History of Travelport
A History of Innovation, Expansion and Diversification
Travelport has grown into today’s dynamic organisation through strategic initiatives. We have leveraged the benefits of proven and next-generation travel technologies, strengthened our global presence through growth and acquisition, and expanded and diversified our content.
In recent years, Travelport has become one of the world’s largest global distribution system (GDS) providers. We have introduced Travelport IT Services & Software™ for airlines, and acquired GTA, a tour wholesaler and world leader in ground travel products and services. As one of the largest and most diverse travel companies in existence today, Travelport is creating new possibilities and greater value for your organisation and every participant in travel – with a commitment to delivering the exceptional travel experiences demanded by travellers worldwide.
Architects of the World’s Largest Industry
Our internationally recognised GDS brands, Galileo and Worldspan, along with GTA, helped to shape and build the global travel and tourism industry – the world’s largest industry in terms of people and revenue. In the late 1970s, internal airline reservations systems gave way to the interactive travel services industry. Outgrowths of airline systems became capable of handling tens of millions of transactions a day for not just flights but also hotels, car rentals, tours, cruises, rail lines and products from every travel segment.
Known today as global distribution systems, or GDSs, these systems remain the most comprehensive and technologically advanced conduits for distributing and purchasing travel and related services worldwide. Travelport is proven in meeting the evolving needs of travel suppliers, travel agencies, corporations and the travelling public, and we remain a consistent thought leader and innovator.
A Growing Collection of Industry Firsts
Here are just a few of the significant contributions Travelport brands have made to the industry:
- First GDS to issue an e-ticket
- First GDS with Dynamic Connection Construction
- First GDS with a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for shopping and booking cars and hotels
- First GDS to move to 100 percent server-based technology for airfare shopping and pricing
- First GDS to fully automate fare data and rules from key global fare distributors
- First Airline IT Services provider to offer a customer self-service kiosk option for airlines
- First GDS to implement full Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) framework
- First GDS to blend GDS content with carrier-direct API content into one desktop application for its customers
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