Used correctly, Global Distribution Systems (GDS) can help your hotel reach over 700,000+ global Travel Agents (TAs) as they select the right properties for their clients. This is because GDS is used by TAs and Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) to book hotels, offer real-time availability of rooms, rates, and dates. But getting the most out of your GDS can often be more difficult than it should be.
This week, I sat down with Sally Ramos, Vice President of Implementation and Consortia Services at SHR, for a view from the beginning of the GDS journey; implementations. Whether you are switching to a new CRS or just trying to improve your current experience, here are three areas you can tackle today to start moving GDS in your favor.
#1 Take an Active Role in GDS from Day One
Like many things in life, getting the most from your GDS is easiest when done right way in the beginning. This means working with a provider who knows what questions to ask. When you are moving to a new CRS, for example, your provider should ask you if you are heavy on the negotiated consortia side of your business. If you are, they should tell you to start collecting those rate loading instructions for your GDS channel early on so they can make sure that they have all those rates loaded on GDS for you upfront.
“From a hotel’s perspective, they’re thinking about the more tangible everyday tasks of shifting from one provider to another,” Sally explained. “So, it’s not on their minds that they could lose revenue via the GDS.” What can you do to keep this from happening? It all comes down to planning. “If hotels can collect all of the rate loading instructions, then give them to their provider up front, all those accounts can be loaded into the GDS and the switch will be successful with nothing dropped,” she said.
From that point, your GDS team should contact each account individually to let them know that the account for this hotel is moving to a new GDS chain code, and what needs to be done in order to continue accessing that account. “There’s a lot of urgency with OTAs,” Sally said, “There should be the same urgency for GDS if you want to keep your revenues flowing in the right direction.”
