Tourism and Competition – The New Air Transport Distribution Channels: GDS vs. NDC Julio Facal1 I. Tourism and the Right to Competition; II. Competition and Consumption; III. Rules on Competition and Airfare Distribution Systems: GDS vs NDC; III.1. Characteristics of the GDS Model; III.2. Characteristics of the NDC; III.3. Recent Legal Actions Filed Against GDSs / Travelport / Sabre / Amadeus by a Group of Consumers in the USA; IV. Conclusions; References. I. TOURISM AND THE RIGHT TO COMPETITION When we talk about tourism, we are speaking about a business and commercial activity that is regulated by the general Laws regulating the market. This type of market, where there is a meeting between supply and demand of goods and services, requires a proper regulatory framework encompassing intellectual property, consumer rights and freedom to compete as its central regulatory axes. Although these three axes have common elements, the latter two are intimately connected: consumer rights and the freedom of companies to compete, as any distortion in freedom to compete may have a severe impact on consumer rights. In this regard, Baylos Corroza defined the right to competition as: “the set of rules governing competitive activities in order to allow in the market the prevalence of the principle of competition, and that the struggle between competitors is carried out with loyalty and correction”. Therefore, Competition Law includes two main fields: Unfair Competition Law and Antitrust Law or Antitrust Regulation. As previously stated, this right to competition is guided by a main governing principle, which is free competition, except for cases of general interest that will be defined by the State, who will set the limits it deems more proper for those 1 Universidad de la República de Uruguay.
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