By eviivo and Hotelnet
GDS (global distribution system) platforms are as vital as ever. With business travel projected to reach a new historical high of $1.57 trillion USD in 2025,1 they remain the go-to channels for high-value corporate bookings.
Yet many independent hoteliers and PMCs (property management companies) still avoid GDSs – whether due to perceived complexity, cost, or the notion that “it’s just for the big chains.”
Independent accommodations eager to diversify their OTA-heavy portfolios can access major GDS platforms with minimal friction and overhead. Together, Hotelnet and eviivo possess the insights and the technology to simplify the process, allowing independent providers to expand their corporate and international reach
with total confidence.
This article explores what GDS distribution is, the accommodations it can benefit, and why a serviced GDS solution may be the best option for independents.
What are GDSs – and who are they for?
GDSs are powerful digital booking platforms that connect travel service providers with:
- Travel agencies
- Corporate travel management companies (TMCs)
- Professional booking operators
- Comprehensive and competitive packaging opportunities, including bundled flights and accommodation
The top GDS platforms include Amadeus, Travelport (Galileo and Worldspan), Sabre, and Dhisco. By providing real-time information on availability, rates, and reservations, they ensure an efficient, standardized booking process across the travel industry.
As a result, over one million travel agencies and corporate offices worldwide use GDS platforms
to make bookings.
While often perceived as tools for large accommodation chains, GDSs can also benefit independent properties looking to diversify beyond OTAs.
Why GDS distribution remains a critical gateway
While traditional travel agencies have transformed in recent years, GDS platforms remain a cornerstone of travel distribution – offering unparalleled reach and exposure.
Preferred by agencies
The agent and travel management company communities are often difficult to reach through direct channels or OTAs. Many rely instead on GDS distribution because it:
- Provides access to an expansive range of inventory (i.e., bookable accommodation)
- Enables real-time operations (typically via a “green screen” interface) for faster management than OTAs
- Allows local travel agencies to combine flights and accommodation and create appealing packages
- Offers valued reliability and security
Access to corporate travelers
Corporations often leverage GDSs – or booking tools connected to GDS channels – to organize business trips, monitor travel expenses, and ensure compliance with company travel policies.
Corporate travelers can book accommodation via internal booking offices or external travel agencies.
Both typically use GDSs to access public or negotiated rates. These are special agreements between hotels and companies that secure consistent bookings and favorable conditions over time. A key advantage of GDSs is that corporate rates help companies optimize costs and tailor their travel programs.
For accommodation providers, access to corporate travel offers its own benefits:
- Higher occupancy rates year-round: Corporate travelers fill rooms during weekdays and off-peak seasons when leisure demand is lower. Corporations are also more likely to make bulk bookings
(e.g., for business events).
- Exposure to high-value guests: Corporate guest profiles tend to align with higher ADR (average daily rate) and more ancillary revenue from extras such as meeting rooms, transportation, and catering services.
Global visibility
Listing on GDS platforms grants providers access to a worldwide network of business travel agencies, unmatched by most other distribution channels.
The main GDS platforms cover almost the entire globe, with specific networks unlocking access to different geographical regions. For example, Sabre is widely used in the USA, while Amadeus dominates Europe.
Combined, these networks make GDS distribution one of the most efficient ways to grow regular demand from international markets. Inbound travelers tend to have more budget to spend on accommodation and additional services than domestic tourists, creating valuable opportunities for increased revenue.
Reach beyond traditional agencies
Although corporate bookings drive the majority of GDS reservations, these systems also reach into the leisure and consumer markets:
- Travelers with complex itineraries or those seeking personalized packages benefit from GDSs’ wide selection of options and special offers.
- Some leisure travel agencies have specific agreements with hotels for special conditions
or customized packages.
- Specialized leisure agencies use GDS channels to offer competitive, comprehensive packages that are hard to find through direct booking sites or OTAs.
Meanwhile, many modern booking tools, websites, and platforms – even those targeting consumers directly – source their content and inventory from GDSs. This indirect connection means that a presence on GDS channels extends a property’s reach far beyond traditional agencies, increasing visibility across diverse digital platforms and booking tools.
