With cut throat competition, need of automation, rise of evolving technology and need for global presence the travel booking solutions in the travel industry has undergone a significant change. To ensure instant online travel reservation, enhance customer experience and facilitate integration in real time it has become imperative for travel company to look for an online travel booking software that provides a cutting edge over the competitors, sustain business, provide rich customer experience ensure that it meets a variety of needs and expectations for both travelers and travel company including the budget and can be customized. Before deciding on the online travel booking software they must form a checklist of the requirements / expectations from the application to act as the comprehensive guide and align it with their growth and expansion plan. Some of these are as follows.
- Flexibility, scalability, modular architecture with state of art technology.
Online travel booking software used by the travel company must be sustainable and must have flexibility, scalability and ease to customization to meet the changing business needs and statutory government guidelines. It must be modular architecture and use state of art technology. Travel Agency Software must be capable to manage increase in volume of data, increase in bookings- enquiries and materialization, increase in traffic and additional requirements as the business grows. The modular architecture and seamless integration must ensure a dynamic plug and play mechanism which can cater to one or more features of the online travel management booking solution The online booking engine must facilitate dynamic booking processing – ability to add, remove, or modify various travel elements and its integration with Online Travel Agency software in real time – hotels, flights, logistics and ensure customers are well-informed at every stage of their booking. Online travel booking software must facilitate seamless integration with existing applications and supplier’s application besides being cost effective and easy to customize. It should work seamlessly on computers, laptop, mobile devices and tablets.
- Reporting and real time Analytics
The stand out benefit to look for in an Online travel booking software is automated customizable reporting and access to analytics in real time. This enables travel companies to track key performance indicators traveler satisfaction scores, booking trends, business, customer behavior. Enquiries vs tour materialized, market wise business, travel patterns, expenses, compliance levels, performance metrics and provide valuable insights for strategic planning. The customization and optimization of reports must facilitate travel companies to identify growth opportunities, target specific demographics, refine/ fine tune marketing strategies and reduce turnaround time. It must result in efficiency resulting in competitive edge over competition. By analyzing travel data, the travel company must be able to identify trends, forecast future travel demand, and make informed decisions about their travel programs. A must have feature to look for is the availability of customized comprehensive dash board for monitoring overall performance and operational health.
Ø Integration Capabilities facilitating Global Market reach
Choose the software that integrates seamlessly with your legacy software back office accounting software, in house developed applications, various marketing tools, third-party applications, various aggregators tools , provides access to a vast array of travel content, API integration, Customer Relationship management systems and Global distribution system. The integration of Online travel booking software solutions with Online Travel Agency Software and other travel industry software must facilitate global reach and expand base, ensure seamless and streamline operations The architecture must expedite the linking process with new suppliers and online booking engine ensuring the best turnaround.
- Robust price mechanism in real time and ROI
Evaluate the pricing module for the Online travel booking software and ensure it meets the business requirement. The online travel management booking solutions must provide real-time updates notifications, increased efficiency, higher bookings, and better customer satisfaction facilitating in potential return on investment (ROI). It must provide a mechanism to take suitable measures based on the demand and supply in terms of pricing in real time.
Ø Security compliance and risk management
While choosing the Online travel booking software ensure that the customer data, data transfer and payments is secured, encrypted and meets industry standards and is regulations complaint such as GDPR, corporate policies including travel and employee safety. It must adhere to government regulatory guidelines namely PCI compliant and two factor authentication. The software must have secured login and ensure automated regular security updates to protect business and customers from malfunctioning. It must facilitate contingency planning to manage risk – fire, natural calamity, virus attack, internet failure, hacking etc. by ensuring minimal down time in managing online booking engine.
- Enhanced Customer Experience and interface
One of the important things to be looked for in Online travel booking software is the facility for travel companies to design and provide unique tailor made travel experiences to their clients’. The client must have the facility to refine their itineraries. It must facilitate enhanced and positive customer experience to the customers. ranging from user friendly interface with seamless navigation ensuring ease and flexibility of bookings, online payments, feedback, mobile applications, itinerary management tools, and real-time updates. It must ensure clients are well-informed at every stage of their tour. The Travel Agency Software provider must offer robust customer support preferable 24/7, including multiple channels such as phone, email, and live chat to facilitate timely resolve issues, minimizing downtime and maintaining customer satisfaction. The interface should be compatible with various devices including smartphone and tablets and support multiple languages to cater to global audience.
- Reservation and Channel Management
The online software solution must facilitate hotel information on distribution channels that sell hotel inventory globally namely online travel agents, global distribution systems, and others in real time. The Online travel booking software to be procured must offer multiple avenues for hotel bookings – integration with website of hotels, bookings over the counter from the reception/front office of the hotel, through travel companies-DMC, Online travel agent, CMS, MICE, business portals and others.
- Multicurrency and Multiple Payment Options
Ensure that the Online travel booking software facilitate the customers to pay in the currency of their choice – US dollars, Euro, Indian rupee, Dinar UK Pound or other currencies thus providing wider reach to online travel agency, tour operators and customers worldwide across the world. It must accept various payment methods, such as credit cards, debit cards, and digital wallets offering convenience to users.
- Payment Gateway
The online Online travel booking software must support and facilitate multiple payment gateways supported and accepted worldwide and ensure that the payment gateway is integrated with online travel agency. The gateway provided should be fast and secured with security features ensuring zero down time
- Customization
The booking software must be easily customizable as per travel companies needs and fit all requirement including access to a vast network of suppliers, regional and global partners. It must facilitate check out the competitive prices and offers.
- Comprehensive Search Options:
The booking travel software must provide comprehensive search criteria requirement to meet the business needs and goals on the basis of the customer’s budget, dates of travel, preferred accommodation, amenities, airlines, number of travelers ensuring that they find the best preferences to book the tour. It must facilitate option to sort and filter search results by criteria like pricing duration, ratings for users to take informed decision quickly.
- Contract Management with Suppliers
The travel management booking solutions must facilitate integrated contract management module. It must facilitate tailor made tracking of performance with suppliers – hotels, airlines and logistics partners and facilitate negotiate rates, real-time access, updates and notifications
Conclusion
Choosing the Online travel booking software is a significant decision that can impact the efficiency and success of your travel company. A robust online travel booking software should combine user-friendly design, comprehensive booking solutions, advanced management tools, secure and diverse payment options, and excellent customer support. By focusing on these critical areas as mentioned above and ticking all the entities of your checklist, you can ensure that your chosen software meets the needs of both individual travelers and travel agencies, providing a seamless and satisfying booking experience.
