Travel is one of the top business areas. It employs various technological advances and offers numerous benefits to both travelers and travel agencies. Computer Reservation System (CRS) is one of the most widely used tools in the Travel and Tourism Industry. In fact, it has revolutionized the whole industry. A computer reservation system or a central reservation system (CRS) is a web-based software used by travel agencies and travel management companies to retrieve and conduct transactions related to air travel, hotels, car rental, or other activities. It was originally designed to be used by airlines but was later extended to be used by travel agencies and Global Distribution Systems (GDS) to book and sell tickets for multiple airlines.

1. WHAT IS A COMPUTER
RESERVATION SYSTEM?
Pankaj chandel
BBA TTM – DSVV - MIS

2. Travel is one of the top business areas. It employs various
technological advances and offers numerous benefits to both
travelers and travel agencies.
Computer Reservation System (CRS) is one of the most widely used
tools in the Travel and Tourism Industry. In fact, it has revolutionized
the whole industry.
A computer reservation system or a central reservation system (CRS)
is a web-based software used by travel agencies and travel
management companies to retrieve and conduct transactions related
to air travel, hotels, car rental, or other activities. It was originally
designed to be used by airlines but was later extended to be used by
travel agencies and Global Distribution Systems (GDS) to book and
sell tickets for multiple airlines.

3. The main objective of CRS was to make a one-stop service shop and
eliminate physical and geographical distances between mediators and
consumers. With universal coverage, these distribution systems
provide information for airlines, hotels, car rental companies, travel
agencies, corporations and more.
If you want to focus only on a specific travel-related service like
offering air tickets, a CRS will be useful. If you want to tap into
multiple services, using a CRS is not advisable.
The term CRS is not much used as it has become part of a bigger
system known as the Passenger Service System (PSS) which comprises
of CRS, an airline inventory system and the departure control system
(DCS).

4. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BASIC
FUNCTIONS OF COMPUTER
RESERVATION SYSTEM IN THE TRAVEL
INDUSTRY?
Here are some of the basic functions in a CRS:
Displays travel services with prices and images
Inventory and reservation management
User friendly reservation system
Online payment gateway integration
Customer data management
Email notifications
Booking cancellation and refund management

5. WHAT ARE THE MAJOR AIRLINE
CRS SYSTEMS?
The term CRS is not much used as it has become part of a bigger system known as the
Passenger Service System (PSS) which comprises of CRS, an airline inventory system and
the departure control system (DCS).
Here are some of the major players in this field are:
Aircore an Airline PSS Powered by Microsoft Azure
Avantik PSS
Abacus
ACCELaero
Axess
KIU
MARS
Radixx

6. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF
TRAVEL COMPUTER RESERVATION
SYSTEMS?
Here are some of the benefits of CRS
All the services-related customer information such as Passenger Name Record (PNR) or Guest Name
Record (GNR) are recorded
Invoicing, accounting, customer and quota management is possible
High speed network of information infrastructure
Fare quote, ticketing and voucher generating process
System can also store customer related information such as all the services provided to a certain
customer, type of payment, service information etc
CRS are web based applications which saves a lot of time on administration work
Interfaces with technologies such as Amadeus, Travelport and APIs/XMLs
Suitable for B2B and B2C business models
Includes a comprehensive admin console
Offers custom reporting

7. HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF
COMPUTER RESERVATION SYSTEM
Before the development of CRS, tourists had to depend on the
information provided by suppliers through printed brochures, flyers
and listings in local and regional travel guides. As a result, the
promotional materials were costly, labor-intensive and information
remained static when the data needed to be changed frequently.
To facilitate a smooth and dynamic flow of information, the first CRS
was introduced as an experiment in the 1960s by airlines to keep
track of sold seats. In 1963, SABRE (Semi-Automated Business
Research Environment), the world’s first CRS was introduced by
American Airlines. After that, CRS became the primary means of
distributing air travel information and had a major impact on
competition within the airline sector. In 1976, travel agencies started
using them and henceforth became a universal feature of the tourism
industry.

8. All of the CRSs carry out four basic functions. They
are,
Display products and services offered by various tourism providers
Passenger or guest name record
Fare quotation and ticketing depending on the complexity of the
services offered
Provision of information about trade shows, visa regulations, and
payment gateways

9. ACCESS OF CRS TO TRAVEL
AGENTS
During 1976, the Apollo system was offered to travel agents which
provided immense convenience. Soon after that, SABRE, PARS and
DATAS gave access to travel agents as well. During the same year,
some of the British Airways joined hands and launched Travicom, the
world’s first multi-access reservations system. It allowed agents and
airlines to communicate via a common distribution language and
network. 97% of the UK’s airline business trade bookings were done
through this channel by 1987.
An airline deregulation act was passed in 1978 to control fares,
routes, and market entry of new airlines. So a CRS proved particularly
important.
In the 1980s, European airlines also began to invest in this field due
to the demand for advancements in travel. After that, many travel
technologies such as Amadeus and Worldspan were introduced. An
even smaller company such as KIU was formed to carter low-cost

10. In conclusion, the CRS technology has reached a point where it would
be hard for travel agents to do their work without it. As a major
distribution channel, it functions as a powerful sales outlet.
Do you want to launch an influential travel website with all the latest
technologies? Get in touch with our team at ColorWhistle, we’ll give
you a hand.

11. CRS – Central Reservations System
What is the meaning / definition of CRS in the hotel industry?
CRS stands for: Central Reservations System. It is a computerized reservation
software used to maintain the hotel information, room inventory and rates,
to manage the reservation and process. A CRS provides hotel room rates
and availability for many different distribution channels such as
the GDS, IBE, OTA, 3rd party websites etc.
Essentially speaking it is an application with various functionalities to
manage a hotel’s distribution / bookings. We can also call it a database
distribution system, since the CRS of a hotel transfers data to the
distribution channels. This way hotels are able to reach travelers and travel
managers on a global scale. Bookings are made via multiple sources (OTA,
travel agencies, the IBE on the hotel’s own website), and all reservations
sources will appear in the system via interfaces.
Its main functions are: Administration of room allocations (of single
properties and hotel chains) as well as control and monitoring of rates
and availability in the distribution channels.

12. A CRS is beneficial for a hotel because it allows reservations to be checked
and booked with a simple search. It also allows revenue managers or front
office managers to easy adjust the prices corresponding to demand for
multiple distribution channels and platfroms at the same time. It is kind of a
mission control software for hotel distribution.
See also:
PMS
Interface
Extranet
Synonyms
CRS
Central reservations System

13. PANKAJCHANDEL@HOTMAIL.COM
Thank You !
Content by: colourwhistle