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FROM COMPUTER RESERVATION SYSTEMS TO GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS
- Lesson 3 -
Angelina Njeguš, PhD Associate Professor at Singidunum University
Belgrade - Serbia, 2013
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
Table of Contents
Introduction to Computer Reservation Systems
Typical CRS Functions
Evolution of CRS
Global Distribution Systems
GDS Organisations
Challenges for CRS/GDS
Big Data
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
What is CRS?
Computer Reservation System (CRS) is an information system that promotes sales and provides fast and accurate information about availability, price and bookings of tourism products and services
Originally CRSs were developed to facilitate business transactions and bookings related to air travel
Later, CRSs were extended for the use of travel agencies, hotels, and other tourism and hospitality businesses to manage their inventory and allow direct access through terminals to check for availability, make reservations and issue tickets
Today, CRSs are of high importance for travel and tourism industry with the main focus on direct reservations (e.g. directly in the hotel)
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
CRS History
CRS is the first information system that was used in tourism industry
Primarily was used as inventory-control system by airlines
In 1962 American Airlines introduced SABRE (Semi-Automated Business Research Environment) the first commercial CRS, developed by IBM, that was used for:
generating flight plans for the aircraft
tracking spare parts
scheduling crews ...
Figure: SABRE Reservation system in 1960s (Venema, 2011)
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
Typical CRS Functions
Flight schedule information
Days and times for flights operated by the airline
Availability information
Seat availability on a flight by service class (i.e. Economy, business, first class)
Fare quotes
A consolidated fare for an itinerary based on flight, day, time, service class and passenger types chosen
Reservation information
Seat bookings
Ticketing information
Generating and storing tickets
Refunds and cancellations
Cancellation of existing reservations and tickets
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
Evolution of CRS
In the 1970s and 80s multiple CRSs came up
The growth of air traffic expanded CRS
In order to distribute up-to-date information to all potential customers worldwide and to support the operation and administration of airlines, CRS evolves from the central to the distribution system
In the mid 1980s, CRS developed into much more comprehensive global distribution system (GDS) offering a wide range of tourism products and providing the backbone mechanism for communication between actors in tourism industry
Source: Dennis, 2012.
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
Travel Agent before GDSs
Travel agent required individual connections to airlines
If airlines used different mainframe systems, travel agent had to use and be trained on different mainframe clients
Searches and reservations were performed separately on individual airline CRSs
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
Travel Agent after GDSs
Source: Introduction to Airline Reservation Systems, 2009.
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
From CRS to GDS
Among the first non-North American CRS, that was developed jointly by Air France, Lufthansa, Iberia and SAS in 1987, was Amadeus
Source: Schulz, 1996
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
Global Distribution Systems - GDS
Besides air products, today GDSs provide access to:
Car rentals
Hotel booking
Packaged holidays
Cruises and ships
Railways
Local road transport ...
GDS enable clients to compare, and access information about travel, leisure, and other tourism related information from various tourism service providers
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
What is GDS?
GDS is an integrated information system and communication channel that:
incorporates all travel services
connects service providers with end users
providing information from all segments of the journey
allows booking and selling of the required services
Today GDS is:
the most cost effective tool for buyers of business travel to manage the complexity of supply
more than just a reservation tool - integrates the core business processes of tourism businesses and therefore increase their productivity, speed, and performance
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
Major GDSs in operation today
Sabre
Amadeus
Travelport (the umbrella company for the Galileo, Apollo, and Worldspan)
Figure: GDS Bookings Worldwide market share (Amadeus, 2009)
37%
30%
29%
4%
Amadeus
Sabre
Travelport
Abacus
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
Sabre
Founded in 1964 by American Airlines and IBM Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, USA
Used by www.expedia.com, www.lastminute.com, www.travelocity.com ...
Source: Sabre Pacific, 2013.
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
Overview of Sabre solutions
Sabre Travel Network - solutions for the travel industry
Sabre Airline Solutions - solutions for the air transportation industry
Sabre Hospitality Solutions - solutions for the hospitality industry
Travelocity - online travel company
Source: Sabre Hospitality Solutions, 2013.
