Localize Your Air Booking Engine When Going Global

Think your online airline booking engine is ready to go Global? Well there are the obvious things that you will need to consider such as local language and local currencies. As many expanding internationally quickly learn however, there are a lot more things your business will need to address before your global expansion will be successful.

A centralized application managing Live connections with Supplier content along with flexible Business Rules to manage the product offered customers is key for any online travel business. But launching airline reservation software in global markets involves a lot more than an online booking engine with multi-currency and multi-language capabilities. As many businesses quickly learn, there is a difference between “globalizing” a product so that it is generic enough to work in several markets verses “localizing” a product. Just as the languages and currencies used in different countries may vary, so do many of the regulations regarding consumers and the disclosure of information during the selling process.

Many market requirements dictate a unique sales flow and some may need access to specific local content only available in that market. These variables require an airline booking engine with a layout that can be quickly customized to meet local requirements combined with easy access to critical local market content to complement “global” content providers.

While simply translating an application into a new language may be a quick way of entering a new market, there is some danger with his approach. Lost in Translation, your brand message may be unclear or miscommunicated. Many have learned that Languages often need to be customized or localized to account for regional dialects. The Portuguese spoken in Brazil is much different than in Portugal. The Spanish spoken in Latin America can be dramatically different than that in Spain. Remember when Chevrolet launched the Chevy Nova in Latin America, not realizing at first that the cars English name (No-Va) loosely translated to “No Go” in Spanish?! Even English sounds different when spoken by the British verses an American. Although as an American, I do have to admit the British always sound better!

Some travel businesses may even want to offer a discount to customers who book online and encourage bookings via this cost effective channel. Or perhaps a lower the price based on the time of day or the day of week a booking is made. The possibilities are endless and your ideas should not be limited by the constraints of your booking engine.

As today’s consumers have more and more options, targeted messages and custom offers have become a key marketing approach used by many successful travel companies. Access to airline reservation software that can quickly and easily target special offers by departure city or destination can be a critical tool needed to communicate where the best deals are or where a specific offer can be found.

Finding the right technology partner to help take your business global is important, finding a technology partner who understands the need to localize before you can globalize in even more important.

Hotel Reservation Software Needs Content Flexibility

Hotel chains were early to embrace the internet as a cost effective way to reach consumers and many quickly developed their own online hotel booking engine. It allowed many hotel chains to showcase their properties online with pictures and later virtual tours. For the first time consumers were able to actually view the different types of rooms available as well as the hotel gym or restaurant and could get a good idea whether a particular hotel was right for them.

The growth of Online Travel agencies over the past few years has shifted online consumers away from individual Hotel websites over to regional Hotel aggregators where price & availability rule the display. These aggregators use hotel reservation software that provides a quick and easy way for consumers to identify the best hotel based on price and availability. But there is a trend emerging with some consumers who are demanding more, some are looking for more than just a hotel room at the lowest price. Many consumers are looking for a luxurious travel experience or they may have complicated requirements that require personalized attention that only travel professionals can provide.

Many larger agencies or consortia groups have embraced this trend and are now providing their customersaccess to special features and amenitiesalong with their hotel booking. Special amenities such as concierge service and complimentary beverages are now offered for the most valued guests. Today’s frequent traveler is on the go and they have become increasingly dependent on their mobile devices to manage their lives as well. Delivering the content and amenities targeted for a specific group of customers can be tricky at times, but providing it quickly and easily with an online hotel booking engine can be even more challenging.

If you are just getting started, you’ll need to identify the content your customers look for the most and then some quick research on content source options will go a long way to help you find the right source. Whether your clients travel for business or leisure, there are content sources available for any type of hotel from the leisure budget hotel to the full service, high end business hotel.

Once you have identified the content providers that match your client’s requirements, a good technology partner can help you automate the content as well as any include amenities so you can offer it all online. Planning or changing travel plans are no exception, so your online hotel booking engine needs to support these features and benefits not only during the research and shopping process, but the entire booking process as well.

To accomplish this requires integration of hotel reservation software that delivers the information to the specific hotel property identifying a particular VIP guests along with details of any special offers included. For example, as more hotels offer unique amenities for preferred guests such as free internet or access to concierge level lounges, a hotel booking engine needs to make sure this information is sent along with the reservation informing the actual hotel property.

Finding the right hotel supplier to help serve your customer’s needs is important, finding a technology partner with the flexibility to customize that service is even more important.

