Republic of the Philippines

STI College of Tarlac

Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management
STI Compound, Ninoy Aquino Blvd., Brgy. San Vicente, Tarlac City 2300

A TASK PERFORMANCE
In Partial Fulfillment on the Requirement for the Subject
Applied Business Tools and Technologies in Tourism

Submitted by:
Jessa M. Balatbat
BSTM 4A

Submitted to:
Kristelle Lei C. Andrade
College Instructor

November 2021
 GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS (GDS)
Did you know that you can book a flight, hotel room of your choice, even car rentals in an
instant through an electronic Global Distribution Systems (GDS) since the 1960s? GDS provides
real-time access to flights and hotel inventories for travel agent service providers anywhere in the
globe. It functions as a middleman between a travel agent and a hotel’s or airline’s central
reservation system, thus termed as the “legacy” of hotel technology in the travel industry
(Anonymous, n.d). As traced in world history, before the 1960s, the fastest way to make a hotel
reservation or book a flight was only making a phone call to the hotel or airline and the processing
could take up hours due to a lot of paper booking reports. Therefore, to be able to meet the
growing demand for both air travel and hotel accommodation, airlines and hotels developed their
own reservation systems to streamline the booking process.

MAJOR GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS (GDS) CURRENTLY USED IN THE TOURISM

INDUSTRY
There are different Global Distribution Systems that process the majority of data from
hotels, airlines, and other distributors. These includes Amadeus, Sabre (Abacus), Travelport
(Galileo, Apollo, Worldspan), and Travelsky.

• Amadeus
As described from majority of source, Amadeus is the largest GDS in the
world, which accounts for about 40% of GDS transactions, and is more popular in
the European region. It was founded in 1987 by Air France, Iberia, Lufthansa, and
Scandinavian Airline (SAS) where SAS later sold its share, and the three remaining
owns the organization publicly recognized. It is considered as the most versatile
GDS which consolidates around 490 airlines, 770,000 hospitality properties, 69 car
rental companies and transfer carriers in 42,000 locations, 43 railway carriers, and
53 cruise and ferry lines. Based on the research, the main area of Amadeus
distribution is the EMEA region that comprises of the European Region, Middle
East, and the Africa. In addition, both North and South America and the Asia-
Pacific region are popular equally.

• Sabre
Following the Amadeus, Sabre is the second largest GDS. It is one of the
leading technology and data-driven solutions provider that helps airlines, hotels
and travel agencies grow their businesses and transform the traveler experience
in greater heights. As seen as a pioneer for online travel agencies, corporate
booking tools, revenue management, and web and mobile itinerary tools. It
accounts for about 35% of travel agency bookings. There are around 175,000
hotels are connected to Sabre, its distribution channel consists of around 440
airlines, 50 railway carriers, 37 car rental companies across 40,000 destinations,
20 cruise lines, and exceeding a million of hotel properties. With its strong
background, it was able to descend from a computer reservation system that was
 initially developed by the American Airlines. Therefore, mostly serves the American
region. According to reports, in the Asia-Pacific region, Sabre was less popular
until it brought the largest GDS in Asia—Abacus. The EMEA region is the least
served of Sabre distribution.

a. Abacus

It was founded in 1988 and became the leading provider of travel

solutions and services in the Asia-Pacific region. It is then entitled as the
largest GDS in the APAC region. Abacus’ headquarters is in Singapore and
owned by Sabre holdings. It serves more than 100,000 travel agents across
the Asia-Pacific region’s 59 markets and earned both global and local
relationships with airlines and hotels.

• Travelport
As described in most studies, Travelport GDS collects and distributes information
channels on access to airlines, rails, cruises, and car rental companies. In addition, it
allows easy access on available hotels and tours. It is likely to be the only GDS equally
covers all directions and continents. It is equally represented in the American region,
even though there is a greater extent in South America, EMEA and the APAC region.
Its distribution channels combine 650,000 hotel properties, 400+ airline partners, 125
low-cost carriers, car rental units in over 38,000 locations, 50 cruise lines, and 19
railways carriers.

a. Galileo

It is based in Atlanta, Georgia USA, owned by Travelport GDS, forming

one significant part of their collective offering which, works alongside with
Apollo and Worldspan systems. Galileo GDS can be used to book hotel
rooms, airline tickets, cruises and car rentals. Furthermore, the Galileo
System was originally developed in 1987 by nine European airlines
including British Airways.

b. Apollo

Apollo system is the first computerized central reservation system of

Galileo that is rooted back in 1971. Apollo systems was then unified by
Galileo in 1992 and up to the modern times, now it is still used by Galileo
international (and now part of Travelport GDS) travel agency customers in
United States of America, Canada, Mexico, and Japan. It provides travel
distribution, technologies, and services for thousand of travel companies in
the world consisting of travel agencies, corporations, travel suppliers and
travel websites.
 c. Worldspan

It is a Travelport platform and is considered to be the technology-leader

in web-based travel eCommerce that offers solutions for all facets of travel
business online. As one of the leading GDS, it provides travel distribution,
technologies, and services for thousands of travel related companies in the
globe, including travel agencies, corporations, travel suppliers and travel
websites. In reports, it is stated that worldspan transforms global travel
distribution and transactions that process with industry-first fares, pricing,
shopping and booking technologies, and a portfolio of interactive shopping
tools that enables travel organizations to cost reduction, productivity
increase and building revenues.

