travel tech insights

20 minutes may not sound like a lot of time. It’s a quick lunch or a long shower, but it doesn’t seem like enough time to worry about how efficiently it’s been spent. But multiply that 20 minutes five thousand times and you begin to see the way that best use of 20 minutes compounded over a month or a year can turn into real time and real money. If a small travel agency spends 20 minutes manually processing each of the 5,000 airline tickets it sells in a month, that 20 minute process takes up nearly 2,000 hours worth of work—the work of several employees.

Even in today’s increasingly digitized travel industry, this is still all too common of a scenario, especially for smaller travel agencies or travel companies. Yes, it’s true these tasks are important and a large part of a travel agency’s operations. Of course, tickets need to be processed—just as travel policies need to be enforced, invoices need to be managed, and 3rd party bookings need to be recorded. Just because these tasks are crucial, however, does not mean that they still need to be done by hand. Agencies utilizing a travel ERP solution ought to be able to automate these processes and many others, thereby saving time and money while freeing up employees to focus on providing value and completing more useful tasks.

As we’ve discussed in previous blog entries, travel agents, travel management companies, and other players in today’s global travel industry need fast, powerful technology platforms for maximum efficiency and productivity. Whether you’re talking about content mapping tools, travel ERP suites, long-term success in today’s travel industry depends largely on a company’s ability to leverage the right technology at the right time to reach and retain customers.

With networks and partnerships established in disparate regions across the globe, it can be difficult to coordinate sales efforts, particularly due to the need for integrated, multi-functional software solutions with common access points. Travel companies have a wide variety of these solutions to choose from, especially when it comes to selecting the right travel booking engines for a given company’s needs and desires. As such, these travel companies have to consider a number of different elements when selecting a technology partner based on specific criteria and desires.  

But all this choice, while a positive thing for travel companies, begs the question: How do you choose the right software your travel business? How do you most effectively analyze your criteria and needs to ensure the software you select brings the greatest value to your business? And how can you tell which IT provider will be with you for the long haul and which will disappear after simply making the sale?

Let’s talk about cooking for a moment, particularly the cooking of a stew. A typical stew is made up of many core ingredients essential for a healthy diet: meat, starch, carbs, vegetables, and others. These ingredients are then combined in one-pot for a well-rounded eating experience that is efficient for the diner and often easy for the cook to prepare. The end result, if done properly, is a well-integrated dish of complex flavors that is often simple to execute and easy to repeat in the future.

The same is true when it comes to ERP solutions for travel agents. In today’s complex, interconnected travel industry, travel agents are called to execute any number of disparate tasks at any given moment - everything from travel operations to financial duties to operational or back-office functions. The result of these demands is a complex business atmosphere that can require much in the way of time and resources, which can hamper an agent’s productivity and efficiency in serving customers.

Take a look at your weekend to-do list. It probably involves multiple stops at a variety of different stores for a number of varied products. While this use to be the norm, megastores like Wal-Mart and others have made it easy for customers to purchase all the products they need in one convenient place. Everything from groceries to clothing to automotive supplies and beyond. Megamarts like this have become a one-stop shop for customers on a global scale.

The same can be said of online booking engines. For travel agents, there once was a time when multiple interfaces or systems would have to be used in order to search for available bookings, view inventory, coordinate with the client or customer, and finally distribute confirmations or other necessary documents. As online booking sites and other methods of travel bookings rose to prominence, travel agents were significantly hampered by the lack of maneuverability and agility associated with using multiple systems or platforms to complete relatively simple operational tasks.

The travel industry is undergoing rapid evolution, and that evolution can cause the marketplace to appear chaotic from many angles. But in today's travel industry when younger travelers’ first impulses are often to forego travel agents altogether, savvy agencies can take advantage of the chaos and confusion by providing an alternative: order.