History of Computerised Reservation Systems
The early development of Computerised Reservation Systems began in the 1950s, when American Airlines partnered with IBM, and the first Computerised Reservation System was implemented by American Airlines in 1962 (known as ‘Semi-Automated Business Research Environment’, or ‘SABRE’). Originally developed, owned and operated by airlines itself, the use of Computerised Reservation Systems had been extended to travel agents as an irreplaceable distribution tool.
Before the development of Computerised Reservation Systems, only airline carriers or travel agents sold airline tickets. The travel agent would question the traveler an then turn to the Official Airline Guide (a book containing carrier schedules and fare information). The travel agent would then determine the flights and carriers that could best fit the customer’s needs. As you can see, ticket distribution used to be quite complex before the introduction of Computerised Reservation Systems.
What is the difference between Computerised Reservation Systems and a Global Distribution Systems?
The European Commission states that “Computerised Reservation Systems are also known as ‘Global Distribution Systems“. This perception is not entirely correct. A Global Distribution System (GDS) is a computerised network system that enables transactions between travel industry service providers (i.e. airlines, hotels and travel agencies).
While Computerised Reservation Systems are solely responsible for the inventory management (available seats = inventory; so broadly speaking ‘inventory management’ means the selling of seats), Global Distribution Systems combine the inventory management systems of multiple Computerised Reservation Systems from major airlines. Thus, Global Distribution Systems operate the Computerised Reservation System and provide access to all reservation systems.
Although, Computerised Reservation Systems have evolved into Global Distribution Systems over the years that host inventory of multiple airlines and other modes of travel and travel related associated services, airline transportation is still the most important travel service sold through these systems.