• Travelsky

Travelsky is a state-run GDS in based in Beijing, China. It is the largest

GDS in China, it is the largest GDS in China and generates huge transactional
volumes in the APAC region which includes connections to all Chinese airlines,
that flies to all Chinese cities from all world destinations, as it creates the fastest
growing air passenger movement worldwide.
 In conclusion, there is no such thing as the “best” GDS or travel service provider since
each of them provides similar functionalities and have their own unique differences. But, in most
reports and studies there are currently four highly recognized and widely used in the tourism
industry, these are: Amadeus, Sabre, and the Galileo and Worldspan though under Travelport
has made their way to stand out as two in the four of the leading travel service providers
worldwide.
 ADVANTAGES OF USING GDS
For the airlines:
✓ Heightened Airline Passengers’ Total Experience

As smartphones, internet, and different online platforms starts to prevail, airline

passengers are more connected to their carriers all the time, which enables the ability
for modern conveniences wherein it heightens clients’ experience as airlines are now
able to process their requests, and all their information in the most time-saving
approach.
✓ Convenient transactions
A client can just make a direct call and process a reservation by him/herself with
an airline attendant. With the seat of his/her choice, cabin-class, and the like. On the
part of the airline, they can process huge volume of reservations all at once since
there is GDS channels as their platforms to process each of the
✓ Increased sales
With the clients experiencing the efficiency of airline processing, it helps the
airlines increase their sales. As they have the opportunity to maximize their profit as
the availability of world travel are now open more than ever, because through GDS
channels it can link one airline to another letting both airlines’ gains profit.

For the tour operators:

✓ Bundling options for travel needs
Another advantage of using a global distribution system for tour operators, is
that they are able to bundle travel deals for the clients’ trip. It gives them the flexibility
to design travels and trips for their clients needs and wants. For instance, tour
operators can process an ad-hoc for a client which s/he can process in a single entry
in a GDS s/he uses.
✓ Increase access to hotels, airlines, and travel agencies
As GDS provides the tour operators convenience, so instead of having
someone on staff to take care of individual call reservations, one person can process
all the necessary things for a client’s travel arrangement in one single transaction.

✓ Instant updates
Through the GDS, the tour operators have access to live rates and availability,
and they can easily book rooms for their clients. The number of bookings that are
generated through a GDS generally outpaces that of direct bookings.
For the travel agencies:
✓ Increase sales
Travel agencies generates more revenue through a GDS because it places
the airlines and hotel’s information, availability, and rates in prominent locations where
it is easy for travel agents to find. It helps them maximize their bookings during any
given time period while also reaching powerful travel markets that are willing to spend
money in order to book the best services available and are based on client’s
preference or request.
✓ Convenient transactions
They can make the client’s reservation and each of their requests more
captivating as they have access to a wide variety of options through GDS channels.
In which, they can align more their service to their client’s need and wants.
✓ Growth opportunities
More travel agencies are now relying on the GDS platforms to find the best
places for their clients to stay. Based on research, every year, more travel agencies
realizes that this is the best way to easily connect with hotel properties from around
the globe.
 THE FUTURE OF GDSs
The GDSs has been a significant platform for the travel and hospitality operations for
decades. It is a worldwide computerized reservations network used as a single point of access
for airline seat reservations, hotel rooms, and car rentals, and a lot more tourism and hospitality
services. In research, in year 2005 it has reached about 90 percent of agents who used GDS
platforms. However, many technological advancements such as the World Wide Web (WWW)
and a continuous smartphones development up until now allows consumers in buying air tickets
directly from airlines, they can book themselves hotel rooms of their choice and check the
availability themselves, it also gives them the opportunity to create their own travel arrangements
in which they can have a much more suited travel package for their preference. The question that
lies here then is that “would it be the sign for an end in GDS relevance, or will it reinvent itself and
continue to prosper as a useful platform?”
As described by Stein (2021) GDSs platforms are not good for most people—it is not user-
friendly. It is not as efficient as online travel booking sites where users can rifle through plenty of
choices, then do price comparisons, and click on what they want. Using a GDS is a technical skill,
and definitely hard to manipulate. To be able to learn using it, it takes intense training, and to
become proficient would take tons of practice and constant use. In addition, there is the hip side
of the GDSs, which people will eventually call “point and click” or GUI (Graphical User Interface)
which is a more intuitive version of the GDS platforms. There are some GDS organizations that
starts developing simpler versions of the traditional GDS. Examples such as Sabre Red
Workspace and TravelPort Smartpoint, but why does not everyone use it? Because the problem
is, as its current phase of development, the GUI interface is not quite there yet, thus it spits back
to the user a cryptic type and command lines the same ways the traditional GDS platforms works.
In conclusion, the existence of a more profound search engines in relation for the
openness of the World Wide Web solely imposes a threat for GDS relevance. As this starts
becoming as an alternative distribution channel. Aside from the consumers themselves, it can be
an alternative for travel agents and operators so they will not need to pay expensive payments
for GDS platform access. As the consumers of today demands more value and convenience
which then helps shaping the role of WWW in an expectation of displacing the GDS as the main
distribution channels for travel bookings and arrangements. In another side of the equation
though, GDS providers are increasing focus on technology to offer seamless booking transactions
if they will be able to do it successfully, despite the threat of the World Wide Web the GDS market
has the potential to grow at an above-average pace up until year 2027. In accordance to a recent
study conducted by Transparency Market Research (TMR), GDS have been bridging gaps tour
operators and travelers made conveniently through a “centralized service” which covers the
totality of travel operations.
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