The demise of the global distribution system (GDS) has long been predicted
but Kurt Ekert, CEO and president of Sabre, doesn’t see it happening.
Speaking recently at The Phocuswright Conference in Phoenix, Ekert shrugged off the threat, bringing up an
analogy with the retail sector.
“I can buy Nike sneakers on Amazon. Nike is
a pretty good brand. Why does Nike distribute through Amazon? Because some
people choose Amazon as their channel and I think consumers are going to still choose
the channel in which they want to shop… I think the opportunity for
intermediaries to still hold an important part in the ecosystem is not going to
change,” he said.
PhocusWire executive editor, Linda Fox also asked Ekert about the threat from artificial intelligence, but he said he still saw a role for the GDS, which he said would remain “the highest yielding, most efficient conversion channel
in the world.”
“Are [consumers] still going to go to
Google, to the OTA, to the airline or walk into a brick and mortar travel agent?
Yes but maybe large tech platforms that don't play in travel today will be able
to capture some of that,” he said.
Ekert said that the company had burned
through a lot of cash but is positive about the future, forecasting a doubling
of earnings between 2023 and 2025 with the corporate sector, hotels and digital
payments as drivers.
SabreMosaic, the company’s cloud-native,
modular offer and order system, is also winning accolades in the industry for
its architecture, he said.
“We have
more in production with the solution than anybody else that's introduced a
similar platform and over time this will replace the traditional or legacy PSS [passenger service system] platforms.”
He also touched on Sabre's recent sale of booking tool GetThere to Serko, whether Sabre is returning to its distribution core and challenges in his role.
Watch the full session below.
Executive Interview: Fast Forward