GDS - The major players

There are 3 main global players each claiming to be the leaders globally. They are listed below with brief description.

Amadeus is better known as System One in North America.

Axess (Japan) , Infini (Japan) use Sabre in Asia.

Travelport is better know as Apollo, Galileo or Worldspan by the Travel Agents that use them under these names.

Amadeus is one of the major global GDS but have moved away from describing themselves as such in their marketing. Amadeus now markets as a 'technolgy service provider to the global tourism industry'. Amadeus provides the technology which keeps the travel sector moving - from initial search to making a booking, from pricing to ticketing, from managing reservations to managing check-in and departure processes.

Amadeus products and solutions help the business performance of for their customers; travel agencies, corporations, airlines, ground handlers, hotels, railways, car rental companies, airports, cruise lines and ferry operators.

At the heart of Amadeus approach is innovation. Amadeus invested €414.1 million in R&D (Research & Development) in 2012, a total equal to 14.2% of our total revenues. Amadeus has been ranked 1st for R & D investment in the travel and tourism sector by the EC (European Commission) in their 2013 'EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard'.

For more information visit www.amadeus.com

Sabre is a technology solutions provider to the US$6.6 trillion 2014 travel industry. Sabre technology and data-driven solutions helps airlines, hotels and travel agency customers grow their businesses and transform the traveler experience. Sabre services online travel agencies, corporate booking tools, revenue management, and web and mobile itinerary tools, to name a few. Sabre offers the travel industry a broad range of technology solutions including, data-driven business intelligence, mobile, distribution and Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions, used by travel suppliers and buyers to plan, market, sell, serve and operate their businesses.

For more information at www.sabre.com

Check the following video to see how Sabre can be used by Travel Agents worldwide.

Travelport is another of the big 3 and powers the travel industry on a global scale by connecting buyers and sellers through agency, online and corporate travel channels.

With a presence in over 170 countries, approximately 3,500 employees and a 2013 net revenue of more than 2.076 billion U.S. dollars, Travelport is comprised of the global distribution system (GDS) business, which includes the Worldspan™ and Galileo™ GDS platforms, its Airline IT Solutions business and a joint venture ownership of eNett™. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, Travelport is a privately owned company.

For more information visit www.travelport.com