Computer reservation system

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A computer reservation system ( CRS ) is a mostly networked information system about prices, availability and booking options for trips such as flights , hotels , rental cars , ferries , cruises , trains , buses and package tours .

The term Global Distribution System ( GDS ) is mostly used. A global distribution system (GDS) is a medium with which travel agencies can query information and vacancies as well as record, process or book customer data and services. Typically, these are systems that perform an (information) logistic function. They keep current information about all available service providers ready and have the necessary infrastructure for data transmission. System participants are:

GDS
System participant
The most important service providers for the global systems are the scheduled airlines, which originally developed these systems. To complete the offer, the large hotel and rental car chains were included in the systems. There are also tour operators, cruise lines and rail companies. The distribution systems are no longer owned by the system participants.
System operator
The global distribution systems have the task of displaying products and tariffs as well as reserving travel services for all system participants. For this purpose, the systems have communication centers for global connection with system users. In addition, modern user interfaces facilitate the use of the systems. After several consolidations, there are only three global systems left: Amadeus , Galileo / Travelport and Saber .
System user
On the user side, the travel agents should be mentioned in particular. Their task is to convey all travel services to the end customer. The global systems are primarily used for this purpose. Today, end customers are also increasingly connected directly to GDS with the help of Internet Booking Engines (IBE). The travel agent does not have the information advantage.

background

In the travel industry it is common for travel agencies not to sell their own products , but merely to act as intermediaries on behalf of the tour operator . As sales representatives or brokers , travel agencies want to use as many service providers as possible (accommodation, catering and transport companies) in order to make attractive offers to their customers. This cannot be achieved with a travel agency's own computer system. A direct connection to the service providers would also be economically nonsensical, because several connections would then have to be switched in a travel agency in parallel if more than one service provider is to be offered. Apart from that, direct access to the different systems of the service providers, each with specific input masks, would be associated with an unmanageable need for training for the travel agency employees.

For this reason, computer reservation systems are used. Technically, these are implemented by connecting the data center of the CRS provider to many different service providers, through which the respective inquiries from the travel agencies are forwarded directly to the various providers. The entries are made via uniform and product-specific adapted masks, which apply to all connected service providers, whereby the training effort for the travel agencies is reduced to a minimum. The CRS also take on the billing of the costs incurred during a booking and, if necessary, the payment of incentives , i.e. remuneration of the service providers for the travel agencies. The CRS also provide evaluations for the travel agencies' back office systems and offer additional products to support sales processes.

With the increasing expansion of the Internet , the sometimes monopoly-like position of the CRS began to crumble. The CRS are trying to counter this with additional products (such as revenue management and geomarketing ) and services . In some cases, the CRS also buy or set up Internet portals in order to be able to use this sales channel for themselves.

Four computer reservation systems with significant market share have established themselves worldwide :

The distinction between the so-called CR (CRS) and GD (GDS) systems is not always very clear.

While the CRS mainly deals with the actual processing of the reservations (e.g. directly in the hotel), the Global Distribution Systems (GDS) are global databases that exclusively manage the reservation data. Without a suitable CRS, however, the GDS can usually not be accessed. With the large systems mentioned above, however, the transitions are often fluid, as both GDS and CRS are offered from a single source. Basically, however, there are different systems in the booking process.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.tourismus-it.de/