EXCLUSIVE - Travolution to create GDS
In years to come industry commentators will remember where they were the day Travolution announced its intention to move into the GDS space by teaming up with start-up Lirpaloof.com.
So here's a bit of a heads-up...
After at least six months in the planning, under the guise of arranging the finer details of our forthcoming Awards and Summit, Travolution publishing director Simon Ferguson and I have been in top-level discussions with Lirpaloof.com to launch what we believe could be the first serious challenge to the stranglehold of the major GDSs.
Much has been made of the so-called mini or Smart-GDSs, but Travolution-Lirpaloof.com's plan, known as Project Baba, will revolutionise the process further.
The partnership will draw on the skills of both companies: Travolution will be able to work with its vast array of contacts within the airline industry to negotiate favourable distribution rates for fares.
Lirpaloof.com will use its superior technology, developed initially for the Blackberry market, to run the complex hardware and software required to take on the likes of Sabre, Amadeus, Worldspan and Galileo.
A statement to be issued tomorrow to the wires from Simon and myself will say:
"We are delighted to be working with Lirpaloof.com. Combining the power of these two very different organisations - one a cutting edge player in media, the other a market-leader in handheld technologies - will send shivers down the spines of the existing GDSs."Kevin May, editor, Travolution
"We can reassure readers our position as a publisher of magazines, our blog and website for the travel trade will not compromised by this partnership. We go through phases every week when at least one of the current GDSs falls out with us, so at least this will be official."
Read more about Lirpaloof.com.
Some other amazing news.
14 comments:
I am ashamed to say I got to the fifth paragraph before the penny dropped.
Must be because it is a Sunday morning and I haven't woken up properly.
Nice one.
MLF: Haha. I'm still waiting for a phone call from a senior at RBI. :-)
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Nameste: thanks for the kind words - one of the more subtle link-loving approaches we've had.
I wish you all the luck in the world. What a coup for such a young magazine.. :-)
Tony: Oh, yes. We are absolutely thrilled. Or "delighted", as the statement - and every other statement these daysd - says. Ahem......
Have you heard Antony Mayfield has given up blogging too?!
i know - a sad loss to the blogging community.
I am delighted to to know this terrific news for 1 April ;-)
Thanks for your blog, great stuff
Claude
Very good Kevin, you know what I have seen stranger things happen this year already..
Heh heh - very funny, Mr M... it's been a bumper year for Fools and this was a prime example.
I think it helps April 1st falling on a Sunday, no?
I suspect you're right, Antony. everyone sitting around on a sunday morning, with nothing to do, blog looking a bit empty, etc, etc.
This is fantastic news. The market has needed shaking up for some time. On the back of the strength of the Travolution brand, I've been in weekend discussion with the powers at BA who manage the GDS relationship, and we're poised to sign as a launch supplier. There will of course need to be some considerable appreciation shown for my role in brokering the move.
Nick: that's excellent news. to have BA as our launch supplier is superb.
This latest development will send the other GDSs into a frenzy as it took them months to renegotiate their deals whereas ours took a couple of calls over a weekend. :-)
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