Genesis Shuts Down Operations

The Genesis Travel Distribution System said it has ended operations, agency hosting and fulfillment services effective August 1. All subscribers in all countries have been notified and have made alternative arrangements. Genesis’ USTAR and CSTAR registries have been closed.

"The distribution landscape has changed dramatically since Genesis first contemplated an agency-owned and managed GDS in 1995," said Mary Alice Fischer, vice president of operations. "Airlines have increasingly moved content away from GDS and onto the web, giving agencies new options for booking air travel outside the GDS and ARC/BSP settlement environments. With leisure and home-based agencies focused on these new content domains, the traditional ticketing, hosting, and fulfillment model no longer makes sense."

FareSpider, the popular centerpiece of Genesis' web-based booking tools, and previously licensed to Genesis by travel technology provider TravelSoft, will directly assume operations and services for FareSpider subscribers and continue without interruption.

Genesis President and CEO Bruce Bishins has stepped-down from his roles at Genesis and  Genesis' two North American Registries, USTAR and CSTAR. He will focus on his new position as president of the TRIP Corporation. TRIP is the industry-supported agency accreditation and identification system. He will also continue his activities as an ARTA board member and executive director of the Airline Training Council. The company said USTAR and CSTAR members will be advised shortly of alternative agency association arrangements.