The Myth of Homogeneous Content

Why Travel Intermediaries Must Embrace Fragmentation—Not Fight It

Every few years, someone dusts off the old argument that travel content fragmentation is a “problem” in desperate need of a single, unifying solution—usually from a company that just so happens to sell one.

The latest version of this tired thesis comes from Sabre in its report titled “Confronting Content Fragmentation”, which claims the disaggregation of travel content is a growing burden on travel agencies—and naturally, Sabre positions itself as the answer.

Let’s be clear: this narrative is not only self-serving—it’s historically inaccurate, commercially tone-deaf, and willfully ignores the evolution of the modern travel agency.

No GDS Has Ever Offered Universal Content

Despite Sabre’s implications, there has never been a point in history when any GDS had complete, universal access to all travel content. That includes:

• All airlines

• All hotel inventory

• All ground transport

• Tours, attractions, rail, insurance, and more

Further it completely gets in the way of the relationship between the agency/intermediary and the supply source. The only sellers who want that is those who are either lazy or stupid. 

Even during the peak of “full content” agreements, GDSs failed to cover enormous sectors of the travel landscape. Independent hotels, low-cost carriers, emerging service providers, regional operators—these were (and often still are) invisible in GDS distribution models.

The illusion of completeness only survived by limiting what agencies could access. These restrictions weren’t for the customer’s benefit—they were designed to entrench commercial advantage for GDSs and their airline “partners.”

The Non-Air Content Gap Is Real—and Gaping

Let’s talk truth. GDSs were born and bred for airline inventory. That DNA shows.

When it comes to non-air content—hotels, activities, insurance, transfers, and experiences—GDSs are still awkward and outdated. Here’s what they miss or mishandle:

• Hospitality - Hotels and STRs universal content??? Hardly

• Tours & Activities: Now a multibillion-dollar segment. Real-time inventory and local experiences are thriving on platforms like Viator, GetYourGuide, and Klook—not in GDSs.

• Rail: Ask any European travel agency if they can book Eurostar, Italo, or SNCF easily through a GDS. Cue laughter. Then frustration.

• Ground Transport: Uber? FlixBus? Specialty shuttles? Good luck.

GDSs are built for air. Everything else is a patch job. Agencies know it. Customers feel it.

Full Content” Was Never Full—and Never Free

Strangely absent from Sabre’s whitepaper is any reference to US Airways v. Sabre, one of the most telling legal battles in this space. (And I should know I had a ring side seat). 

In 2022, Sabre was found guilty of antitrust violations. A jury awarded US Airways $1 in damages (tripled under law), finding that Sabre’s “full content” agreements were in fact commercial straitjackets that stifled innovation and harmed both suppliers and customers. The win was not about the amount. it was about breaking the restrictive "full content" contracts. 

Full content wasn’t full. It was fenced. It came with exclusivity clauses, punitive terms, and zero incentive for future-facing tech. Agencies weren’t liberated—they were trapped. Airlines weren’t helped—they were cornered. LCCs laughed at the silliness of it all - from the outside!

Fragmentation Is the Future—And That’s a Good Thing

We now live in a richly fragmented, content-diverse travel world. That’s not a bug—it’s a feature.

Thanks to modern protocols like:

• MCP (Model-Context Protocol)

• A2A (API-to-API integration)

…agencies can now assemble custom offers in real time from the best available content—across air, rail, hotel, tours, insurance, and more. The right strategy isn’t to force everything into a GDS-shaped box. It’s to build open, agile, multi-source platforms that reflect the diversity of today’s traveler and supplier landscape.

If GDSs Could Solve Fragmentation… What’s Left for Agencies?

Let’s take Sabre’s logic to its natural conclusion.

If a GDS could truly solve the multi-source content challenge—seamlessly integrating every airline, every hotel, every tour, every transport provider—then what value does a travel agency bring?

None. Because the agency would simply be a UI skin on top of a GDS.

But that’s not the world we live in. Nor should we.

The role of the modern travel agency is not to rely on a single monolith.

It’s to advocate for the customer—using the widest content base possible, across multiple sources, to tailor travel intelligently.

That’s something a GDS cannot do. And no amount of whitepaper hand-waving will change that.

And what about the customer? 

• The consumer is smarter and internet enabled. Today that also means they are in many increasing cases AI powered. At a prompt that have the ability to see and access real time the same information as any seller. 

It’s Time to Retire the Illusion

Let’s stop pretending the GDS ecosystem was ever homogeneous. That fantasy served only the few—and stifled innovation for the many.

Instead, let’s acknowledge reality:

• Travelers demand diverse content.
• Suppliers want distribution flexibility.
• Agencies need modern tooling to manage fragmentation, not fight it.

If Sabre and others truly want to support the ecosystem, they’ll stop selling myths and start offering open, interoperable solutions.

Fragmentation isn’t the enemy—it’s the opportunity. Truly good aggregation is good for the customer and good for the suppliers.

And the agencies/intermediaries that embrace - manage it, support it will be the ones that define their own future for themselves and their customers and partners.

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