Features of Online Booking Portals: Revolutionizing Travel Booking
Online Travel Booking Portal for Travel Agents/Agency
The advent of technology has shifted the focus of travelers to seamless convenience and booking processes. This has given rise to online booking portals or OBPs that allow the travelers to search, compare and make reservations for different travel products under one roof. In the case of travel agencies, the use of functions of these OBPs can improve the quality of service, facilitate internal processes and bring more customers, particularly, those who are fond of modern technologies. Further in this article appears an extended overview of the online booking portals with the aim of travel agencies in reaching their maximum effectiveness in the relations with the customers.
A Powerful Machine’s Revealing: What are the Features of Online booking portal?
Think of a place where you can plan any journey you want, and find all available options - this is an online booking portal. OBPs provide a travel agency with a simple yet powerful interface with a number of functions, such as:
Flight Ticket Engines:
Empower clients to look for flights, analyze fares within and across airlines and consolidators and quickly get their preferred options.
Booking Management Systems for Hotels:
Different types of hotels are available for clients with different budgets. Clients can search by location, star rating, and even by amenities or price thus making the hotel selection easier.
Car Rental Services:
Incorporate car rentals capabilities enabling clients to look for car options, make car rentals and place additional services such as a GPS or insurance among other things in one platform.
While also providing the opportunity to book a variety of excursions, activities and events in the given location. Clients may order cruises, tickets to entertainment events or any other services right at the portal.
Inventory Control Systems:
Helps travel agencies in inventory management of flights, hotels, and any other travel related products through a single integrated system.
Customer Engagement Management Systems:
Helps travel agents in interaction with the clients, relationship management and creating travel experiences.
Payment Processing Solutions:
Enable consumers to make and continue with the reservation without any hassles by offering safe payment payment options.
Marketing and Management Systems:
Give information on customer booking behaviour, booked services and outcome of advertisement campaigns. Such information is used to enhance the market offering, pricing and other business activities.
Features and Advantages of Online Reservation System: From the Perspective of Travel Agencies
Maximum Productivity:
Let agents spend their valuable time on servicing clients rather than performing monotonous tasks such as searching for various travel options or updating a booking. Focus on relations with clients.
No Delay in Information and Pricing:
Get up-to-the-minute information on flight times, room availability, and rates for all travel products. This also allows clients to get the proper quoting, where no more clients need the provision of old information.
Always Online Support Service:
Various OBPs have also availed clients search and management of travel information even if it is done who knows when. This purely fits the profile of the current generation of travelers who are hunched over gadgets and spares them the limitations of booking.
Increased Range of Functionalities and More Competitive Prices:
The Advanced Booking Portals link travel agencies with a huge pool of travel suppliers allowing them to offer a number of travel services at a better price than the categories accommodated. This enables you to provide a solution for different types of clients which can also help gain additional clients searching for low prices.
Better Customer Satisfaction and Overall Experience:
There are a number of other advantages that allow you to provide an entire experience to your customers. Optimization of the booking process and the provision of informational support around the clock considerably improves the conditions for your clients.
Performance Intelligence:
Tools for processing big data on the portals of many OBP’s help understand customer tastes and tendencies in booking behaviors. This information can help improve product offerings and adjust pricing and operate a business.
Increased Profitability:
By introducing more range of travel products and services to your clients at reasonably competitive prices, new sets of clients can come in increasing profitability in your travel agency.
Using a Travel Management System: The Underlying Principles of Convenience and Cost-effectiveness
Less Administrative Expenses:
Minimizing administrative overhead stemming from many travel-related tasks by means of automation and optimization of existing processes can result in considerable savings.
Improved Brand Visibility:
An active and appealing interface which is accessible through Online Booking Platforms will improve the agency image attracting the digitally inclined people while travelling.
Selection of Appropriate Systems in Management of Online Booking Portals: Conclusion
A need for caution arises when it comes to the plan of infusing the online booking portal into the current agency structural framing.
Features and Functionality of the System:
Make sure you select a system which is equipped with relevant features, a system which serves your business needs. Consider features such as booking engine, inventory management system, customer relationship management system and marketing analytics.
Scalability and Integration:
Evaluate whether the Online Booking Portal is capable of growing in accordance with your business requirements and more importantly, attaching to your current travel agency management system for efficient communication of data.
Safety and Trustworthiness:
Pick a company that has been in business for some time and knows how to protect the privacy of its clients, as well as well developed strategies for guarding the information of its clients.
Helpdesk: Go for an OBP managing company having good after sales service to handle any.