Imagine that you are going to reserve a foreign flight for a specific route with your preferred airline and you enter various travel agency and reservation websites. You click and wait for the page to display the results of flights with their prices and specifications. As you are reviewing various websites, you realize that only a handful of sites have some flights and they are not displayed on other sites! As a traveler, you may not know the reasons for not displaying flights, but one of the main reasons for this is that the travel agency does not have access to one of the GDSs. GDS, or in other words, the Global Distribution System, is a reputable network and platform of a set of tourism services such as various flights, hotels, rental cars, etc. Some travel agencies, by signing a contract with them, gain access to all the aggregated services in it and the possibility of sharing travel service information with travelers or other agencies arises for them.

As we mentioned, GDSs were created to facilitate and diversify the provision of tourism services for travel agencies. Given the need for travel agencies for online sales and simultaneous and intelligent access to various travel services, various GDSs have been offered in the market, some of which have been recognized by many agencies. The story of using the Global Distribution System and the move to create such a transformative platform dates back to the early 1970s when GDSs, as the first travel technology companies in the world, boosted B2B sales in the tourism businesses. In fact, the airlines aggregated in the GDSs realized that by automating the reservation process for travel agencies, they could change their productivity and sales and, in a way, used them as a double sales force for their tickets, ultimately accelerating the process of converting TAs (Travel Agencies) to OTAs (Online Travel Agencies).

If we want to say it very easily and clearly, GDSs are formed by the aggregation of several CRSs that ultimately provide services to travel agencies. In fact, CRS is a web-based computer software system used by travel agencies and tourism management companies to retrieve and store information and manage transactions of air travel, hotels, and other travel-related activities. In fact, CRSs provide users with the ability to cancel reservations, check capacity, and get various reports related to completed transactions. CRS was initially designed for the use of airline services, but over time it was used by travel agencies and Global Distribution Systems (GDS). Among the prominent Central Reservation Systems in Iran, we can mention Maqim and Sepehr,

which have also been implemented by the BasisFly company.

GDSs provide customers and travelers of tourism companies with the ability to easily access the desired travel information, alternatives, or even a better option, and compare them. Access to various Global Distribution Systems means a fuller and more diverse sales basket, and for the customer, it means more choice power, which overall leads to increased competition in the tourism market.

Among the GDSs that are active in the tourism industry, we can mention a few well-known and popular ones that many users use.

Amadeus

Sabre

Travelport

Pegasus

Without a doubt, Amadeus is one of the most popular and also the largest GDSs available in the tourism industry market. With over 30 years of experience, it is responsible for providing practical solutions to airlines, travel agencies, tour operators, and other companies active in the tourism industry, ultimately improving the quality and experience of travelers' trips. Currently, more than ninety thousand travel agencies around the world use the Amadeus system. Users of the Amadeus system can use the services of airlines, car rental companies, cruise and ship lines, hotels, chain hotels, tour operators, railways, and travel insurance companies. It should be noted that the use of the Amadeus system for Iranians is limited due to sanctions, and all its services are not accessible.

Another well-known and widely used GDS among travel agencies worldwide is Sabre, which is one of the strongest Global Distribution Systems currently providing a variety of B2B solutions and services to tourism companies. As an advanced and pioneering system in the travel technology industry, Sabre provides other important and efficient services to help OTAs, such as shared reservation tools, revenue management systems, and web-based travel planning tools.

Travelport is another prominent GDS in the electronic tourism industry. It is responsible for distributing travel services such as hotels, flights, tours, etc., to thousands of travel companies, suppliers, and tourism service websites around the world. In essence, agencies, by connecting to this large system, have a much more abundant travel basket and can offer more services to their customers.

Pegasus also strives to eliminate friction and transaction barriers and simplify the process for travel agencies. Pegasus Solutions is another pioneer in the electronic tourism industry, especially hotel reservations. As we mentioned earlier, this company provides services such as distribution management, sales and marketing, hotel capacity or inventory, rate management, and content.

Both yes and no! In a way, it can be said that it depends on many factors. Some companies, due to sanctions and various conditions, provide limited services and do not cooperate, and also connecting to some GDSs and implementing it on the agency's website has its own complexities! However, some suppliers, in cooperation with the BasisFly company, have managed to implement it on their website and are currently providing services to their business partners and travelers. If you also intend to sell online and easily and, in a sense, turn your TA into a professional OTA, register your information in the demo request section so that colleagues can contact you as soon as possible.