What is the solution for a TMC to take care of varied request coming from their corporates?

Travel management companies offer their services to both individuals and corporate to book their travel as they master the art of managing different kinds of travel at any location of the world. However, when it comes to business travel, there are many issues that may occur for the TMC companies as corporate travel demands varying requests that includes alterations in flight timings, immediate car rentals, food and security, etc. In order to take care of such requests at any time of the day, TMC can use the services of travel technology that is Travel Management Solution.

So, how come travel management companies can provide better corporate travel solutions using travel technology?

Some of the major benefits TMC can offer to corporate by using travel technology are as follows:

·         Corporate SelfBooking Tool: It allows the travel management companies to maintain a healthy relationship with their corporate clients. It helps the company to develop separate profiles for different personnels of the corporate and offer them services based on their designations. This also helps them maintain their company travel policies and manage the workflow. It also develops corporate reports and supplier reconciliation easily. Other features of the tool include corporate management, book travel products for corporate, manage booking policy and history, view e-tickets and booking vouchers, get special discounts, etc.

·         Optimized workflow: Corporate clients want convenience and flexibility for their business travel, which travel management companies must offer. With QuadLabs Technology, they can optimize workflow of their products and services offered easily. They can easily manage the highly scalable data in a more accurate way.

·         MidOffice andCRM: MidOffice is where the booking is fulfilled and processed to the end user. By using third party tools and booking engine, MidOffice ensures that the service is offered to the corporate client in real time, which enhance the user satisfaction and build strong relationships. Some other benefits include easy management of complex sales and purchase rules, real time supplier connectivity, travel desk solutions, end to end automation, auto invoicing, enhanced admin panel, etc.

·         Contract management and distribution: It helps TMC to manage private inventories of hotels, car rentals, travel insurance, sightseeing, etc. They can offer special discounts, fares, allocations, on different channels using contract management. 

Other than offering these above mentioned features of managing corporate travels, QuadLabs also offers benefits such as front desk sales, expense management, credit limit, policy and approval workflow management, integration with flight and land product suppliers, cost center and much more. They have done several global deployments across Europe, South America, Asia, Middle East, Australia, Indonesia and Africa and is highly adapted by each market. 

The challenges and opportunities in online travel booking system

The online travel industry is booming and people are relying more and more on the internet to book their flights and hotels However, unlike any other industry, the travel industry has its own set of challenges too. Have a look at those challenges below and what travel agencies and travel software development companies like QuadLabs are doing to overcome them.
The challenges and opportunities in online travel Industry.

Less connectivity

Visitors in Asia (and even in some other parts of the world) have been facing the problem of slow internet connectivity since a long time. Although many people have 4G connections today, there is still a considerable amount of people who use 3G or slower networks. Low or slow connectivity results in people taking the traditional route to booking tickets — the phone call route. There are many who still prefer calling the airline or hotel to book tickets as that seems more ‘convenient’ to them. Business owners now require simpler designs for their websites and mobile applications on all platforms namely Android, Ios, BlackBerry and Windows. Simple designs allow their websites and apps to load faster without compromising on the design or the user experience. Also, network operators are trying to bring 4G technologies to Asian markets on a large scale. It won’t be long until the problem of slow internet connectivity gets solved and more and more people plan and book their travels and hotel stays online.

Negative search experience

Travellers suffer from negative search experience on OTA’s websites or apps. They used to find it difficult to get the type of hotel they wanted. Thanks to technological advancements provided by companies like QuadLabs and the efforts taken by business owners, visitors are now getting a unique search experience. Increasing travel based websites allow visitors to search, compare and book hotels and other Travel products like flights, car rental, Travel insurance, Transfers etc. The overall user experience has changed for better and will continue to do so as travel businesses understand the importance of getting more customers online.

Synergy issues

Synergy between the travel agency and the hotel or airline used to cause many issues in the past. Sometimes travellers used to book rooms that were unavailable or already filled. It was difficult to update the empty rooms in hotels or seats on a plane. As a result, visitors used to view outdated information. This scenario has changed with the advancements in technology. GDS companies and hotels suppliers now provide live XML/API feeds to the travel agents and agencies. It is now possible to see more up-to-date information on travel sites and apps. Businesses are also moving to better software and technologies to make sure their services are always up and running.

