Why online Travel booking software is key

In this blogpost we are looking at best practice in how to enable online bookings through the website – how to deliver a great customer experience and how to get the perfect online travel booking software for your travel business.

The importance of having online booking as part of your website have increased significantly the past years and is today considered a must have from customers perspective. Customers want to browse around, be inspired, see products available and arrive at a final price for the next tour.

The self-service concept has become a much more familiar way of purchasing everywhere we go – also within the travel industry.  If you don’t have an online booking engine, a site to present your tours, pricing calculation and online booking. Then you are losing business every day...

On the other hand, if you do manage to set up a good online booking flow - you will gain:

• Reduce email and phone enquiries
• Get all the information you need from your customers in less time
• Convert more website visitors to customers
• Take payments online and automatically process the booking
  

- it will free up time within your teams to focus on those customers who do call or on generating new products to increase your business.

The customer expectations for online bookings

Today a customer is shopping around, researching the internet for days, and looking at several travel sites, comparing prices before deciding on where to go and where to buy.  

In the travel industry, the average user takes 45 days, and takes 38 different websites to make a buying decision.  

A user-friendly web booking interface and a robust and fast booking engine are two of the key factors in generating revenue online and growing your travel business.

Best practice online booking alone will not result in more customers. But it sure will be a crucial step in the process to win more online bookings. To succeed in setting up the perfect flow and meet customer expatiations you should consider following features:  

• Search box to quickly enter basic travel requirements
• Easy overview of relevant offers
• Detailed pricing information
• Select extras and upgrades options
• Detailed info on departure time and transfer times
• Quickly arrive at the total price

Make sure your travel website stands out from the others and delivers a good user experience. This will set positive perceptions towards your website and brand – and more importantly – the user is more likely to come back and finalize the booking.  

On a side note, every visit to your website reveals information on what the customer wants and their requirements. Use this data to drive targeted marketing communication on every step in the customers buying process.  

Online travel booking best practice examples

We have compiled a list of the best online travel booking features on travel websites powered by Tourpaq.  

Tourpaq also provides a white label solution for website and online booking flow. Here you will get both a website and an integrated and responsive online booking flow and travel management system.

You can get more information on pricing here.  

The examples below are custom made by the Tourpaq customers. You can integrate Tourpaq in any website using our API.  

 
Search box.  
https://www.slopetrotter.dk/

Filter the results
https://www.nortlander.dk/  

Results lists:
https://www.primotours.dk/

Pricing overview
https://www.primotours.dk/  

Finale price before booking

https://www.folkeferie.dk/rejser/graekenland/kreta/hoteller/panorama-hotel/  

Must-Have Features in the Travel booking software

The front-end part of the online travel booking is only a part of the booking system. You also need a back-end system to keep a full overview of all bookings and products.

Here are a few features to look for when searching for an online travel booking system.  

• Hotel and allotment control
  Overview of your capacities - no matter if a booking is made online or in backoffice, the capacity is updated instantly.
  
• Seating and room selection
  Let the user select flight seating and specific room selection.  
  
• Automatic email flow
  Fully automated email process – including ticket issuing and payment reminders, predefined emails, vouchers and questionnaires.
  
• Online Payment
  Never miss a sale by allowing your customers to pay how they want.  
  
• Customer management
  Keeping a solid history of your customers, without jeopardizing their privacy.  
  
• Pricing and Yield Management
  Maximizing your revenue and profits.
  
• Reports
  Turns booking data into valuable reports that support your decision-making process.
  
• Workflow automations
  Save time and money through automation, and effectively manage your customers, allotments, payments, and tours.

Managing everything in one place is smart. Managing transports, accommodations, transfers, and excursions and suppliers in one place will free up your time.  

Avoid having several systems and teams to run your travel managements, customers, finance and bookings.  This will kill your profit and slowly your travel business. To stay competitive, you need a all-in-one travel management software.  

How online booking software can transform your travel business?

The competition in the travel industry is rough and plentiful – and as you are reading this, new tour operators and travel agencies are popping up. On the other hand, more established agencies are hungry to grow revenue and market share.

As your travel business grows, you need a good travel booking software to handle most of the manual processes. This will support you in building a more profitable business.

Are you still manually entering data in one or more systems – then you need to STOP – It is killing your profit.  

The optimal Tour Operator Software will allow you to:  

• Customers can book and manage their travel online  
• Reduce the likelihood of errors occurring  
• Makes your customers happy and satisfied  
• Enables you to make better, documented business decisions.  
• Enable your business profit to grow  
• Frees up time and resources within your company  
• Expand into new areas you’ve been thinking about for years

Looking for a new travel booking software - Start with the WHY  

You will most likely replace your current workflow when the current one becomes problematic or inefficient. The issue is, you don’t always realize your workflow is problematic or inefficient until you've tried a new solution. Here is the main benefits of adding a online booking flow.

• Reduce email and phone enquiries‍
  Show your live availabilities so customers can view your tour and book there and then
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• Get all the information you need
  Add in the questions in steps in the booking flow. Frist take the contact information…
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• Convert more customers
  With compelling "Book Now" buttons on your website, you'll turn more website visitors into booked and paying customers
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• Take payments online
  Once a payment is received, send out automated confirmation emails and tickets to your customers

Have you been wondering which travel booking software is best for you?

Choosing the right travel booking software is one of the most important decisions you can make for your travel business. The choice of software will eighter limit your freedom to manage and sell your tours – or provide you with even more options to engage your customers and deliver an even better customer experience.

The right Tour Operator Software can make an enormous difference to your productivity, but choosing the right system is not easily done therefore you should take your time making the decision, as no solution will fit every business.

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