travel tech insights

3 Ways Travel Agents Benefit from Database Mapping

Think about the idea of a closet organizer: A device with a pre-built structure where you can easily view, store, and retrieve any number of clothing items from shoes to gloves to hats. A closet organizer not only helps you keep your closet space neat and tidy, but it also helps you know at any given time what clothing items you have on hand, in what condition, and what items you lack and may need to acquire given the time of year.

The way a closet organizer helps you assess your wants and needs for clothing functions very similar to  continuously cleaning and mapping their content databases for travel agents. Much like how your organizer keeps you up to date on your clothing inventory, content database mapping is a critical function for agents to ensure updated, accurate information about the products and services available from suppliers and for customers. Continuously mapped databases also ensures travel agents won’t miss out on the latest and greatest offers from suppliers, book inaccurately allocated hotels or accommodations, or be bogged down by slow search response times in their booking engine, travel ERP suite, or other technologies.

Topics: back office automation travel back office Databases Static databases Content mapping content matching

The Flow in Workflows: Back-Office Automation for Travel Agencies

It would be an understatement to say travel agencies must work harder, faster, and more efficiently in today’s global travel industry to remain competitive among the variety of methods travelers have to complete bookings. Today’s travelers demand agile, transparent, and highly visible value chains that cut through the complexity of an industry with a wide variety of suppliers, tour operators, travel management companies, and other key players. As a result, travel agencies must leverage efficient, productive workflows and operational platforms to meet customer demands, especially in the back-office even though many customers might not be aware of these non-customer facing tasks.

But the question is: How can travel agencies improve their workflows and streamline their back-office processes to remain competitive on a global stage? The answer lies in workflows and back-office automation solutions that allow travel agencies to eliminate manual, time-consuming processes that once divided an agent’s attention from interacting with and positioning the right products to the right customer.

Topics: travel agency workflow back office automation process automation automated processes

Putting the Back Office First: How Travel Companies Should Embrace Automation

The back office. It’s a curious space - akin to a No Man’s Land - within the travel industry that doesn’t receive much play or attention either from travel companies or those operating within the tourism sector. In today’s world, an interesting dichotomy of focus has developed within the travel industry as to how travel companies direct their resources: Customer-facing activities such as managing customer relations via social media, or optimizing the services and products offered by deploying software solutions in conjunction with suppliers or distributors.

The back office, however, where a majority of a travel company’s operational activities such as invoicing, procurement, and payroll are housed, is often overlooked by travel companies as they work to remain competitive and profitable in the aforementioned customer-facing arenas.

Topics: erp travel erp back office automation travel back office

The Travel Industry is Cutting Costs with Back Office Automation

With continuing consolidation, intense competition and a global economy seemingly unable to break free from lackluster growth, there is relentless pressure on travel companies to discover new ways of: differentiating from competitors; marketing with better results; developing even more innovative services; and strengthening customer loyalty. Since all these endeavors cost money, smart companies begin by identifying and eliminating needless expenses. One of the overlooked places to uncover monetary – and productivity - leaks are manual workflow activities that can be optimized with back office automation.    

Topics: erp Travel Industry travel technology Travel Management Company TMC back office automation travel account services standardized processes common data model