Legacy GDS, GDS New Entrants, GDS Alternatives, GDS Strategy, Online Booking: Evolution or Revolution of Travel Agency Booking Technology and the GDS Changes and Challenges Coming to a PC Near You

2007 is fast-becoming a pivotal year in travel agency automation. With web fare agreements between airlines and most GDSs having expired in 2006 and replaced with new, more economical "full content" agreements, and with more and more content moving away from or unable to be merchandised properly by the GDSs, travel agencies are facing a daunting task of managing their booking and ticketing processes efficiently and profitably.

At the same time, a host of new service providers have emerged which claim to offer GDS functionality, while attempting to keep airlines and other travel suppliers satisfied with lower booking fees and increased services. From the implementation of direct-connect technology to new booking tools which integrate pricing and availability in blended, consolidated displays, travel agents are being inundated with more booking system choices than ever before.

Furthermore, the acquisition of Worldspan by Travelport now having been completed, a restructured powerhouse in travel distribution technology brings both new opportunities and challenges for all GDS subscribers. The impact on existing Worldspan and Galileo/Apollo subscribers is significant. The impact on other GDS subscribers is intriguing and potentially highly attractive.

With 20 to 30% of agency GDS contracts expiring next year, travel agents are no longer negotiating GDS renewals or conversions as they have in the past. The distribution landscape encompassing GDSs, travel agents, and travel suppliers is volatile, ever-changing, and unpredictable. Travel agencies are convinced that keeping their technology tools scaleable and flexible is the key to growth and competitiveness. But where to begin?

While some travel agencies may opt for highly customized GDS contact negotiation solutions or assistance such as those offered by ATC at www.gdscontracts.com, other agencies have asked for a more general approach and some basic help in determining the best route to take with their GDS environment.

With the demand for better direction and consultation in the GDS arena at an all-time high, ATC will provide travel agencies a series of two-hour webinars focusing on the complex labyrinth of GDS and emerging booking tools. The objective of this webinar is to help travel agencies understand the dynamic changes in booking and ticketing options and to assist agencies in navigating their next GDS contract wisely and successfully.

Key Seminar Topics
Topics which will be discussed include:

• GDS contracts in a deregulated marketplace
• DCA-3 and direct connect agreements for total/web fare access
• Worldspan/Travelport: What's the Impact?
• Just How Full is Full Content Really?
• Paper Tickets: Here to Stay or Gone Forever?
• Getting to Low Cost Carrier Inventory
• Availability Cacheing: Last Seat What?
• Daily Reporting/Remitting: Fact or Fiction?
• Is ARC Becoming a GDS?
• Settlement Concerns: The Move to All Cash
• Status of $3.50 Airline Segment Penalties
• Future of segment fee sharing and passive segment charges
• GDS New Entrants (GNEs): Fact and Fiction
• Screen-scraping and XML content acquisition
• New booking tools and GDS utilities
• Online booking engines: Do you need one or really want one?
• Host agency air ticketing services
• Blended/consolidated GDS displays: Bringing it all together
• Back-office and CRM integration
• GDS "coopetition": GDS competition with their own subscribers
• Your next GDS contract: 10 key factors not to overlook

Who Should Attend
This webinar is highly recommended for agency owners and managers, especially persons responsible for GDS contract negotiations, IT decisions, booking and ticketing processes, and back-office functions. This program is particularly useful for agencies which are currently or soon-to-be in contract discussions with their GDS provider.

Tuition
Tuition for this webinar, which permits an unlimited number of participants in a single office location, is USD 195.00 for U.S. participants or CAD 195.00 (plus applicable Canadian taxes) for Canadian participants. A discount of USD 30.00/CAD 30.00 is offered to USTAR, CSTAR, and ARTA members provided that registration occurs prior to the enrollment deadline indicated below. Tuition must be paid online using ATC's secure web payment system, and only VISA and MasterCard are accepted. We regret that the American Express card is not accepted.

Webinar Sessions
The GDS Webinar is two hours long in its entirety. Each session below is the entire program, not a series of sessions which continue from a previous session. Registration for the session of your choice below is the full program, repeated identically each month.

*Registration after the enrollment deadline indicated above is subject to a late registration fee of USD 30.00 or CAD 30.00 (plus applicable Canadian taxes). Please register on-time. Space is extremely limited.

Online Webinar Requirements
This program is an online web-based seminar. Participants will be required to have access to an Internet-connected PC and a regular telephone (long distance charges apply). For participants in Canada, ATC recommends using a $1.00 Looney Call at www.looneycall.ca to keep long distance charges minimal. Technical requirements include:

»» Minimum technical requirements to attend the webinar using a PC:

. Required: Internet Explorer 5.0 or later, Netscape Navigator 6.0 or later or Mozilla Firefox 1.0 or later

. Required: Windows 2000, XP Home, XP Pro or 2003 Server, or Vista

. Required: Stable 56k, cable modem, ISDN, DSL or better Internet connection

. Recommended: Minimum of Pentium 400 with 256 MB of RAM

. Recommended: Java Virtual Machine enabled

»» Minimum technical requirements to attend the webinar using a Mac:

. Required: Mac OS X 10.3.9 (Panther) or newer

. Required: Safari 1.3 or newer, Firefox 1.5 or newer on PowerPC G3/G4/G5 or Firefox 1.5.0.2 or newer on Intel (JavaScript and Java enabled)

. Required: Stable 56 k, cable modem, ISDN, DSL or better Internet connection

. Required: Power PC G3/G4/G5 or Intel processor (G4 450 MHz with 256 MB of RAM)

This is an interactive session between participants and the webinar leader. Please register early to assure confirmation in the session of your choice.

Webinar Leader - Bruce Bishins, CTC
One of the most accomplished technical trainers in the travel industry, Bruce Bishins has been a respected and well-known consultant to travel agencies for over 30 years. He has held positions at Air Canada, Swissair, Air France, and Austrian Airlines, and was Manager-Travel Industry Training at Trans World Airlines for nearly eight years. He developed and implemented the travel agency training program for PARS. In 1978, he was appointed by a joint airline task force to the position of Manager-Procedures Training for the Air Traffic Conference (the predecessor to the ARC Area Settlement Plan in the U.S.). In 1981, he joined the Airline Training Council as Executive Director. In 1991, while still at ATC, he was contracted by the International Air Transport Association to provide technical support and training for travel agents and air carriers participating in the IATA Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP). He has been a tireless proponent for cost-reduction in travel agency distribution and is a founder of the Genesis Travel Distribution System.

How to Enroll
Please complete the above Online Enrollment Form with all requested information. Tuition fees include only the cost of instruction and training materials. Conference call long distance charges are at the participants' own expense. Please enroll early to assure participation in the session of your choice and to avoid a USD 30.00 or CAD 30.00 late fee if enrolling after the published deadline.

Cancellations/Changes to Sessions
Tuition fees are non-refundable. Please consider carefully your intention to attend prior to enrollment. To discourage changes, a change fee of USD 30.00 or CAD 30.00 (plus applicable Canadian taxes) will be levied for changes to session dates after enrollment.

Session Confirmations
Approximately one week prior to the webinar session requested, a confirmation will be e-mailed to all enrolled and confirmed participants. If for any reason a participant has not received a confirmation at least one week prior to the webinar date, it will be the full responsibility of the participant to contact ATC by sending an e-mail by clicking here or calling ATC at 416-920-3242 immediately. As such, non-receipt of e-mail confirmation is not a valid reason for failure to attend.