Galileo GDS - The story of Galileo International begins in 1971 when Chicago-based United Airlines introduced the Apollo® computer reservation system (CRS), for use in their own offices. 1987 marked the incorporation in England and Wales of The Galileo Company Ltd in response to the growing demand for CRS automation in Europe. In 1993, The Galileo Company Limited and The Covia Partnership combined to create the world's first global CRS. The company continues to grow from strength to strength. See the index of historical milestones, which chart the company's development from 1971 to the present day. 

Galileo International has its headquarters in Rosemont, a suburb of Chicago, USA. The company's Development and Data Centers are located in Englewood, near Denver, Colorado. Other regional offices are located in Windsor, UK, Dubai and Hong Kong. The company has approximately 2,600 staff. 

Core products: 
Offering services to both agents and other travel suppliers, read the background information page, which includes an overview of the products offered by Galileo to its various clients. 

Company growth rate: 
From 1996 - 2000, Galileo recorded consistent EGDS revenue growth, from US$1,104m to US$1,560m. Click here to see the chart (33KB PowerPoint file) which demonstrates how Galileo's distribution revenues have grown at a compound annual rate of approximately 12 percent over the past 5 years, or here to view its Net income in millions US$. 

And it is expected that Galileo will continue to have solid revenue growth in the future. Galileo expects to deliver full-year revenue growth in 2001 in the range of 10 to 12 percent, and EPS growth of between 7 to 9 percent. 
There are a number of areas that will help Galileo achieve this, including:

• Natural growth of the travel industry (5-6% outside U.S., 3-4% within the U.S.)

• New account wins

• Galileo's telecommunications subsidiary, Quantitude, which is expected to contribute significantly to revenue and earnings growth in 2001 and beyond ($300 million revenue run rate by end of year, $1 billion in 3-5 years.)

• Internet initiatives will be a source of incremental revenue.

• Sales of other products and services, such as marketing data and advertising will also contribute to revenue growth.

Market share (divided into the geographical areas): 
Galileo determines market share based on airline bookings using marketing data from MIDT, provided by the four GDS. By this reckoning, Galileo's market share is currently:

• Middle East & Africa - 75%

• Europe - just over 30%

• Asia Pacific - just over 50%

• Latin America - approx 12%

• North America - just over 25%

Galileo also has 37% of the entire EMEA market. Barring Latin America, Galileo is either first or second in the regions around the world. 

Worldwide summary and statistics:

• present no. of distribution countries - 107

• no. of locations connected to the system (excluding satellite ticket printer locations) - 41,200

• no. of terminals connected to the system - 173,300

• no. of airline vendors - 511

• no. of airline direct links - 257

• no. of car rental vendors - 39

• no. of car rental inside links - 23

• no. of hotel vendors - 224

• no. of hotel properties - 46,046

• no. of hotel inside links - 198

• no. of hotel inside availability links - 138

• no. of tour operators - 368

• no. of cruise lines - 9

• no. of fare quotes per year (GlobalFares) - Over 1 billion