Friday, 9 October 2015

Online Travel Booking Systems surging among travel management companies in Morocco, Uganda, Tunisia- PROVAB.com

http://www.provab.com - Your travel business may be small or big, but it can’t survive in the present world without an Online Booking Software. You may have hosting a very good travel website design on your domain and it may also be attracting a-lot of visitors as well. But without travel software, you may not be able to realize its full potential. With online travel software in place, you can not only connect to potential clients but also achieve the sales online. Integrating a travel agency software will change your website to an online booking system platform.
Online Travel Booking Systems

But how to integrate, is an intriguing issue. There are three basic methods of integration to your existing website:
iFrame Integration
Top travel software provides the white label links, which can be connected in any travel website. Your web designer can simply import these links in iframe. Thus your website will host the search box and will enable the complete online booking software on your website.
Widget integration
You add the code snippet or a widget, from travel software provider, to your website code. Sections of on the online booking UI will be added to the desired places in your website (e.g., search box, hotel room or flights on special offer).
API integration
API integration is one of the most common methods used today. You need a professional travel software development company to achieve this. APIs provide the web services XML, which should be programmed to connect to third party server to bring the data. Its always advisable to hire an experienced travel portal developer to do this for you. Hotel APIs or Flight APIs integration will give you the complete control on look n feel of the system and customization.
With API integration, travel companies can -
• Have B2C, B2B, corporate and white-label modules
• Manage multiple suppliers including GDS & hotel consolidators
• Manage separate sub-domains / domains for end users and agents
• Update the markup from the backend
• Have IP based currency option
• Have comprehensive reporting system
Regarding Author:
Author is a travel technology expert and has been involved in several travel portal development projects.
Resources:

Top points while deploying Online Travel Software, Tour Operator Software or Travel eCommerce Solutions - PROVAB.com

http://www.provab.com - When you are searching for travel agency software, tour operator software or travel ecommerce solutions, one of the most important points to consider is the features associated with it. The level of customization capability that the software possess also plays an important factor, while deciding on the software. One more major factor is the level of support that you would receive when you face technical difficulties, after the software has been launched.




Choosing a travel agency software or a travel portal software could be a challenging task, unless you concentrate on the below mentioned key points.

Make a note of the features that you want
The software should align with your business requirement
Have a look at the demo of the software that you are planning to purchase
Search for a software that could be customized
After development support is very essential
The software should be scalable
Price should fit your budget

1. Make a note of the features that you want in the software

Making a list of the features that you are looking for in the software would help you in knowing your needs. Make a note of the key features and the special requirement that you expect from the software. One of the most common examples that I can site for you is the involvement of advanced mark-up module or the log of the user behavior analysis or an open source technology for your system. Your requirement may include easy access like one click quotation, voucher access from any point, automatic cancellation of booking and raising a system alert automatically. You may wish to have customized features like multiple payment gateway, multi-language framework, pricing model that is flexible and a more controlled back office features.


2. The software should align with your business requirement

The software that you purchase should have the capability of meeting your business requirement. This could be ascertained by conducting a market research and designing a business system that meets your requirements. The requirements vary as your business may be spread in one region or it may be spread across the world. The travel agency that you operate might be small with limited number of staffs or it may be a large organization with many employees. There may be a requirement to provide special access to certain employees and there may be requirement for different log ins. Your concept about your business operation should be very clear and accordingly the software should fit into your business requirement.


3. Have a look at the demo of the software that you are planning to purchase

An online presentation may showcase all the features, but it is advisable to ask for demo. Demo helps in understanding the system, along with handling it more efficiently. It is better not to have a system that you don't have knowledge about and are not able to use. It is essential to know about the system and how to effectively use it and getting a demo will provide you the opportunity of asking the question related to the operational features of the system.


4. Search for a software that could be customized

Customization is a feature that would allow you to add desired feature to the software when required. The travel software doesn't come with all the features. Customization would help you in adding and deleting the features at the required time.