Cancellation policies

Different travel agencies provide different cancellation policies. Some demand a cancellation fee on cancellation of tickets. These fees can be as high as a one night room stay fee + taxes. Few travel agencies don’t allow cancellation after the stipulated time. Fewer companies ask their customer to cancel individual tickets, for example, a travel agency might cancel only your hotel room bookings but not your flight tickets if it has given you both a flight + hotel stay package. Some companies might allow cancelling the entire package only! Thanks to the tough competition today, these policies have been less strict and focus more on user convenience. Because customers will usually shift to a competitor if a particular business doesn’t provide convenient services. Travel business owners are now innovating new and more convenient ways to cancel or refund bookings. Discount Coupons, Loyalty vouchers, Payback Points, Attractive refund plans are being introduced for every Travel product.

Inability to know more about hotels

Although all the information is available online on the internet, it is still easier to know what kind of service you will get in a hotel depending on how the person who answers your call speaks to you. You can judge this based on how quickly they answer your call, how they talk to you, their mannerisms, how they listen to your requirements and if they are ready to go an extra mile to provide more convenience to their customers. It is found that a hotel can offer negotiation up to 40% on the room rates. Discount is available once you talk to the salesperson personally. Most travel websites don’t offer the discounted rates as they have to manage commissions. Travel agencies might go the extra mile, there is still nothing that beats calling the hotel directly (except for saving some time). However, many agents are trying to search and innovative ways to make it more appealing to book hotels online.

QuadLabs travel technology system help these travel agents and tour operators to organize and keep track of their bookings, business processes and front and back office data in a systematic manner, thus providing utmost satisfaction to the traveler regardless of the type of the travel. They are highly specialized and reliable travel technology provider who plays a very important role in maintaining a healthy relationship between the travel company and the customer for years.

How can the travel industry influence the capabilities of the Internet of Things to make travel more seamless?

In the past decade, the travel industry has evolved a great deal due to the latest development in travel technology solutions, allowing the travel agencies to provide better travelling experience to the customers. However, Internet of things (IoT) also played a quite significant role in making travel more seamless. Whether it is monitoring different travel products such as the performance of airline engines, to providing secure and keyless access to hotel rooms and helping tourists to locate their way around an unknown city or country, the capabilities of the Internet of things have made the life of both the traveler and travel companies a lot easier.

What is Internet of Things and how it influences the travel industry?

Internet of things refers to the interconnection of different computing devices, also known as connected devices, that include mobile device, electronics, applications, sensors, etc., allowing data transfer from one end to another. By connecting and using these smart devices, the user can get a better insight of the process and get it done more easily and efficiently. Similarly, in the travel industry, which is completely based on hospitality and scheduling, Internet of things helps the travelers and travel companies to enjoy a smooth and secure travel. For instance, having a reliable travel technology system would allow the travel company to book all the necessary services to their travelling needs that include a fine hotel room, flight as per their preference, car rentals, holiday packages, bus bookings, etc.

Travel companies are in lot of pressure to provide cheaper and effective travelling experience to their customers, and due to that, the travel industry has been one of the first movers to Internet of things.

Furthermore, it also helps the travelers to get instant and keyless access to the hotel room, gives them a fair idea of the location and its people, and many more. Since the technology has become cheaper and more powerful, travel industry is enabling the smart devices to get connected with their travel technology system, which helps in maintaining a better communication between the traveler and themselves.

Think of having a very tiring day of sightseeing and while returning to your hotel, you could just send them a notification of your arrival time through app, giving them time to prepare for your room with low temperature, decent lighting and hot served food. Or if you see the business side, you could notify the hotels to arrange a car service or rent the hall for a business meeting while you are away. IoT can also help the hotel staff to keep tab on their customers’ electricity consumption, get notification of any technical error that may occur in the building.

Today, many travel technology companies and travel portal development companies are designing the travel technology system while keeping in mind of the capabilities of Internet of things, so that the travel or hospitality company would be able provide more satisfying and comfortable travelling experience to their customers at a very low price.

