When Was Your Last Technology Check-up?

Is it time to evaluate the way you conduct business and see what improvements can be made?  When was the last time you evaluated whether your business is operating as efficiently as it could?  Are you offering the products and services that your clients are looking for? Have the travel technology solutions your business is using kept pace with that of your competitors?

First consider whether you are offering to assist your clients with all of their travel arrangements. If you are selling your client an airline ticket for a quick business trip or a week’s long vacation, chances are they may need to book a hotel as well.  So, access to hotel reservation software is something you may want to be sure to consider when looking at your travel booking solution. Check if it includes access to links to media files & rich content to assist with selecting the right hotel property during the shopping process. Make sure the application can be customized to match the “look and feel” of your company’s specific branding.

A good technology partner can help you automate the content as well as any include amenities once you have identified the content providers that match your client’s requirements. Planning or changing travel plans are no exception, so your 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. You’ll need the flexibility to control your business rules a variety of ways, so here is where you want to make sure the application has the flexibility you’ll need.  Price adjustments should have the flexibility to be calculated as a fixed dollar amount ($) -or- a percentage (%) of the fare.  Business Rules should be easy to enter with the ability to define filters for a specific product type, supplier or travel date.

Make sure to check if you are serving your customers via the channels they prefer.  For today’s customer on the go, mobile ready travel technology solutions are an option you’ll want to consider. Many consumers use different devices as they research and eventually purchase products online.   For instance, some may start their initial research using their smartphone, but switch to a Laptop to complete the purchase.  Others will choose to use their handheld device exclusively. Either way, the hotel reservation software you use needs to be ready to serve these customers on the device they choose.

And lastly, you will not want to overlook how the travel technology solutions you are using have kept pace with the latest technological developments and whether they allow you to easily expand your business. If you plan to participate in the Global Marketplace, you’ll need a hotel booking engine that can easily handle multiple currencies as well as multiple languages.  Look for “state of the art” applications that are flexible & fully scalable and will easily grow with your business.

Identifying hotel reservation software with right combination of content and product features for your travel technology can be a critical decision for your travel business, finding the right technology partner can be just as important.