There’s no denying it, the digital revolution of the past few years has changed the face of how hoteliers conduct their business. The ability to attract and connect with prospective visitors and post-visitors via websites, social media, apps and emails has afforded hotels opportunities like never before. And yet, that’s far from all.


Thanks to today’s digital technology, independent hotels are also able to tap into a network used by travel agents across the world, ensuring they’re in the mix when these thousands upon thousands of agents are looking to place hotel, air and car rental reservations for their clients.

The Global Distribution System (GDS) then acts as a lucrative reservation tool for hotels the world over because it can turn into a major revenue source for them. It works by connecting individual hotels with four global distribution channels – Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre and Worldspan – all of which are used by travel agents.

And, should a hotelier be introduced into the GDS via a respected and dependable partner like Digital Hotelier, then entry into the system will also open them up to major globally-operational travel management companies (TMCs). Between them, these companies and their regional consortia book in excess of $100 billion of corporate travel each year – often for the biggest businesses in the world.

Surely then it’s no surprise that GDS production’s year-on-year growth now stands at between 5% and 10% globally. It’s a hugely appealing revenue channel for any and every individual hotel that’s going from strength to strength. And if you’re still in doubt as to whether you want your property to become one of the GDS hotels or not, consider this:   

In which case, there’s no question that, should you run accommodation outside of a hotel chain, it’s absolutely in your interest to look closely at and consider joining the Global Distribution System; it could prove a significant revenue contributor and make for a major boost to your bottom line.