Event Description

Managing a distribution strategy for all the different channels can be a daunting task. Should your hotel’s GDS strategy be the same as your strategy for Booking Engine, OTA, or Voice? Probably not!
Supplier competition within the GDS is fierce. For example, in the Sabre GDS, there are approximately 175,000 hotel properties that promote, personalize and sell their products to travel management companies, corporate travel departments and approximately 415,000 travel agents around the word.
So, how do you stand out?
In this session we will start by reviewing how travel agents shop for hotels in the GDS. Each participant will receive a copy of their existing “GDS Brochure” (HOD) and as a group, we will discuss data and revenue management strategies to improve GDS production.
At the conclusion of the session, participants will have a personalized GDS strategy that can be implemented immediately.

Get to Know Laura Thompson CTE, CCTE

Previously employed by Maritz TQ3 (now Carlson Wagonlit), Laura managed Corporate Hotel Program Development/Automation and served as the Regional Representative and Vendor Relations for the Maritz Global Hotel Program. 

During this time she managed the development and technical implementation of multiple Fortune 50 hotel programs. Additionally, she centrally managed viewership tables for 300+ Maritz serviced corporations.

Laura was recruited by the Sabre Hotel Product group in 1999 as a resource dedicated to helping Sabre agencies and corporate customers automate their preferred hotel programs. Nortel and the Canadian Federal Government were amongst the first programs she facilitated.

Upon the acquisition of the SynXis CRS in 2004, Laura shifted to GDS efficiencies and channel revenue management strategies for hotel customers, with a focus on corporate travel booked through the GDS channel.  

Elected to serve 4 terms on the Global Business Travel Association Hotel Committee (GBTA), Laura played a critical role in the development of the standardized RFP and rate loading specifications used in the industry today.

Laura is an experienced corporate travel agent who keeps her skills polished by voluntarily assisting in the reservation needs of her family, friends and colleagues.