Single or multiple?

Central reservation systems have made tour operators and travel agents breathe easy with their integrated approach to airline and hotel bookings. But is the industry sticking with one preferred system or are they experimenting with multiple GDS systems? By Andrea Lopez

The travel and tourism sector has recorded phenomenal growth over the past couple of years. To counter this rapid proliferation, there was a time when technology became the watchword and the only way to handle mass bookings was through global distribution systems (GDSs) or central reservation systems (CRSs).

GDSs made their debut in the country in the airline ticketing business and even today, tour operators and travel agents rely almost entirely on integrated reservation systems to make individual and group bookings. Although the systems have become versatile to encompass hotels and cruises, 95 per cent of reservations still fall under the airline category. The leftover five per cent represents bookings from the 'non-air' segments, as they are often called.

Today, it is impossible for travel agents and tour operators to function without reservation systems. Before the advent of GDS and CRS systems, agents had to make-do with a cumbersome, manual method of airline reservations called the ABC procedure. In this system, the travel agents were provided with a schedule of all the airlines operating in the skies. Based on the schedule, they had to make telephonic reservations for hundreds of passengers.

Says, Thomas Pappachan, vice president (Outbound) of Harvey India, "The traditional system was extremely time-consuming. But then it wasn't that much of a problem, because travel was still a new industry and it wasn't as organised as it is now. Today, the situation has changed. A tour operator cannot function without a central reservation system."

When GDS systems came to India more than a decade ago (Amadeus was the first to make its presence felt in the country), tour operators went with a single system and stuck with it for years. As new players began to emerge in the market, the business of central reservations became more diverse and tour operators naturally wanted to experiment with the compatibility of more than one system.

Dual system processes

Forerunners in the business of reservations are Amadeus, Worldspan, Galileo and Sabre. Travel agents have their own preferences, some opting to work with single systems, others opting for a combination of systems.

Lalit Sheth, chairman and managing director of Raj Travel World, says, "We use only Amadeus systems. Not only is it efficient, but the systems are very user-friendly as well." Using single GDS systems is more of an exercise in brand loyalty than anything else. Meanwhile, Pappachan states that Harvey uses Galileo and Abacus systems "for the simple reason that it is more efficient to work with two systems rather than one".

Different systems have their own affiliations. For instance, the Abacus system has its leanings towards Singapore Airlines. Amadeus systems on the other hand work well with British Airways, Lufthansa and Alitalia. Using single systems is very restrictive because each system has its own set priorities and preferences. Experimenting with multiple systems enables tour operators to get a better perspective of the flight inventories.

Moreover, Pappachan comments that system failures can be tackled much better if one is working with dual systems. "Both systems are very efficient, but it's more of a matter of playing smart and safe. At the end of the day, the client shouldn't be in a tight spot when systems give up on us," he says.

The training provided by individual service providers also ensures that the internal workings of the systems are understood, so it isn't that multiple GDSs complicate the process. Moreover, all systems are generally user-friendly. Sudhir Patel, director of Strawberi Holidays, points out that it prefers working with a single system. "We at Kesari use only Abacus systems because we have proper tuning with the company and the choice of airline tickets we offer matches with the Abacus systems database. Ideally, it is advisable to use more than one system because it distributes tasks evenly and doesn't overload one system." GDSs are now digressing into the non-air segment as well, so much so that car rentals and hotel bookings can be done via central reservation.

Single or multiple finally stands out as being more of a matter of choice on the part of the tour operator. Dual systems offer more room for flexibility; on the other hand, single systems can build on their own brand value. But there is no denying that GDSs have revolutionised the reservation process. Patil says, "The systems themselves are being constantly upgraded and anyone can learn to use them. Whether tour operators choose to remain with single or dual systems, the overall efficiency of the system simplifies the reservation process."