Automation can benefit or plague your business

Todays' Travel Agency Software can help save any agency time and resources while increasing sales revenue. Providing your customers the flexibility to research and make travel bookings when and where they want can be critical in today's “high touch” world. The right Travel Agent Booking Software can help save any travel agency time and resources while increasing Sales, but too much automation can also be a nightmare.

When I recently called the customer service line for my cable company, I experienced an automation “merry-go-round” that has become all too familiar with many companies today. After unsuccessfully searching their website for the information I needed about adding service, I decided to call their customer service number for help. I was forced to listen to a lengthy, pre-recorded message telling me what I already knew, and then listened to the 7+ options I could choose from, none of which was what I was looking for. I got so frustrated that I hung up!

My issue still unresolved, I called back and kept hitting “zero” until I finally reached someone who took a message! I know we all love to hate our cable company, but these types of issues seem to plague many business' today. Many have tried to cut costs by automating their customer service lines but have done so at the expense of the service level they provide their customers.

On the flip side, I was planning a quick, last minute trip to New York City a few weeks ago and went online and found a great hotel at a reasonable price. The Travel Agency Software I was using provided me the information I needed to know about the price, location, amenities, etc. and allowed me to book the room using my credit card. I got an immediate confirmation for my booking and was all set in a matter of minutes. Quite a different experience than when I called the cable company.

These are good examples of how automation can both benefit or plague businesses and consumers alike. While using Travel Agent Booking Software to automate processes to reduce the time and effort it takes to service customers, business owners must also provide customers access to the human touch or risk the personal relationships that keep their business strong. After all, you never know who your clients will talk to about their experience with your business and nothing attracts new customers like positive “word of mouth”.

In other words, there needs to be a balance between using an automated solution to address simple customer service tasks and providing access to customer service representatives for those “high touch” customers requiring personal attention. Travel Agent Booking Software should be easy to use and provide the ability for agents to service customers directly using a B2B application as well as a B2C options for customers to research and book travel when and where they want. Online booking engines should also be mobile ready, so today's mobile consumer can access it from any device they choose, whether that be their smart phone, tablet or laptop. Travel Agent Software should enhance your interaction with customers, not frustrate and distance them from you.

In this article author writes about Odysseus Solutions. An advanced online Travel Booking Engine will allow for you to make price adjustments and extend special offers that target a specific sales channel such as B2B or B2C.

Booking Engine Customization & Mobile Readiness Becoming Critical

Flexibility in how an online travel booking engine can be customized as well as where and how it is made available have become important factors when selecting a technology partner for your travel business. “Out of the box” online booking engines may work for some travel agencies, but more and more are looking to tailor their customer experience and branding with custom online booking engines.

An XML booking engine can be an ideal solution for those in the online travel business looking to customize the layout and flow of their booking engine without taking on the complex development of live connectivity with travel suppliers or the multifaceted business rules engine most need. Many of today's Air XML booking engines can provide a travel business owner much more than a simple “live” connection to check pricing & availability or to book a flight. These innovative products can provide any size travel business the ability to take full advantage of the powerful business logic and processing capabilities of an established booking engine while customizing the User Interface to their own specifications, at their own convenience. Customers can host all User Interfaces on their own servers while using the Air XML for business logic as well as live pricing, availability & booking capability. An XML booking engine can take full advantage of the powerful features an established booking engine provides such as the ability to easily adjust a products selling price easy price and robust reporting capabilities.

For those looking to service those customers who are always on the go, a mobile booking engine is an option you may want to consider for your travel business. All signs indicate that the general population will increasingly use their smart phones as more and more people become constantly connected to social media. As a result, mobile technology is becoming increasingly important for any business looking to reach them. People are not only using today's mobile devices to interact with each other, they are also using these devices to make a significant number of purchases online.

Some consumers may use various different devices as they research and eventually purchase products online. For instance, many consumers may start their initial research using their smart phone, but switch to a Laptop to complete the purchase. Others will choose to use their handheld device exclusively and access a mobile booking engine via a website or dedicated mobile App that they have downloaded on their device. Either way, your business needs to be ready to serve these customers on the device they choose to use.

Today's state of the art mobile booking engine can take full advantage of the easy access to content and powerful features that an online booking engine offers combined with the ease and mobility of using a smart phone. Finding an online booking solution with the right combination of options for your business can be a critical decision. Finding a technology partner that will help you reach today's consumer where and how they shop for travel can be just as important.

In this article author writes about Odysseus Solutions. An advanced online Travel Booking Engine will allow for you to make price adjustments and extend special offers that target a specific sales channel such as B2B or B2C.