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
Amadeus
Founded in 1987 by Air France, Iberia, Lufthansa and SAS
Headquartered in Madrid, Spain
Largest booking share in Europe
Used by www.expedia.com, www.opodo.com, www.flights.com ...
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
Overview of Amadeus’ principal IT solutions offering
Amadeus Full Altéa Suite (PSS)
Airline IT
Other IT solutions
Other airline IT
Reservation Inventory Departure control e-Commerce
Global services
Revenue integrity,
e-ticket server
Non-air
Hotel IT
Airport
IT Rail
IT
Source: Amadeus, 2012.
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
Galileo Today under Travelport GDS
Founded in 1993 by 11 major North American and European airlines Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Used by www.orbitz.com, www.hotwire.com and others
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
Worldspan Today under Travelport GDS
Founded in 1990 by Delta Airlines, Northwest Airlines and Transworld Airlines
Merged with Galileo in 2006
Source: Travelport, 2013.
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
Estimated air market share gain (2000-2012)
Source: Amadeus, 2013.
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
Travel Distribution Chain
Source: ETTSA, 2010.
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
CRS Architecture
Source: TechTuners, 2013.
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
GDS Organisations
In order to promote fair competition and to ensure that consumers do not receive inaccurate or misleading information on travel services, it is necessary to have regulations on GDS
Organisations work together with governments, and other relevant authorities to help define the correct regulatory framework for the travel and transport industry
There are several organisations, such as:
IATA - International Air Transport Association
ICAO - International Civil Aviation Organization
ETTSA - European Technology and Travel Services Association
ATPCO - Airline Tariff Publishing Company
IATAN - International Airlines Travel Agent Network
SITA - Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques
and many others
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
IATA International Air Transport Association
Trade association for the world’s airlines
Representing around 240 airlines or 84% of total air traffic
Formed on 1945
Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Supports many areas of aviation activity and helps formulate industry policy and standards on critical aviation issues, such as:
Security of passengers and cargo
Airline safety
Airline revenues
Infrastructure issues
Chargers and economic regulation and taxation
Fuel
Airline distribution
Environment ...
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
ETTSA European Technology and Travel Services Association
Promote the interests of GDSs and travel distributors and support full transparency, fair competition and consumer choice in the travel distribution chain
Launched in 2009
Based in Brussels
Members are Amadeus, ebookers, Expedia, Odigeo (and its brands eDreams, GoVoyages, Opodo and Travelink), Sabre (including its affiliate lastminute.com), and Travelport.
ETTSA’s main activities include:
Engaging in policy-making
Providing insight and information
Reporting new developments
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
SITA Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques
IT company specialized in providing IT and telecommunication services to air transport and related industries
Founded in 1949 by 11 airlines in order to bring about shared infrastructure cost efficiencies by combining their communications networks
Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland
Almost every airline, airport, air cargo, and aerospace use some kind of SITA’s business solutions
SITA solutions for:
Airport, aircraft, baggage, cargo operations
Passenger operations
Transportation security
Communications and infrastructure
Commercial management ...
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
Challenges for CRS/GDS
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
Problems of Big Data
Analysis from Google shows that the typical traveller uses 22 websites to research a trip, in multiple shopping sessions, before booking
The growth of Cloud, Mobile and Social Computing leads to the fact that organisations are flooded by:
Huge volume of data
High velocity of data
Variety of data
Digital content will grow to 8ZB by 2015
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
The physical size of Big Data
Name Symbol Binary Decimal
byte B 20=1 byte 100=1
kilobyte KB 210=1.024 byte (B) 103=1.000
megabyte MB 220=1.048.576 B 106=1.000.000
gigabyte GB 230=1.073.741.824 B 109=1.000.000.000
terabyte TB 240=1.099.511.627.776 B 1012=1.000.000.000.000
petabyte PB 250=1.125.899.906.842.624 B 1015=1.000.000.000.000.000
exabyte EB 260=1.152.921.504.606.846.976 B 1018=1.000.000.000.000.000.000
zettabyte ZB 270=1.180.591.620.717.411.303.424 B 1021=1.000.000.000.000.000.000.000
yottabyte YB 280=1.208.925.819.614.629.174.706.176 B 1024=1.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000
brontobyte BB 290=1.237.940.039.285.380.274.899.124.224 B 1027=1.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000
geopbyte GeB 2100=1.267.650.600.228.229.401.496.703.205.376 B 1030=1.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000
Bit (b) – 0 or 1
Byte (B) – 8 bits
Kilobyte (KB) – 1024 bytes
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
Big Data sources
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
What is Big Data?
