Features to look for while choosing Travel Agency Software
February 27, 2020 ⚊ 8 Min read ⚊ Views 893 ⚊ TECH
The travel industry is the only industry we can say, that has no limits. We are humans and to stay up in this complicated world we need a break, that we get from traveling across the globe. So as long as we are ready to explore the world, travel industry has to be there to provide customers the best travel experience with the multiple services they can provide.
To provide the best travel experience to the customers, all travel companies should first think of improving internal operational flow of travel company. Managing internal operations in a better and organized way will ultimately lead to better experience to the customers.It comes with managing all the activities that travel companies needs to deal with on a daily basis, efficiently and effortlessly. How tour operator can achieve this? Then the answer is “Travel Agency Software”.
What is Tour Operator Software?
As the technology is exploding at rapid pace, travel companies should be able to grab that fast running technology to stand out in the market. Tour operator software/Travel agency software is the growing technology in the market for tour operators to automate their daily routine tasks with its multiple automated features. It eases out travel company’s business process and make them more effective with its advanced features.Following are the features that travel company/ tour operators should consider while making a purchase decision.
What are the core features any tour operator software must have?
1. CRM Management:: This is the most important feature that travel agency software must provide. As entire travel industry revolves around the customers, customer relationship management becomes the most important aspect. CRM module should be able to: Manage multiple customers, Enquiries, Create customized quotations, booking wise checklist Send alerts & reminders, Create customized lead report
2. Supplier Management: Supplier management(B2B) allows travel companies to manage valuable data with multiple suppliers such as transport suppliers, hotel suppliers, third party agents hassle free with its single login feature where supplier can get updated with all the current information with a single click.
3. Accounts & Finance Management : This is the crucial factor of any business. Travel agency software must be able to provide easy and quick accounting feature which will automate most of the travel business process such as: Proforma invoice, generation, Tax generation, Automate entries in multiple accounting books, GSTR1, GSTR2 generation, Auto reflection of tax%, Analyses accounting history
4. In depth Reporting: As proper study and analysis can lead to form correct decisions for travel business improvement, access to valuable reports is the important feature. Travel agency software should be able to auto generate all reports that are valuable to your company, such as tour report, accounting report, business report etc. and should provide you the clear insight about the current status of travel company to form better decisions and take correct actions.
5. Tour Management: : Travel industry is all about providing memorable travel experience to the customers with its multiple tour packages. Multiple tour management is the feature; travel software must provide. Travel agents should be able to create multiple tour packages such as package tour, group tour, customized packages, corporate tour and many more that as per customer’s requirement and should be able to easily handle and manage data with respect to specified tours such as itinerary building, travel dates, travel destinations etc.
As already mentioned, no one can stop this rapidly evolving technology. World demands much more that what we have now. Having above mentioned core features in tour operator software will take care of the core functionality of your travel company but to convert it from only achieving core functionality to get and give a complete seamless experience to customers, you as a travel company should demand more from this software.
Let’s dive deep into the features that will make tour operator software, the perfect software for travel companies to cope up with the latest demands of the travel industry and will help travel company in the smooth achievements of business goals.
B2C Channel : This is the current requirement of customers in the travel industry. As due to increased choices and preferences, customers wants to have entire control in their hand, rather than the software that only provides limited access to them. B2C channel gives them multiple access such as view tickets as well as book tickets as per their requirement which reduces dependency on the travel companies.
API Integration : API stands for Application Programmable Interface. This is the major factor that travel companies can take leverage of. Travel API are of multiple forms such as flight APIs, hotel APIs, car APIs, holiday APIs etc. Tour operator software with API integration can be a major time saving parameter for tour operators, as they can connect to the multiple platforms like flight booking, hotel booking etc.and take complete control in their hand and provide quick and best service to the customers. Tour operator software with B2C web portal(channel) can directly give this authority of booking flights, hotels, tours of their choice to the customers.
Responsive Structure : As number of mobile users has grown to the large extent than desktop users, structure of the software should be responsive to provide good experience to the customers who access software through mobile or any other device.
Travel Booking Engine : Tour operator software should act as a travel booking engine so as to avoid manual work travel company needs to deal with. Travel booking engine works with the real time data. For ex when travel company or customer books a ticket, all the entries with current booking status gets automatically filled in the system without any human intervention.
Quotation Management : Quotation is the important parameter that creates first impression of you as a travel company in front of customer. We can say that the quotation format you present to the customer reflects your brand, so tour operator software should provide you the choice of creating and presenting quotations in multiple possible formats as per particular customer’s preference.
Itinerary Building : While creating a particular tour in the software, managing itinerary for that tour becomes a hassle if you don’t have the choice to put it the way you want.So itinerary building comes into the picture. Itinerary building allows you to create day wise itinerary in multiple available formats with multiple in built image options plus the choice to add your customized image in the itinerary. It makes it very easy for any travel company to create customized itinerary with the customized media that can create value for the cusrtomers.
Data Security : Data security should be taken seriously in all aspects for every business. Travel company deals with very sensitive and confidential data, may be about the company itself or regarding customer’s valuable information, so software must prevent data theft or leakage and be 100% perfect in terms of data security.
Data Backup : The term says it all. For any kind of business, data is its soul. Without keeping track of your past or current data, you can’t proceed further. Especially when it comes to travel industry, customer’s data or any other kind of data is the most valuable thing to run travel company successfully. So data backup facility should always be provided by software in case of any data corrupt or data lost, letting travel agents live fearless.
Multiple Secure Payment Gateways : Tour operator software should provide the facility of multiple payment gateways such as PayPal, WePay, 2Checkout and many more that assures smooth and secure payment process for both sellers and buyers.
Multi-currency and Multilingual : To reach customers across the globe, travel agency software should support multiple currencies and languages, thus setting no limits for travel companies to expand their reach and grow in terms of sales.
Fully Customized : Travel agency software should be able to be customized as per every travel business needs. Standard software may not work for different types of travel companies due to varied business requirement, business size etc. thus limits travel companies to expand. A fully customized software is something every travel company is looking for, which will meet particular tour operator’s requirement.
Easy Dashboard : Last but not the least is ease of use. Unless any software is easy to use for the customers, no one will be interested in using it regardless of multiple number of features it provides.
If you go deep, you might find many other features that software for travel agency must have but above specified features are more than enough to make a wise purchase decision of a complete ERP software for your travel company.