QuadLabs Technologies is premier travel technology company in India. It has an expert team to provide end to end travel technology solutions to its client worldwide including locations US, UK, Brazil, Middle East and many more. One can also contact us for advance software for travel agency, online booking engine, mid office systems, b2b & b2c travel portal systems and many more.

Address:- 

QuadLabs Technologies Limited

720, 7th Floor,JMD Megapolis, Tower B,

Sohna Road, Sector 48,

Gurgaon 122018, Haryana, India

Phone:+91 124 663 6999

Web: http://www.quadlabs.com  Email: marketing@quadlabs.com  

Why your travel agency needs online B2B Travel Portal

With the advent of online B2B travel portal, travel businesses have seen an outstanding growth in numbers today and are proliferating at faster pace. While, entire travel & hospitality industry is experiencing a revolutionary phase, it would be vital to know the importance of online B2B travel portal and how it can help bring in robust growth for a travel agent and the Sub-Agent/ B2B network it has.

B2B refers to Business to business system and is a common arena where travel content & product information along with the services are exchanged amongst various business enterprises. Largely, travel businesses are operated either through a B2C or B2B system. Technically, these systems are reservation and booking software’s developed, based on concepts of cloud computing, which support large data management in complex network.

For travel agency in particular, an online B2B travel portal has become very vital because it gets integrated & distributes content to a vast network of global travel businesses. Some of the benefits that travel agencies gets by integrating into an online business to business system are- accessibility to various services that are available with travel content consolidators or aggregators with reservation availability, real time pricing; market specific pricing and various offers and discounts subject to demand & supply. With all this information, travel agencies can execute the reservation process as well as manage their clients and their enquiries without any hassle. 

Other features that are part of B2B systems are dynamic B2B interfaces, B2B2B management (agents can create & manage their own sub agents, define their mark-ups, product access etc.), agency management, online quotation management and many more innovative money-spinning features. Through all these features, one advantage that is experienced by both suppliers and travel agents in a great way is reduction in time and cost while executing various booking related tasks.

Building business contract is one important aspect a travel agency should take care while filing a contract into an online B2B travel portal. If contracts are made manually, there may arise many issues such as delays in confirming availability and price distribution, use of older communication mediums which are generally through phone, fax etc. All these factors make the manual process of contracting very labour intensive & in parallel very time and money consuming. Travel booking software are benefiting in a great way by the process of online contracting which happens between travel agents and service/ content providers. Contracts if made online have many advantages compared to traditional manual contracting process done through paper work. Some of the key advantages are better efficiency in time, cost effective and convenience of faster access to updated rates and distribution in single system. 

How the online reservation management system works?

Travel portals, or as they are more commonly known as online reservation management systems, have taken the travel and tourism industry by storm. It has completely revolutionized the way we make our travel arrangements. It has brought the travel service providers and the travelers closer to each other. A traveler can sit at the very comfort of his/her home and make all necessary bookings without fussing over going to a travel agent, waiting in queues for booking tickets, pouring over tones of data to decide on a deal which may or may not be exactly how you wish to plan your holiday. So, let us understand how this online reservation management system actually works.

These online reservation management systems are devised with some of the most advanced and cutting-edge technology. They work as a platform where travel service providers put up their information in order to reach out to as many clients as possible. On the other hand, a traveler search for these services. The platform brings the two parties together helping a traveler locate ideal deals. Basically, the differed hotels, resorts and other hospitality property owners, airlines, car and bus service providers, etc. harness the power of interest along with their own websites to give a boost totheir reservations by getting bookings online.  It does not only benefit them but also their clients. Their clients can browse through their entire catalogue with great ease and make bookings as they desire. The entire process is simple, convenient and hassle free for both the parties.

                                    Source Image:- Bookinglive

You can check for rooms, air tickets, bus tickets, rental cars and private choppers available through the online inventory. You can check the pictures of different room types, car types, etc. as well. Every travel detail is available on these online reservation management systems. One can also compare different prices, tariffs and rental charges to finalize the best deal for themselves. You can look forward to special packages and promotions these online reservation management systems may have to offer.

A large part of managing your vacation and making bookings is handled by the online reservation management system. They work so efficiently and effectively that you simply have to confirm your bookings and make payments. To make the most from the benefits of an online reservation management system, especially if you like to or your jobs involves a lot of traveling, you can create your account with them.