Which properties benefit most from GDS exposure?
Certain properties are better positioned to leverage GDS channels effectively, sharing characteristics that align with business travelers’ needs and the way GDS platforms operate:
- Being located near or within major cities – These areas generate a high volume of corporate travel and events, key drivers of GDS bookings.
- Proximity to business districts or key transport hubs – Such properties attract travelers who prioritize convenience and closeness to their meeting or work sites.
- Ability to accommodate shorter stay lengths – Business travelers typically prefer 1-2-night stays.
- High ADR (average daily rate) – The corporate audience usually targets higher-value accommodations, generating bookings of above-average revenue potential.
- At least 10-15 rooms – Such properties tend to be better equipped to handle the volume and complexity of bookings coming through GDSs.
- Offering business services – Examples include meeting rooms, high-speed internet, free parking, and conference facilities. These services add value for companies planning events or requiring workspace.
- Flexibility to negotiate agreements that unlock exclusive corporate rates – This helps maximize the return on investment in GDS distribution.
GDS distribution partners: The secret weapon for independent accommodations
Having a presence on GDS channels is only the first step to success. Being seen – and chosen – are the real goals.
This is where leveraging an experienced partner in GDS distribution, such as Hotelnet, can result in real benefits for independent accommodation businesses.
What accommodation providers should look for in a GDS partner
Smart technology
A GDS partner’s solutions should enable properties to integrate directly and in real time with the major GDS networks, ensuring automatic updates of availability, rates, and reservations.
Look for other smart solutions such as:
- Detailed reports and insights, including most booked rates and top-performing agencies, that help properties make informed, strategic decisions to optimize revenue and enhance performance.
- Tools to accelerate GDS activation. For example, Hotelnet’s digital onboarding allows properties to autonomously complete all necessary data and proceed with activation quickly and efficiently.
- Integrations with other core software, including a property management system (PMS) and channel manager such as eviivo Suite™. The next section of this article discusses the important role of GDS and PMS integration in more detail.
Simplified commission and payouts
Typically, the flow of financial transactions with GDS distribution is complex. GDS networks and their TMC partners apply many variable charges to bookings, which can make controlling margins difficult.
However, the right GDS partner can greatly simplify the process by consolidating platform fees and GDS charges into a single monthly commission for public commissionable rates, pre-agreed with the accommodation provider. This not only streamlines operations but also saves time in managing payments and reconciliations.
The GDS partner should also ensure a simplified payout process by providing the property with the necessary details, including access to relevant credit card information.
Consultancy, training and support
While invaluable, technology should not replace the human touch. The best GDS partners also offer experienced consultants who can provide personalized support, guidance and advice – from activation through to ongoing assistance once the property is live.
Comprehensive consulting should begin at activation and be followed by continued monitoring of results, plus ongoing adjustments to help grow bookings. This can include:
- Content and rate optimization: For example, making content more corporate travel-friendly or ensuring descriptions fit within GDSs’ character limits and use relevant industry abbreviations.
- Helping properties identify target agencies, companies, and consortia (associations and marketing organizations that link small- to medium-sized independent travel agencies), guiding them to maximize visibility and bookings through GDS channels.
Tip: Hotelnet modernizes GDS distribution by combining cutting-edge technology and hands-on consultancy. With more than 15 years’ experience in implementing the GDS distribution network for accommodation providers, Hotelnet’s experts have helped individual businesses increase their GDS revenue consistently
over the years.
GDS distribution via PMS: Centralized, connected, seamless
The final step to simplifying GDS distribution for providers is to remove any friction between:
- Their GDS solution
- Their daily operations, tools and systems
Therefore, it is recommended that businesses establish a seamless GDS connection through a PMS, such as eviivo Suite. This removes the need for multiple contracts and logins, powering distribution to all major GDS networks through a single, seamless connection:
The Hotelnet + eviivo connection offers independent accommodation providers an end-to-end serviced GDS solution:
- Simple setup: Properties opt-in and connect to the major GDS channels through eviivo Suite by confirming their preferred rate plan and providing their content – which is always reviewed with a dedicated account manager. This is the first step in a structured, efficient onboarding and activation process.