5. After development support is very essential

The level of support that the software development company would offer is crucial to the smooth running of the system. When you are stuck, it is the support people who would help you to come out of the situation. You should opt for a software that has 24/7 support team, who would be at their tow to help with any kind of problem that arise with the software.


6. The software should be scalable

By being scalable the software would have enough room for expansion. When the software is scalable, it would have sufficient room for adjustment of your growing business and there would be no chance of the business getting halt due to the operation functions. This kind of software system would enable your business to grow without any kind of limitation associated with it. This is for your system facing less hassle during the course of expansion of your business and maintaining a steady growth.


7. Price should fit your budget  

It is not essential that costly software would provide the best solution and it is also not essential that free software would save cost. Though your budget is limited, investing in better software is recommended. Getting software should be considered as a long term investment. There is always a comparison between features, functionality and piece of mind and price. If you invest in an effective software system, it would be capable of saving money in the future and also lot of frustration.

8. Mobile compatibility

A key feature knowing the fact that 30% of the travel booking is coming from mobile devices.
Regarding Author:

Author is a senior business analyst and an expert in travel software development and marketing strategy implementation.

Monday, 5 October 2015

Airline Software System with Flight APIs Integration, B2C and B2C Modules for Agencies in Germany, Spain and Portugal

http://www.provab.com - Time is advancing and so is the travel technology. People need faster and better services for their needs, which are near at hand and easily accessible. When it comes to airline reservation, there are so many first time or less frequency users, there are many price sensitive users. In case of more frequent users the booking process should be quick and transparent giving more and more options and control to the user while selecting and booking an airline. To improve the efficiency of the primitive booking system, where there were reservation systems for a particular airline with travel agents subscribed to them, online airline reservation system is introduced, connected with the GDS systems (Global Distributed System) to provide better deals and strong inventories to global users.

Airline Reservation System is an online booking system connected with global GDS systems including Amadeus, Galileo and Sabre, which consolidates the data from all the airlines. The booking engine connected with GDS system provides better inventory and rates to end customers as the number of airlines operating on the same routes will be many. Thus to beat the competition, airlines provide special fares and discounts to be one step ahead.
Airline Reservation Systems have gone through multiple stages of development since these were introduced. From a simple process of booking and flight schedules management, to a complete travel assistant for passengers, taking care of all of their needs from suggesting batter options, booking the travel tickets till the end of their journey.
For a particular airline operating in any specific geography, developing a robust and flexible ARS is fundamental for maintaining a competitive airline. It is a critical factor for deciding the sales and reputation of an airline. An ARS usually contains information regarding airline schedules, fare split ups, previous reservation records for that passenger and future deals and discounts if there.
A global distribution system based airline reservation system connects to several airlines and bring the data of availability and pricing at one common window. It also provides the information to various distributors and travel agencies working simultaneously round the world. Airline reservation systems are dealing B2C, B2B, corporate and white-label modules today.
Leading GDS systems are Amadeus GDS, Travelport GDS, Sabre GDS and Abacus GDS.
Regarding Author:
Author is a travel technology expert and has been involved in several travel portal development projects.
Resources:

How to find best hotel room reservation software with Hotel CRS and Hotel Extranet Modules?

http://www.provab.com - Travel technology has made online travel agency as a very potent business. Rather than local, travel business has gone global. When you are thinking of establishing a B2B (Business to Business) online travel agency, it is immensely important to choose the right hotel reservation system software. This would give rise to a question regarding the features that should be a part of the hotel reservation system, which can make it unique and let you have a strategic competitive advantage.  




Top hotel reservation system software must have following features:

Global Hotel Rooms Inventory – While dealing with global market, having global hotel room inventory is a must. Hotel reservation system software must be connected with top hotel inventory to provide best deals to global clients.

B2C & B2B both the interfaces – Being an online travel agency, you should always opt for a  hotel reservation system that has the capability of B2B and B2C both the interfaces. There should be distinct identifier separating the B2B and B2C version of the hotel reservation system. This separation could be achieved through implementing customized customer interface with distinct features.

Multiple Payment Gateways - An excellent travel agency would be the one that has the capability of possessing multiple payment gateways. There would be some customers who would prefer paying through credit or debit cards and there would be other you would prefer using Paypal. There would be users who would change to another travel agency when he/she is unable to use their preferred payment option.

