Not Apple or Google, I'm A PC says Amadeus boss

Tim Russell, UK & Ireland managing director of travel technology and GDS supplier Amadeus, says his company is most similar to Microsoft than the arguably more glamorous Apple or Google.

Tnooz thought it would be interesting to found out how the boss of a travel tech firm with two major competitors would compare his company to that trio of IT giants, Google, Microsoft and Apple.

After much stroking of the chin, Russell went for the stalwart of software and dominating presence on desktop operating systems.

Russell, who joined the UK & Ireland team in 2009 after nearly ten years with the company in Australia, says in Amadeus's early days the fledgling GDS would "definitely have been Google as we were the upstart in the marketplace".

It probably depends country-by-country but Amadeus is well established in the UK and Europe now, Russell says.

So with Amadeus sidling up with Microsoft it then leaves Sabre and Travelport to fight over who positions themselves with either Google or Apple.

Some might argue that this is where the comparisons should end given that the GDSs have a famously Jurassic reputation (Microsoft anyone?) and any of the trio that likens themselves to Google or Apple is possibly a few clicks short of a viewdata screen.

But despite the enduring image of the GDSs within the travel tech community, new research illustrates the power that the GDSs still hold over much of the industry.

A PhoCusWright report commissioned by Interactive Travel Services Association paints a pretty rosy picture in terms of income generated by the GDSs.

• GDS companies powered more than US$268 billion in worldwide travel revenue in 2008 through 1.1 billion transactions - or more than 2,100 transactions per minute.
• Travel revenue powered by GDSs in the US rose from US$93.6 billion in 2006 to US$98.2 billion in 2007 and US$98.7 billion in 2008, despite the recession.
• GDSs also account for a significant portion of all European travel revenue, with 21% of all revenue and 47% of airline bookings in 2008.
• GDS companies power the reservations and technology infrastructure for more than 163,000 travel agency locations and nearly half a million travel agents worldwide.
• The GDSs provide access to more than 550 airlines, 90,000 hotel properties, 30,000 car rental locations, and hundreds of major tour operators and cruise lines.
• The three major GDS companies, Amadeus, Sabre, and Travelport, had combined corporate revenue of US$9.624 billion in 2008 and employ more  than 23,000 people.

Jay Campbell of The Beat remarks darkly that the report is more of a primer ahead of the much-rumoured IPOs all three are believed to be considering.

Indeed the publication of such a glowing report is remarkably well-timed and will no doubt help woo potential investors pondering how big the marketplace really is.

The report still leaves many questions unanswered.

• Is the GDS sector growing by virtue of better (more profitable) relationships with airlines, hotels and intermediaries?
• Is the new or substantial growth going to come only from developing technology away from the core GDS business (reservation or connect systems)?
• Is "full-content" ever going to be REAL full-content when it comes airlines and ancillary services?

Some in the sector believe that even some of the most vociferously anti of the airlines in the industry (such as Ryanair) will eventually come to the fold, seeing the GDS as a value proposition for product distribution rather than an irksome old and annoying relative.

If they do then the GDS sector will have more than a rosy future - and, if the trio throw even more of their revenues back into R&D, they may even be brave enough to liken themselves to the much envied Googles and trendy Apples of the world.