Agile Design helping Airline Reservation Software, Travel eCommerce in scalability – 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.

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Agile Design

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.

Boost Sales of Online B2C Travel Software using Social API integration – PROVAB.com

Being into the travel business, you might be thinking of innovative strategies to enhance your business growth and provide maximum exposure to your organization. As a tour operator and travel agency, a significant amount of your resource, which could be concluded in the form of time and money, is invested towards the sole purpose of advertising. This is a very well planned strategy as growing your business and bringing in enhancement in the revenue is not possible without a well-architect and well-implemented marketing strategy.

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Advertising has always been given an eminent position, be it at present day business or the organizations that had conducted business in the past or the one who will be doing so in the future. It is the well planned advertisement of the products that has helped in their introduction to us and we in turn purchasing them as a consumer. Advertisement has acted as the backbone of every industry, be it the most famous brand of car BMW, be it the fashion brand Allen Solly or one of the famous brands in the hospitality industry “The Marriott group of hotels”.

One of the eminent changes that we have experienced to be a part of the advertisement industry is the impact of social media and the impact that they has on transforming the whole idea of advertising. The present time advertisement provides more emphasis on customer engagement and building the very important element of “TRUST” among the customer. Building trust among the customer has been never being such an eminent part of advertisement as it is now. Success of online travel software totally depends on that.

There has been a sudden shift in what we call as focus of advertisement. At present the focus of every advertisement strategy that we formulate is based on building brand loyalty rather than building a brand image, which has been the sole focus of the process earlier. The task of building brand loyalty is much more challenging and failure to conduct a healthy dialogue with the customer may lead to loosing the business. This is the main reason behind majority of the companies at present outsourcing their advertisement segment to specialized social media marketing agencies.

Will it surprise you, if we say that there is a way to achieve the above mentioned goal of advertisement that is much easier, cheaper and at the same time consumes less time. This is a process that requires minimal effort on your part and if executed accurately has the capability of enhancing your online booking sale. PROVAB TECHNOSOFT has come up with a new idea called “Customer Review Module for Travel Software”. This is nothing but the travel product review, displayed on the travel portal or the travel agency web-page. By implementing this method of advertisement using the social media, we are not asking you to abandon the other strategies that you had been using for advertising your product. Customer review is a more conventional form of advertising, that has been often overlooked and under-rated when it comes to a way of generating social buzz for your travel business.

“What will happen if you allow your customers to post reviews about your travel business”? have this question ever invaded your mind. It is about letting your customer share their experience with your travel system and rate your service in an open manner. This is a way to let your customer know that their experience and satisfaction matters to you. It is about letting your customers and prospective customers know that you have architect your travel business to provide them with the best service and is in the process of constantly improving the service through customer feedback.

Benefits Associated with the Process

Increased Credibility

When customers get the opportunity to read the reviews about your service, it acts in a positive manner for your credibility. Your travel product takes the form of real people story from just being a collection of photographs, description and numbers. It is the real time experience that you customers have, described in their own words.

A Boost for your Online Booking Sale

As per the survey conducted on including Customer Review as a part of advertisement strategy, it has been revealed that there has been a dramatic increase in the online sales. One more aspect that was revealed is the implementation of this strategy by majority of the renowned online retailer. There is a science that could be related to the strategy and if you have not thought about it, then please think as this could be literally termed as free money.

Collateral Advertisement

Collateral advertisement is a real term that is present in the advertisement world. Here I am using the term with a little twist. The great part about customer review is generation of advertisement without focusing on your effort put forward towards the element of advertisement. This provides you with the opportunity to focus on the business aspect that is really required, which according to me is excellent service. Providing excellent service which in turn becomes the reason for generating positive customer review which is away to take your business towards the path of growth.

We would also like to mention that our travel technology product is not only about support our client's operational requirement, but in a way is the process for simplifying the customer engagement and feedback process. We are the provider of top-notch customer review service which provides you with the option of choosing between simple yet powerful and customized premade widgets to custom made solutions with the implementation of powerful APIs.

Amadeus, Travelport and Sabre GDS Systems helping travel agencies grow using OTA model.

http://www.provab.com - A global distribution system (GDS) is a database capable of storing and updating enormous information on the supply of a wide range of tourism products worldwide. GDSs enable the travel agents to access, in real-time, availability, features and prices of flight tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, cruises, ferry reservations, trains and other services. With a Global distribution system integrated to their website, travel agencies can allow their customers to search and book travel products and services and issue tickets too.

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Global Distribution System

Global Distribution System

Travel agencies are greatly aided by GDS systems because they are enabled to offer their customers rates, inventory, discounts, rooms, and descriptions on a real-time basis. In other words, global distribution systems are intermediaries between travel product suppliers –and travel retailers who sell tickets to the final consumer.

Main features of GDS:

• Report availability and prices of travel products

• Reserve user requests.

• Sale and ticketing

• Track sales (extend customer’s stay, change of flights, etc).

• Facilitates control management for travel agencies).

