In 2008, Travelport achieved revenues of $2.5 billion. It is one of the world’s largest travel conglomerates offering broad based business services to companies within in the global travel industry – it operates in about 160 countries and has over 5,500 employees. RABIH SAAB is the Middle East vice president for Travelport, and is responsible for setting the company’s sales, marketing and product strategies in the region. He writes for TTN
With the impact of the global economic crisis taking its toll, travel providers are increasingly looking to their GDS partners to help them achieve success in a challenging marketplace. It has become clear that an effective travel technology platform – equipped with the right tools - can help deliver value, enhance efficiency and ultimately, boost the bottom line.
In fact, these days travel suppliers are not only aggressively looking for ways to reduce costs, but are exploring opportunities to create business synergies through existing channels such as the GDS. In uncertain economic times, the industry is becoming ever more aware of the need to adopt best technology practices that ensure long-term sustainability and growth.
Much like the wider travel industry, the GDS space has matured and evolved, and the changing landscape around us is helping shape the way we design and deliver our products. The focus is to develop customized solutions that enable the trade to grow their businesses more effectively, while addressing some of the complexities of operating in the industry today.
The need to remain profitable in tough times has prompted us to take a closer look at how travel agencies are managing their fees, particularly in a reduced commission environment. Fee management products such as Galileo Fee Manager are one way they can find new income streams in order to create incremental revenue.
Operating in a dynamic environment has also created a need for flexible solutions which can support business processes.
Whether its producing customized itineraries or tailoring to special requests, non-GDS based add-ons such as scripts can help agencies reach their goals by building highly customized software components that can handle their unique requirements.
The latest agency management tools also provide powerful tracking capabilities, including the ability to record and access reports through the web. Our e-tracker and Journey Reporter tools are a couple of the travel tracking solutions on the market that are increasing efficiency by enabling agents to monitor the status of passengers and tickets in real-time.
Apart from customized portal applications, access to competitive shopping tools is playing a major role in a travel provider’s value proposition. The low fare search engines currently being rolled out on the market such as e-Pricing employ sophisticated fare caching technology that maximizes results and generates price savings that empower travel buyers.
Still, the full strength of the GDS remains untapped and will continue to expand into further levels of customization. Third party applications and merchandising are just some of the exciting opportunities that the new generation systems can bring and are components of the upcoming Travelport Universal Desktop (TUD) – where we believe the future of travel technology lies.
The GDS is no longer simply a customer-facing platform, but rather an integral part of the business, with comprehensive technologies wielding the ability to streamline both a travel agency’s mid and back office operations. Agencies of all sizes are discovering the benefits of an integrated platform which complements their entire operation.
We are constantly looking ahead to see where the industry is headed in order to develop relevant travel applications that can meet the trade’s unique needs. With smart, value-added solutions, you can successfully build an arsenal of tools that can help lay the foundation for long-term success.
The future of the GDS industry is exciting and we will continue to re-invent ourselves by staying at the forefront of technology and keeping our pulse on the market. Most importantly, we look forward to raising the bar with cutting-edge solutions that ensure travel suppliers are well equipped to maximize their potential and win.