CRM / Client Retention Tools - Retaining of the old client is equally important to attracting new clients. Your hotel reservation system should have the facility of providing timely alerts for booking status and cancellation status through emails. One of the effective methods used by the hotel reservation system for retaining client is pushing the relevant content to them through mapping the hotels, cities and countries with the helps of a one stop shop in your home page.

Google Map & Street View Option - Clients always prefer dealing with real business. When you integrate the Google map street views with the hotel reservation system, will enable the client to locate the business with ease. Google map also helps you in getting connected to clients who prefer to deal face to face.

Logs for the Agents - An online travel agency is regarded to be excellent when it is capable of developing an excellent agent activity, which further simplifies the process of user behavior analysis. The result of the analysis helps in determining the strong and weak points and also helps in product development.

Graphical Booking Reports – This gives agents a clear idea about the progress, which is happening on their front.

Apart from these, there are generic features like SMS alerts, reminders that’s help in enhancing the level of accuracy related to the hotel reservation system. Do write us back to check a detailed demo of the system.  

GDS Travel Software with Web Services APIs Integration, Back Office for Agencies Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt – PROVAB.com

http://www.provab.com - Amadeus GDS and GDS travel software saw a great surge in 2014 and 2015 is expected to be better. The reliance on the GDS systems including Amadeus gds have increased significantly over the years. Travel agencies across the world, are more and more using global distribution systems (GDS). GDS systems are enabled to provide online travel deals and data through a single source. A more traditional way of calling the provider to confirm the booking, was used, which took considerable efforts and time per booking. Today, latest travel technologies from the leading consolidators (aggregators) including Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre and Worldspan have become popular among the travel agencies and services providers. Out of all, Amadeus GDS has emerged as the most preferred by travel agents around the world to make flights, hotels, car rentals, holiday packages, ferry, cruises or other travel services booking. The volume of the ticket bookings through Amadeus system such that all the leading airlines are actually connected with Amadeus GDS system. A growing travel agency must integrate Amadeus gds web services on travel website.

Apart from the generic travel contents, Amadeus GDS web services provides availability, pricing, details and online reservation module to travel agencies. Nowadays, travellers prefer a one-stop service, and request rich information to make a right decision. Information from the GDS system helps them to navigate, select and book, what they like. The travel agent has to provide detailed, real-time information to enable the consumer to choose an option that is suited to all his/her needs. Amadeus travel system just makes everything easy.
Amadeus had maintained its position as the global leader in travel technology and travel distribution solutions for tourism industry, by constantly introducing innovations. Set of solutions like e power suites, web services, APIs and other value added services, let client choose – what they like.  Amadeus tools are built to deliver the professional travel booking solutions. It helps the agents to deliver comprehensive travel itineraries quickly and efficiently.
For travel technology companies also, Amadeus GDS is a top choice and companies can deliver the custom made solutions to travel agents. With great technical support, that it offers – things can be big for Amadeus. Integrating Amadeus gds web services will definitely take the travel agency to another level, as it can access the huge set of travel contents governed by Amadeus GDS.
Regarding Author:
Author is a travel technology expert and has been involved in several travel portal development projects.
Resources:

OTA Travel Software and B2B B2C Travel Portal Development for travel agencies in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Dubai (UAE)

http://www.provab.com - Global Distribution System / GDS System is computerized and centralized web service that provide travel related transactions covering airline reservation, hotel reservation, cruise reservation and car rentals. In brief, central reservation systems that book and process the PNR for global airlines are known as Global Distribution Systems / GDS Systems.
Looking for a Travel Portal – Get a Project Quote - http://www.provab.com/get_quote.html