Evolution of GDS

The prototype of GDS in the travel industry can be seen in the 1950s as the traditional legacy business model which inter-operated between airline vendors. Computer reservation systems (CRS), at the initial stage, was used by the airline companies as an automated booking system, but later, travel agents were given access. Around 1980, CRS enabled travel agents to connect to various travel providers in a single system. At this stage, in addition to flights, hotels and car rentals were included. CRS acquired much strength by late 80s being so helpful to both suppliers and distributors. In the 90s, computerized reservation systems of airlines were transformed to global distribution systems (GDS). So we see that GDS has developed from airline alliances and ended up becoming independent business units with product internationalization and introduction of new products, especially hotel rooms.

GDS integration for travel agencies and suppliers of travel products

Travel agencies must have full access to a global distribution system GDS. To get connected to a GDS, travel agencies need a contract.  This will enable the travel agents to provide an astonishing amount of travel product rates and information to their customers, at the lowest possible rates. An experienced travel technology company can integrate any GDS to the computer reservation system or website of a travel agency.

It’s critical also for the properties to be on a GDS. Travelers now go to travel portals to find travel products. So hotels, car rentals, etc, have to be there to get Internet visibility and, thus, more reservations. A GDS allows real-time access to inventory system of a hotel with the current prices, discounts, room types, facilities like Wi-Fi  and different aspects of interest to the potential customer.

Owners can hire a good travel technology company to get access to the GDS of their choice. A property can be connected only in one GDS provider. If the property owner wants to change the provider, he can cancel the existing provider and activate another with a switch letter.

How much does it cost?

To integrate GDS to your system, you’ll have to pay a one-time setup cost and pay a monthly charge of a minimum amount per reservation.

Major GDS systems

Amadeus was started in 1987 by Air France, Iberia, Lufthansa, and SAS in order to create a European GDS, by fusing their CRSs. In 1989, seven more airlines joined Amadeus and began to allow travel agents to book flights through neutral screens. It is now the largest leisure package distributor in the world. Through Amadeus GDS integration, a travel agent can offer travel products from 430 airlines in 195 countries, 32 car rental companies in 37,918 locations, 20 cruise lines and 300,000 hotel properties. More than 100,000 travel agencies are connected with Amadeus GDS.

Sabre, a joint venture by American Airlines and IBM, was started in 1960. In 1970, Sabre system began to be installed in travel agencies.  Now 55,000 travel agencies use Sabre GDS to book products from 400 airlines, 88,000 hotels, 24 car rental brands, and 13 cruise lines.

Galileo and Worldspan are the other two major GDSs. There are also third party consolidators like Sahara, Infini (Japan), Axess (Japan), Tapas (Korea), Fantasia (South Pacific), and Abacus (Asia/Pacific) that cater to particular regions or countries.

The big consolidators also include such as Expedia, Orbitz (Merchant program registration needed), Hotels.com, Travelocity, AAA, Hotwire, Priceline and TravelWeb.

The future of GDS

As a tool of of content aggregation, GDS is here to stay and be more powerful. Novel technological solutions in middleware continue to appear. Global distribution systems have a long way to go.

Online Travel eCommerce Website and Reservation Systems growing in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt.

http://www.provab.com - Ticketing system in travel technology means an online booking system to search and book, flights, hotels, transfers, sightseeing and holiday packages. Travel ticketing system supports immediate booking and request management (*which is called queuing up), both the models. Ticketing system also refers to travel software (travel agency software), which are widely used by global travel management companies.

Looking for a Travel Portal – Get a Project Quote - http://www.provab.com/get_quote.html

Travel Portal

A ticketing system / travel agent software is online system to store & to retrieve travel related contents. The data may come from the ticketing system’s database or it may come from the GDS Systems – Global Distribution Systems or the third party suppliers. Ticketing system may process the transactions related to flights, accommodations, transfers, cars, cruise and other travel related services. There are three kinds of ticketing systems, which are most widely used today.

• Ticketing System connected to GDS
• Ticketing System connected to Third Party Suppliers
• CRS based Ticketing System

A ticketing system / travel software, while issuing any ticket connects to primary flights / hotels / cars data to find real time availability and pricing. Once the availability is confirmed, users can proceed to make payment to confirm the booking. This whole process is automated and end users get the booking confirmation / PNR or voucher in no-time after making the payment. Below are distinct advantages of travel ticketing system / travel agency software.

• Round o clock availability, improved sales and great client satisfaction.
• Fully automated system, and thus saves alot of time of end users.
• PNR / Vouchers are generated immediately.   
• Comprehensive backend with markup module, currency module, report module and user DB.

Author:

Author is a travel technology expert and has been involved in several travel portal development project.

Travel eCommerce Website, Travel ERP Systems are driving growth to agencies in South Africa, Kenya and Ghana

http://www.provab.com - With summer is on, people are planning for travel & vacations. Travel agencies are also pushing the operations to meet the demands. As the competition is high, its important to connect to right clients, either using a great travel agency software, supported by a good CRM team. Following are a few tips to increase the sales.

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Travel Portal Software

As most of sales are through online travel agency software, use a travel software which connects to social media. Most of the clients read the reviews before they make the purchase.