Source: Informatika. Available at: http://www.informatica.com/us/vision/harnessing-big-data/
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
Prof. dr Angelina Njeguš
References
1. Markiewicz, P. (2013) Computer History – Mainframe Era (1944-1978). Available at: http://plyojump.com/classes/mainframe_era.php (accessed: 17.07.2013)
2. Venema, M. (2011). Global Distribution Systems (GDS). Edutour – Education for Tourism. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/magielsr/gds-overview-1232798141856259-2-2359117 (accessed: 18.07.2013)
3. Introduction to Airline Reservation Systems. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/mave_boy/introduction-to-airline-reservation-systems-1237705 (Accessed: 17.07.2013)
4. Dennis, B. (2012). Hospitality Internet Booking Engines & Central Reservation Systems: A thought-piece concerning online reservation technology for the hospitality industry. Buuteeq, Seattle, WA.
5. Schulz, A. (1996). The Role of Global Computer Reservation Systems in the Travel Industry Today and in the Future. Electronic Markets, 6(2). Available at: http://aws.iwi.uni-leipzig.de/em/fileadmin/user_upload/doc/Issues/Volume_06/Issue_02/The_Role_of_Global_Computer_Reservation.pdf (accessed 17.07.2013)
6. Amadeus (2012). Corporate presentation 2012. PowerPoint presentation. Amadeus.
7. Sabre Pacific (2013). Sabre online enhancements power increased productivity. Travel Blackboard. Available at: http://www.etravelblackboard.com/article/143630/sabre-online-enhancements-power-increased-productivity (accessed: 18.07.2013)
8. Sabre Hospitality Solutions (2013). Central Reservation System (CRS). Sabre. Available at: http://www.sabrehospitality.com/central-reservation-systems.php (accessed 18.07.2013)
9. Travelport (2013). Travelport GDS Privacy Policy. Available at: http://www.travelport.com/Privacy-Policy/Travelport%20GDS (accessed: 18.07.2013)
10. Amdekar, J., Padmanabhuni, S. (2006). Future of Travel & Tourism Industry with the adoption of Web Services in Electronic Distribution. Infosys. Available at: http://www.infosys.com/industries/hospitality-leisure/white-papers/Documents/webservices-adoption-travel-tourism.pdf (accessed 18.07.2013)
11. ETTSA (2010). Technology and Independent Distribution in the European Travel Industry. PhoCusWright . Available at: http://www.ettsa.eu/uploads/documents/ETTSA_Study_2010_Single_Pages.pdf (accessed 18.07.2013)
12. TechTuners (2013). T-RES. Available at: http://www.techtuners.com/TRES.aspx (accessed 18.07.2013)
13. Davenport, T.H. (2013). At the Big Data Crossroads: Tuning towards a smarter travel experience. Amadeus IT Group. Available at: http://www.bigdata.amadeus.com/assets/pdf/Amadeus_Big_Data.pdf (accessed 18.07.2013)
14. Videcom (2013). GDS Distribution. Videcom Airline Reservation Systems. Available at: http://www.videcom.com/airline-global-distribution-systems.aspx (accessed 18.07.2013)
15. Amadeus (2013). Amadeus Introductory presentation. Available at: http://www.investors.amadeus.com/media/files/english/column_boxes/Introductory Presentation (long form) February 2013.pdf (accessed 18.07.2013)