travel tech insights

Why Your Travel Company Needs a Travel Booking System

You wouldn’t drive around an unfamiliar neighborhood or city without a map or some kind of GPS device. Not only could this result in confusion and frustration, but it could also result in more concrete, tangible consequences such as lost time, increased fuel costs, and undue wear and tear on your vehicle. To successfully navigate new areas, you need a powerful mapping system to get you where you need to go as fast and efficiently as possible.

Much the same can be said for why travel companies need a powerful, integrated travel booking system. Because the travel industry is  built on responding to disruptions (inclement weather, environmental events, or other delays and cancellations), travel companies must be agile enough to handle these and other temporary breakdowns in calculated, efficient ways to retain customers and continue operations in as normal a way as possible.

Topics: Travel Management Company travel booking system Booking engines Travel booking engines travel companies

The Importance of Reporting for Travel Agents

As with so many industries in today’s interconnected, global economy, data and analytics are core drivers in leveraging growth, productivity, efficiency, and profitability. A company’s ability to gather, interpret, analyze, and act on data sets is more than a value-added proposition in a complex marketplace network of suppliers, retailers, and customers; rather, using reporting as a way to create actionable business plans is a necessity for long-term, sustainable success. This is perhaps no more true than with travel agents who are consistently required to work with more visibility, transparency, and agility in order to reach as wide as consumer base as possible.

Through advanced metric and reporting platforms like Big Data, advanced analytics, and automation software, travel agents can now more than ever before gain a fundamental understanding as to how every interaction in the buying process impacts each touch point in the value chain. Reporting and data analysis also offer a window into the needs, desires, and requirements of travelers, which travel agents can then use to best position products and services in a competitive field of travel companies.

Topics: travel agents travel companies data analysis reporting

How A Travel ERP System Drives Travel Company Growth

Speed. Accuracy. Scalability. These are the things on the minds of nearly every travel company in today’s global travel marketplace. Because the travel landscape is populated with so many major players, the prospect of administering back-office tasks and other repetitive, non-complex functions is a critical pain point for travel companies in creating sustainable growth, productivity, and profitability.

This is where a travel ERP solution is an important value proposition for travel companies in streamlining tasks and processes. The capacity of a travel ERP solution to automate workflows and back-office tasks, and fast, accurate invoicing and documentation reduce headaches by streamlining once manual, time-consuming activities and providing travel companies with greater visibility across each touch point of the value chain.

Topics: erp travel erp system erp system travel companies

How tour operators position travel services

Think about the idea of ordering food at a restaurant. Diners usually have two options: full meals with
side dishes or a la carte, whereby customers can order individual items to create their own meal. Most restaurants offer both to increase the flexibility of their menu offerings and provide diners with the most options possible. This menu structure also allows restaurants to leverage more of their inventory of ingredients for overall sales, as well as create different pricing structures based on the availability and seasonality of ingredients like fruits and vegetables.

The same concept is true in today’s travel industry when it comes to how travel companies position ancillary services in a B2B platform and more widespread distribution network. Ancillary services can mean a variety of things such as meal supplements, city tours, spa and wellness services, entertainment opportunities, and other guided or curated activities. Just like how restaurants deploy different price points to sell items on the menu versus a la carte, travel companies have a variety of strategies to help facilitate these ancillary services and position them to customers at the right time to optimize overall bookings.

Topics: Travel suppliers travel companies global travel industry ancillary services accomodations

The Importance of Advanced Accommodation Contract Management

A friend of mine recently downloaded an app to his mobile phone that allows him to monitor and adjust the temperature of his house when he’s not home. The app allows him to alter and manage the temperature based on a number of factors such as the number of occupants in the home, the external temperature, the internal temperature, the time of day, and a number of other elements. No matter where my friend is in the world, he can manage his thermostat for greater efficiency, decreased energy costs, and an enhanced standard of living.

After talking with my friend about this app, it struck me how similar it is to the concept of advanced accommodation contract management in today’s global travel industry. With so many suppliers operating across the globe, the ability to manage contracts, availability, pricing, and special offers in order to ensure customers can access the most wide-ranging and accurate pool of potential bookings is a core driver for travel companies in leveraging greater transparency and agility.

Topics: Travel suppliers travel companies Advanced Accommodation Contract Management