Find the real interests of your potential customers and highlight them. Encourage them to send and update the reviews / comments on your travel website, which is anyways accessed by several potential clients.  

Going to places is always trending in the social media. Travellers when dissatisfied or angry at a restaurant, hotel, or a flight immediately inform the world through social media. Sometimes they appreciate good service. Interact with them, win their trust, and transform them to your loyal customers. Create a separate travel blog to accommodate the end user contents.

With pictures, videos, questions or statuses you can get followers and likes. Social media will tell you where to improve. Social media is big tool to boost sale. A buzzing travel portal will always convert more sales.  

Offers are an all-time favourite for customers. Declare discounts and freebies frequently. Sell hotel booking, flight booking and activities together. Travel packages attract even reluctant customers. Publish everything using the CMS of your travel portal software and share it to clients.  

Use SMS sending software to sell ‘last-minute’ flight tickets at great discounts, when there are unexpected cancellations in flights or when tickets are not sold out enough. Who will not desire to get highly discounted last-minute deals to their dream destinations on their mobiles. You can also use your mobile app for this. You can keep your customers updated on new destinations etc.

Your travel software must remind them about travel insurance, special baggage regulations or about the delay of their flight. Users will always appreciate taking care of these small things.

You can concentrate on a certain demographic area, a type of travel, a destination and make a travel niche. Your travel software will play a significant role in keeping in contact with these special people even when they are on the move.

Regarding Author:

Author is a travel technology expert and has been involved in several travel portal development projects.

Resources:

http://www.provab.com

http://www.provab.com/travelportaldevelopment.html

http://www.provab.com/travel-software.html

How to start a travel agency under OTA model with portal and extranet solutions

Starting a travel business from home is a good idea indeed. You need only a little investment. It is low-risk too. Just that you must be very enthusiastic to offer your clients best in class travel deals.  

For B2C Travel Portal Development – Get a Project Quote -  http://www.provab.com/get_quote.html

Travel Agency Software  

The first step in your home based endeavor is finding the right host agency. It’s better to have a host agency. It will keep your spending low, give you big commissions, and do your backend office. Moreover, if you are a novice in travel industry, they will train you too and assist you in running the business. Most of the host agencies have their online travel software in place, which you can also get access off.  

With the host agency, you need not have an ARC, CLIA, or IATAN number which is costly and difficult to get for a startup. The host agency’s accreditation number is enough and it will be your parent company.  If you use the GDS, the host will take care of the ARC report which will be time-saving to you.  They will also help you to get a travel agent license as required by your region.

Experts recommend to restrict your travel business first to some niche rather than offering all airlines and hotels in the world. It may be for a particular region or a special holiday package. But don’t market just one product, try two or three. Or you can cater to the travel needs of business travelers to a particular country. Or try your luck in booking charter planes for the high-end corporate travelers or billionaires. Name your travel agency accordingly. Try to offer something, which is little different from the generic node.

You are in travel business to make money by providing quality, reliable service to your customers. Have separate accounts and track business expenses. To get your home-based travel agency clicked, you must have a working knowledge of travel agency software, customer service experience and experience in traveling to the destinations you deal in.

Keep on having very satisfied clients and serve your clients to the max. Word of mouth does wonders in travel business.

Regarding Author:

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

Resources:

http://www.provab.com

http://www.provab.com/globaldistributionsystems-gdssystems.html

http://www.provab.com/travelportaldevelopment.html

Travel Ticketing System and Itinerary Program seeing surge in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt.

http://www.provab.com - Ticketing system in travel technology means an online booking system to search and book, flights, hotels, transfers, sightseeing and holiday packages. Travel ticketing system supports immediate booking and request management (*which is called queuing up), both the models. Ticketing system also refers to travel software (travel agency software), which are widely used by global travel management companies.

Looking for a Travel Portal – Get a Project Quote - http://www.provab.com/get_quote.html

Travel Ticketing System

A ticketing system / travel agent software is online system to store & to retrieve travel related contents. The data may come from the ticketing system’s database or it may come from the GDS Systems – Global Distribution Systems or the third party suppliers. Ticketing system may process the transactions related to flights, accommodations, transfers, cars, cruise and other travel related services. There are three kinds of ticketing systems, which are most widely used today.

• Ticketing System connected to GDS
• Ticketing System connected to Third Party Suppliers
• CRS based Ticketing System

A ticketing system / travel software, while issuing any ticket connects to primary flights / hotels / cars data to find real time availability and pricing. Once the availability is confirmed, users can proceed to make payment to confirm the booking. This whole process is automated and end users get the booking confirmation / PNR or voucher in no-time after making the payment. Below are distinct advantages of travel ticketing system / travel agency software.

• Round o clock availability, improved sales and great client satisfaction.
• Fully automated system, and thus saves alot of time of end users.
• PNR / Vouchers are generated immediately.   
• Comprehensive backend with markup module, currency module, report module and user DB.

Author:

Author is a travel technology expert and has been involved in several travel portal development project.