Originally, GDS systems were set up for airline reservations but later its extended to process hotels, cars, cruise and holiday packages. GDS system makes it convenient for users to purchase tickets from different airlines or providers thereby forming the backbone of internet based travel booking services. GDS system reaches out to more than 300,000 plus IATA registered travel agents powered by four major GDS networks like Sabre, Amadeus, Worldspan and Galileo. Thus the GDS systems today, are used by travel agents and online customers all over the world to book flights, hotels, rentals and other travel related services. The key point here is that any GDS system will not hold the inventory, but the inventory is held on vendor’s reservation system itself as GDS has real-time access to the vendor’s database.
GDS can also be understood as a network operated by a company that enables automated transactions between booking agents and vendors so as to provide travel related services to end consumers. A GDS system usually links rates, services, bookings consolidating products and services across the major travel sectors like hotel reservations, car rentals, airline reservations and other activities.
GDS system’s primary customers are mainly travel agents, who are either following OTA model or using a web based software to connect to GDS.
To understand, how global distribution system works, take for example the case of Amadeus GDS. Amadeus is used globally by over 90,000 travel agency locations and over 32,000 airline sales offices for distribution and selling of travel services. This service processes more than 480 million transactions per day, which is huge and over 3 million total bookings per day. GDS along with Online Distribution Data or ODD in the form of connectivity modules allow hotels to connect with Travel agents and online customers.
GDS are owned and operated as joint ventures by major airlines, hotel groups, companies and car rentals. Sometimes they are also called as automated reservation system or ARS or computerized reservation system or CRS.
Modern GDS system typically allow users to take advantage of booking hotel rooms, rental cars, airline tickets, as well as for other activities like outdoor tours. They also provide access to railway and bus reservations in some segments of markets, although these are not always integrated with the main system.
For many years, GDS had a dominating position and role in the travel sector. To avoid high GDS fees airlines have started to distribute flights directly from their websites through web services or APIs, thus bypassing GDS to a large extent, another way of bypassing is by facilitating direct connections to the travel agencies.
Author:
Author is a travel technology expert and has been involved in several travel portal development projects.

Indian Travel Technology Companies opting Agile Design Process and Mobility Solutions for Next Gen Travel Software Suite

http://www.provab.com - Software designing is filled with a lot of buzz words at present and the most frequent of them is the word “Agile”. There are other similar kinds of words like SCRUM, KANBAN, Crystal Clear and Extreme Programming. Top travel technology companies around the globe adopting agile design process for travel portal software development, travel CRM and mobile apps.




The place that the word Agile holds in software designing could be explained with the help of the waterfall model. You may have read about the concept of waterfall model, when you were undergoing your bachelors in engineering. Waterfall model was also an ornate term used for defining a concept. The waterfall model is sequential designing process, according to which progress is defined as flowing downward like that of a waterfall. The various phases of the waterfall model include Conception, Initiation, Analysis, Design, Construction, Testing, Implementation and maintenance. Leading travel software companies are adopting the same model for scalable travel portal development projects.

The waterfall model dates back to the olden days when the Romans involved themselves in the construction work. The main theory that the Romans has put forward and the concept that is implemented in the Waterfall model is the fact, that when you build a bridge it is a challenging task to bring about change or fix the bridge later. Even if you find a path of fixing the bridge, it will be costly. It is very essential to know what you want at the beginning, when you are designing the project.

The case is different with the software, wherein you can bring about changes in the end-products. Looking at the demand that the users pose to the current software industry, it would not be wrong to say that the users expect change in the end-product very frequently. I can put forward a very common concept in regards to the reason behind demanding change in the end-product. During the beginning of the project an user might have a very vague idea about the features that they want in the project, and a strong opinion is formed with the progression of the project depending on the business needs.

Now I could clearly say that, it is the benefits associated with the Agile designing process that had helps in creating an exclusive place when it comes to software designing. The Agile design process enables the project managers to generate a condition that leads to clear and frequent interaction among the customers, business folks and the delivery team.

There are many projects that Provab.com have accomplished and in which the Agile method was implemented very effectively. These are the projects wherein the features associated with the end-result were quite different in comparison to the features that were through about, while beginning the project. The factor that mattered for us as an organization was the level of customer satisfaction and appreciation that these projects brought along with them.

As mobility solutions depend on the web services generated from the web projects, agile development process will be the backbone of travel portal development companies.