- Global visibility: The eviivo-Hotelnet connection offers exposure on the world’s leading GDS networks, including Amadeus, Travelport (Galileo and Worldspan), Sabre, and Dhisco.
- Industry-leading channel management: eviivo Suite’s award-winning integrated hotel channel manager streamlines distribution, enabling centralized control and unrivalled auto-mapping of updates across OTA and GDS channels.
- Rate and availability synchronization: All booking data flows directly between the GDS channels and eviivo, with Hotelnet seamlessly bridging the systems. Consequently, properties keep rates, availability and bookings up to date without manual errors, multiple platforms and logins, or inadvertent overbookings.
- Hassle-free commission management: Providers only pay commissions on bookings. Hotelnet manages the financial and operational aspects related to commissions for public commissionable rates, plus payments to travel agencies and third parties. As a result, the accommodation provider only needs to pay a simple, static commission and reconcile bookings each month with Hotelnet, which can be supported through eviivo’s trial balance movement reports and the ability to drill down to underlying transactions. For added convenience and transparency, Hotelnet supplies a monthly statement breaking down the previous month’s bookings and commissions/fees payable.
- Simplified payouts: Hotelnet advise accommodations on how to manage and troubleshoot payments during onboarding. Thereafter, they provide the information necessary to process payments for each reservation, which the accommodation can do through eviivo Suite’s integrated payment engine, eviivo’s 3D-Secure payment links, or their own onsite PDQ (Process Data Quickly) machine. Every reservation is guaranteed by a credit card provided by the travel agency at booking (typically the guest’s or agency’s card). Hotelnet always display this card, along with any payment instructions the agency may provide, to the accommodation, enabling providers to charge or guarantee the payment in line with their policies and preferences. To ensure a clear summary for each booking, Hotelnet also display the cancellation terms in the policy linked to the booked rate plan (agreed with the property during setup).
- Built-in control for PMC portfolios: Managers can control which units feed into GDS platforms using eviivo Suite’s Promo Manager. This is ideal for implementing targeted distribution strategies and managing distribution across a hybrid operational model that combines different accommodation types
and/or rental lengths.
With Hotelnet and eviivo, providers benefit from a streamlined, transparent and serviced GDS connection – free from clashing contracts, manual rate mapping, and complicated commission management.
Conclusion: Growing Distribution Sustainably
GDS channels continue to be a cornerstone of travel distribution, offering an integrated and reliable global network, negotiated rates, and extensive inventory that meets the needs of both corporate and leisure markets.
Independent accommodation businesses can reap the benefits of connecting to GDS channels, including global exposure and more high-value corporate bookings. If your accommodation business meets the suitability criteria for potential GDS success, then consider how a technology partnership can simplify distribution and give you the tools to see real results.
With Hotelnet and eviivo, accommodation providers enjoy a serviced GDS solution that is powerful yet keeps operations simple – streamlining complex distribution while expanding reach globally.
Book a free demo of eviivo Suite today and speak to an experienced consultant about the benefits of
eviivo + Hotelnet.
About Hotelnet
Hotelnet is synonymous with excellence in GDS distribution. With over 15 years of experience in the hospitality industry, we support your property at every stage, delivering reliable solutions and expert guidance. We distribute properties across the globe to the world’s leading GDS channels, provide targeted, property-specific consultancy to maximize visibility and performance, and manage all types of rates available on GDS channels, including public and negotiated rates. With Hotelnet, hotels get the most out of GDS channels, ensuring a strong, efficient, and performance-driven presence, adding a powerful sales channel to their distribution mix.
About eviivo
eviivo, a market-leading and innovative property management system (PMS), has transformed operations for over 28,000 hospitality businesses across Europe and North America. By replacing clunky legacy systems with a seamless, unified platform, eviivo offers easy, one-click automation from back-office to front-office. The all-in-one PMS enables property managers to handle guest communications, bookings and OTAs on a single, integrated platform, boosting revenue, increasing occupancy, enhancing the guest experience
and future-proofing their business.
- Global Business Travel Association, Business Travel Index Outlook report, 2025
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