Is China Fertile Ground for the GDS Model

Can the Traditional GDS Model Thrive in China’s Emerging Online Marketplace? November 15, 2009 American Airlines rocked the travel distribution world recently, when they announced at CASMA that they were bailing out of the GDS model. The announcement has triggered considerable speculation regarding what role the GDS will play in the future of travel distribution worldwide. Major GDS players are trying to determine how to react to the fast-changing online marketplace and the supplier-direct movement. For the Chinese market, there is still no firm timetable for opening the door to the international GDS players. China is changing, but it takes time. According to PhoCusWright’s Emerging Online Travel Marketplace in China, key components of the travel value chain in China—including the dominant CRS (TravelSky), airlines, travel retailers and the media—remain either tightly controlled or strongly influenced by the government. Indeed, even travelers’ decisions about where and when to take a trip...