Travel Agent Software Needs A B2C Component

It should come as no surprise that the travel industry has been focusing more and more of its resources on e-commerce solutions as consumers increasingly rely on the internet for booking their flights, hotels, ground transportation, and even cruise vacations online. However, many travel companies have had challenges developing online booking solutions, especially those that are still using travel agent software built on legacy technology. Many businesses struggle to add new content or make simple changes to their User Interface. The rigid architecture legacy systems use is not at all like the flexible architecture of today's distributed and layered applications. In most legacy systems, business policies and decisions are hardcoded using inflexible, predefined process flows which makes any integration with external internet-based applications difficult and sometimes just impossible. To make matters worse, these legacy systems use old technology and it has become increasingly difficult to find developers willing to work with applications written in languages that are not widely used in today's technology.

As a result, the online revolution has been the driving force behind the switch away from legacy systems. E-commerce sales save a business time and money making it the most cost-effective method to deliver products to consumers. The "state of the art" travel agent software available today provides flexible & fully scalable applications that easily grow with any size travel agency. Some even provide the ability to customize the application to maintain an agency's own unique brand identity.

Experience has shown that some of the best travel agent software is the result of collaboration. Software developers, suppliers, and travel Agents all provide valuable input that can help design and develop the ultimate travel booking engine. Each of these entities plays an important role in the process and any solution should meet each of their specific individual needs.

To serve today's growing number of consumers who use their mobile device to purchase travel products as well as those that switch between devices during the research and booking process, many companies are building applications that use responsive technology that automatically adjusts the screen layout based on the type of device being used. For those looking for a dedicated Mobile App, there are several companies designing and developing custom Apps. Some offer mobile applications as an optional "add-on" to an existing booking engine while some develop them independently. Either approach offers consumers the ease and mobility of using a smartphone. Mobile Apps and mobile responsive technology can now provide any size travel agency affordable applications built on the latest technology with the powerful tools to they need.

So whether your travel agency needs an airline booking engine, a cruise booking engine or a hotel booking engine, be sure your travel agent software is built using the latest responsive technology. Finding a travel booking engine 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 mobile consumer with the content they are looking for can be just as important.

Hotel Booking Engines Need Flexibility

The internet has changed the way that the world researches and shops for everything from Music to vacations. The ability for today's consumer to shop online provides retailers the opportunity to sell their products or services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Today's online retailer virtually never closes their doors!

The internet has changed the way goods and services are sold and the travel industry is no exception. Today's travel agency is No longer limited by "brick and mortar" store fronts, today's travel agent can serve customers anywhere in the world with the right travel booking engine. So today's hotel booking engine must be designed to provide the flexibility to serve these 24/7/365 consumers when and how they choose. To accomplish this, you'll need an application that allows your travel business to serve customers via multiple channels. You'll need an easy to use Business to Consumer (B2C) online booking engine to reach customers shopping online, but make sure it is a mobile ready so you can easily serve consumers using any device, including their smartphone. For those customers who still like to speak with a travel professional, a traditional Business to Business (B2B) will be needed.

Those who are looking to reach Latino consumers may want to consider a hotel booking engine that has multi-language capabilities so they interact with these customers online in Spanish. For those looking to expand into new markets, the online booking engine they choose needs to easily support multiple currency types and consider all local requirements governing online commerce in a specific market. Your travel booking engine also needs the flexibility to easily predefine business rules and promotions for each market so you can easily take advantage of specific deals and local promotions. Applications need to allow you to manage and localize what your customers are offered in each market with the flexibility to quickly define business rules using a wide variety of criteria.

Choose a hotel booking engine that provides the ability to adjust the selling price quickly and easily. The right travel booking engine can allow you to include value add offers right in the fare availability display and provide the expertise and service that only a professional travel professional can offer. The ability to quickly and easily customize a hotel booking engine to match your website's "Look & Feel", including unique headers and footers can be a powerful tool when working with affiliated agencies or organizations.

Whether you are looking to serve a new customer group, expand your service into new regions or just distribute online to multiple websites, flexibility is key. Flexible & fully scalable applications will help your business grow as you serve new customer groups and markets while still allowing your business to maintain its own unique brand identity. Flexibility to grow and expand your business is key when deciding on the right hotel booking engine for your travel agency, choosing the right technology partner can be even more important.