The TravelMole Interview: Bruce Bishins, Genesis TDS

The airlines’ rejection of a new Passenger Sales Agency Agreement could be the catalyst that finally makes an agency-controlled travel industry distribution system reality, according to Genesis Travel Distribution System president and chief executive Bruce Bishins (left).

Genesis centres around a travel agency-owned and initiated, point-of-sale system incorporating reservations, ticketing, supplier settlement, and agency accreditation. According to Mr Bishins, the Toronto-based organisation is ideally placed to answer calls by the Global Consultative Committee (GCC) for an alternative to the existing airline-controlled distribution, accreditation, and settlement (BSP) systems following the recent breakdown of talks in Miami.

Mr Bishins told TravelMole: “There is no doubt that IATA’s rejection of the GCC’s fine efforts proves that this industry cannot be led by airlines. We have been advocating this very thing for the past six years and this is a complete vindication that we were correct all along.”

He said that one of the main problems which had previously prevented Genesis from getting off the ground was the lack of a willingness on the part of agents to change the status-quo. However he believes that the airlines’ shock rejection of a new agreement at the IATA Passenger Agency Conference has changed things in Genesis’ favour.

He told TravelMole: “The challenge we have had is getting the travel agency community to understand that unless they acquire and manage their own distribution system they will always be at the tailcoats of the airlines. Agents have been slow to wake up to this. They said they didn’t want to be in charge of the technology and they are now paying the price.”

However Mr Bishins concedes that Genesis still has other hurdles to overcome – most importantly its lack of a technology provider. The company was previously working with Swissair’s IT subsidiary Atraxis, which also folded when the airline went bankrupt. Mr Bishins commented: “It took us almost four years to find the right technology provider to break from the pack and give us the technology we needed so it was very unfortunate.

“We need a technology provider who will think outside the box. Traditionally they want to work with airlines and not agents. Working with us means a complete cutting of the umbilical cord.”

For more information about Genesis see its website.

See our previous stories:

09-Jul-2002: IATA in big trouble Down Under

02-Jul-2002: IATA row threatens industry status-quo

See previous TravelMole Interviews:
01-Jul-02: Howard Frost, Travelink
25-Jun-02: Rob Wortham, RWA
17-Jun-02: Paul Blackney, Worldspan
11-Jun-02: Mark Jones, Online Travel Corporation
27-May-02: Oliver Hillel, UNEP
20-May-02: Keith Webber, Telewest
13-May-02: Mark O’Brien, Rosenbluth International
07-May-02: Alicia Gardner, Sabre
29-Apr-02: Carolyn Ezzell, Delta Air Lines
23-Apr-02: John Davis, Pegasus Solutions
15-Apr-02: Gregory Hunt, ABTA Arbitration Scheme
09-Apr-02: Stuart Winter, Atinera
03-Apr-02: Roberto Da Re, Dolphin Dynamics
26-Mar-02: Arnaud Debuchy, Amadeus
19-Mar-02: Helen Baker, Lastminute.com
12-Mar-02: Pat Minogue, Galileo
07-Mar-02: Jon Hart, MyTravel
28-Feb-02: Lawrence Hunt, Rapid Travel Solutions