Improving Your Clients Travel Experience

Many travelers seem more interested in the opportunity to take "selfies" than seeing the actual sights they visit. A simple "drive-by" of a local tourist attraction or the next shopping opportunity is what many of today's travelers end up doing when they visit a new destination. A good Travel Agent can transform a simple trip into an experience that dreams are made of and help create the experience of a lifetime.

The first step in improving your clients travel experience may start with upgrading your travel agent software. To start, you will need an application that allows your business to serve customers the way they choose. You will need access to multiple channels including Business to Business (B2B) for those consumers that still like to speak with a travel agent call center to discuss and book their travel arrangements. For consumers shopping online, you'll need an easy to use Business to Consumer (B2C) online booking engine, but make sure it is a mobile ready so you can easily serve today's online consumer via the device they choose, including their smartphone.

Next, make sure you are offering your clients complete service. If your agency falls short in serving all your customer's needs, you risk them going to a competing travel agent or online travel agency that does. Your travel agent software should include the ability to not only book a client's airline reservation, but select a seat for themselves or request a special meal. Be sure to include the ability for clients to research and book accommodations such as a hotel room as well as purchase ancillary products like travel insurance.

You'll want applications that allow you to easily define business rules and create promotional offers and specific deals for your clients. Choosing an online booking solution that has the flexibility to quickly define business rules using a wide variety of criteria can help you customize special offers quickly and easily.

Your online booking engine should have detailed descriptions and links to media files to assist both your agents and online consumers during the research and shopping process. Pictures depicting room accommodations, hotel public areas, restaurants, etc. should all be integrated into the booking engine. Descriptions of hotel amenities available and local activities and attractions can also be quite beneficial and improve the overall shopping experience.

A mobile booking engine can help improve the experience by taking full advantage of access, content and powerful features that an online booking engine offers and combines this with the ease and mobility that using a handheld device provides. It can clearly make the difference when it comes to serving the increasing population "addicted" to their handheld devices which they use for just about everything.

You will also want to build and maintain your own brand identity with an online booking engine that provides you the ability to quickly and easily customize the "Look & Feel" to match your own branding, including unique headers, footers & CSS.

Whether you are looking to improve the overall travel experience for your existing customers or looking to attract new customers, flexibility can be key, Flexible & fully scalable travel agent software that can help you expand and grow your business can be important to your success, but finding the right technology partner to work with can be even more important.

Competing in Today's Mobile World

The internet has changed the way that the world shops for everything from personal items to travel. The fact that consumers can easily shop online provides retailers with the opportunity to sell whatever products or services they offer anytime of the day, any day of the week. An online retailer virtually never has to close.

It is estimated that one of every three adults will be what are referred to as Millennials by the year 2020. This is generation grew up constantly connected online and is by far the largest users of social media and mobile technology today.

As a results, today's travel software must be designed to provide the flexibility to serve consumers when and how they choose. It should protect your brand identity and provide you with the tools you will need to properly manage your online business. You'll want to look for a mobile booking engine to allow your travel business to serve customers via multiple channels or devices. While the traditional Business to Business applications will still work for those consumers who like to speak with a travel agent to discuss and book their travel arrangements, many of today's consumers prefer shopping online.

Millennials grew up interacting with each other via text messages and email as well as social media giants like Facebook and Twitter. They not only use today's mobile technology to interact with each other socially, but they also use their handheld devices to make a significant number of purchases online.

For this group, you'll want an easy to use Business to Consumer (B2C) online reservation system that includes a mobile booking engine. All signs indicate that the general population will increasingly use their smart phones as more and more people become connected via their handheld devices. Mobile technology is becoming increasingly important for any business looking to reach today's consumer.

Some consumers prefer to use various different devices to research and eventually purchase products online. For instance, some may start their initial research using a handheld device, but switch to a Laptop to complete the purchase. Others will choose to use their handheld device exclusively and will need access to a mobile booking engine in order for them to complete their purchase. Your business needs to be ready to serve these customers when they are ready regardless of the time of day and your application must be accessible via the device they choose to use.

A mobile booking engine takes full advantage of access, content and powerful features that an online booking engine offers and combines this with the ease and mobility that using a handheld device provides. It can clearly make the difference when it comes to serving the increasing population "addicted" to their handheld devices which they use for just about everything. 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 mobile consumer where and how they shop for travel can be just as important.