs of a customer whom is travelling for business. Offline TAs require less information when booking a hotel room then an OTA does, making it simple for a secretary to book the travel arrangements for the guest. In addition, offline TAs can work easily with a hotel to make special accommodations. The hotel receives contact information for the travel agency that booked the stay in case clarifications on requests are needed. In conclusion, as long as either form of TA is in the market, a GDS will be necessary to streamline bookings and ensure that each TA has the correct pertinent information when making a booking or completing a transaction. As a result, as new OTA options or hospitality enterprises enter the market GDSs are continuing to morph, merge and grow.

I thought this was fitting considering the discussion tropic this week. Until reading our discussion board article this week I truly had no idea so many people still use travel agents. With all the search engines such as expedia, kayak, Travelocity etc... Why would we need a travel agent? Well this article explains why. They are the experts and have access to things most people do not. They do something for the customer a search engine has been unable to replicate they can customize and give advice. I agree with this article that if you are taking a quick trip with no special add on expedia or kayak are the way to go. However; when you are looking for something special a travel agent can be an invaluable resource. One thing is they can tell you first hand their experiences with the same trip and they can get things such VIP tickets to the super bowl that you will not find on expedia. Travel agents are still relevant just not in the capacity they once were. Travel sites have made booking travel simple and fast; but when talking that special vacation where to water 5 star service a travel agent may be a good option to consider.

Even though the GDS had reformed the distribution system of the travel industry, will it continue to grow and update it's current model to upkeep the growing age of tourism? The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is looking for newer ways to revolutionize the travel industry. Tony Tyler, IATA CEO, feels that the Global Distribution System (GDS) is lacking upgrades and says "the GDS model is too clunky to adapt easily to the emergence of trends". As a result, the IATA is working on a new distribution capability (NDC) that will enable the industry to become on trend with online retailers and transform distribution. However, the GDS will still play an important role in aiding the NDS to get there. Tyler spoke at the SITA Air Transport IT Summit in Belgium, asking the IT partners to help innovate the air transport industry. He also explained that the IT already did and will continue on doing a great job with facilitating the operational efficiency.

Mark Starkov, President & CEO at HEBS Global provides advice as to how to understand and optimize several tools hotels use for bookings. We live in a world where mobile connectivity is on the rise with no fall in sight. More and more people are spending more time and money on and through these devices, and it is something that our travel and hospitality industries are booming from. In 2014, nearly 40% of web visitors and page views were credited to non-desktop computers. In terms of hotels, these devices can also account for over 20% of bookings and 17% of sleeping room nights. Between 2013 and 2014, hotel revenue generated via tablets more than doubled and booked over 77% more room nights than non-"pure" devices. These stats alone should have all hoteliers seeing opportunity. The world of e-commerce is allowing hoteliers and other travel companies to open up many revenue streams. Between DGS, OTAs, and CRM, we are able to reach a much wider audience and bring in an exponentially larger amount of business. These tools do not work for free, as there are often commissions or subscription fees these companies are compensated for. As valuable as these third-party tools are, it is equally important to invest in your direct-booking outlet. Booking direct business keeps the most money in your pocket. Not only will you get optimum rates, you will also save on commissions, referral fees, etc. Just imagine not having to pay a third-party commission of 10% of a $100,000 dollar piece of business. That's 10 thousand saved. Sometimes, when large corporate events are booked, there can be two referral services involved, resulting in 15% commission payout. In terms of direct vs. third-party business, a hotel could not survive on only one.

The role of travel agents has changed drastically over the last 30 years. When once you needed a travel agent to do all of your bookings for you, you now have access to all of these tools and can create your own travel experience. Therefore, today's travel agent needs to be tech savvy and must keep up with the trends and provide their clients with the most up to date travel information. They also must have an online presence, specifically social media that shows their "personality" and helps with marketing. As long as agents can keep up with the ever changing technologies, clients will go to agents for the "human touch" and real first hand experience.

In this article, lawyer, Mark Pestronk, expresses how competition between GDS offers from Sabre, Travelport and Amadeus are "the best" he's ever seen. According to Pestronk, Amadeus offers the best deals followed by Travelport then Sabre because of the GDS's size in the U.S market as well as its presence in the market. Pestronk also included how the penalty of using another GDS is decreasing today.

Currently Hotels are trying to maximize their direct bookings and minimize the use of GDS & travel agents. However, this may not be beneficial in the long run because the use of travel agents is on the rise again. Travel agents are not only valued for their expertise, but appeal to the luxury segment of travelers who will bring high rates.

This article was a great read, especially in conjunction with the others that were provided this week. It offers additional history on the GDS, where and why it was put together and how it evolved over time. I definitely enjoyed reading it for added knowledge on a topic that I was unaware of prior to this Module.

Very interesting article about the future holds for GDS with the advancements in technology. Due to many more direct bookings on airlines with the easy access on mobile phones, the GDS industry has been getting hurt. It shares data on how some travel agents are no longer using GDS and how GDS's are starting to accommodate sales of airline ancillary items and have been securing more content from low-cost carriers in order to stay put in the market and securing the billion dollar industry in fees it makes from airlines and hotels.

It is said the the central reservation system is essentially the core of reservations since the internet plays a huge part in making those reservations. It goes from property management systems, to the CRS which is then distributed to GDS's, wholesalers, or other viewing options. This allows the hotel to have profiles that can be viewed online by consumers and agents to get a feel for the services. Additionally, it is said that is allows for great visibility to attract more customers which allows for groups and blocks. It also allows the consumer to check around for competitors to ensure they are finding the best rates and deals. All in all, it connects the entire globe to reach a wider audience to maximize profit.