Almost 900 hotels located in the world's top destinations are poised to receive personalized GDS sales and marketing representation from the global hotel industry's leading cloud platform. SiteMinder announced its new service at the 49^th GBTA Convention Sunday on the back of a year that has seen its GDS connectivity solution, 'GDS by SiteMinder', gain its own chain code and more than triple in hotel users.

Through sales and marketing representation, those hotels can now access a network of GDS experts based in New York, Los Angeles, London, Hong Kong, Paris, Munich and Sydney that will work with travel buyers on their behalf to increase hotel brand exposure and revenue.

Jason Lewis-Purcell, Vice President, GDS at SiteMinder, says, "There is a tendency to overlook global distribution systems in today's digital age, but the truth is they are still some of the highest performing sales and marketing channels for hotels. Over the past year, GDS by SiteMinder powered nearly 200,000 reservations worth over $60 million in hotel revenue, showing how effective global distribution systems are in bringing guests hotels wouldn't otherwise attract, especially from Monday to Friday when properties need business most."

A former hotel sales and marketing director and 20-year hospitality industry veteran, Mr Lewis-Purcell has spearheaded SiteMinder's dedicated GDS function over the last 12 months, growing the total number of GDS by SiteMinder hotel users from 250 to almost nine hundred. The hotels are located in the world's top business travel destinations, including Chicago, Los Angeles and New York in the United States; Barcelona, Berlin, London and Paris in Europe; and Bangkok, Hong Kong, Sydney and Taipei in the Asia Pacific.

"SiteMinder has always known the crucial role the GDS plays, but we wanted to bring the legacy system into the modern world. GDS by SiteMinder uniquely brings cloud-based technology together with legacy GDSs that are as relevant today as they were thirty years ago, to provide hotels an incomparable total distribution platform. It's now used by about sixty percent more hotels than our industry's most renowned soft brands."

GDS by SiteMinder provides hotels a single point of entry to the world's major global distribution system providers – Sabre, Amadeus and Travelport – and travel agent network. In addition to sales and marketing representation, hotel users of the GDS connection receive free consortia advice, account management and local customer support.

Travel agents can find hotels listed through the connection by using the 'GD' chain code.