January 4, 2022
Online booking engines have a lot of advantages for tour operators. Tour booking software saves time, thereby reducing your overall workload as well as minimizes the possibility of human error. However, not all booking engines are the same, and it's important to research them carefully to find the one that best suits your individual needs and preferences. A good booking engine not only provides the consumer with optimal convenience and an ease-of-use experience, but it also makes life easier for the tour operator by increasing their bookings while lowering their workload.
Following are 11 must-have features for your booking system for tours.
Real-time availability calendars provide consumers with an efficient booking system that bypasses the need for back-and-forth communications to determine availability. Being able to provide real-time availability information for all future dates minimizes the chances of consumers drifting off to other options because they don't know if the times and dates they want are going to be available. Consumers can also book reservations on the spot at any time during the day or night, making it convenient for those seeking leisure activities to do so on their own time. This feature also prevents tour operators from overbooking their services.
Providing multiple payment options allows you to reach a wider consumer base. Although PayPal is accepted nearly all over the world and is the trusted source of online payments for many, some people simply prefer to pay using their credit or debit cards. There are some who even prefer to issue e-checks instead of using a card-based payment option.
Having multiple language options makes it easier for international travelers to book a tour with your company — language barriers may cause those looking for the kind of services you provide to continue their search and find something more user-friendly. Ideally, the booking engine also has the intuitive capability at the payment stage to convert the currency based on the IP address of the purchaser as well.
Using a booking engine without mobile device capability may significantly cut you off from a valuable segment of consumers. Mobile devices play an increasingly substantial role in consumer behavior, particularly among younger people. Many modern consumers use their smartphones and tablets almost exclusively, so it's important that booking options be able to accommodate them. Furthermore, an estimated 48% of consumers wait until they arrive at their destinations to book their tours, and this almost always means that they're doing so from mobile devices.
Consumers tend to love discounts and vouchers, so online booking portals need to be equipped to smoothly handle these — many people will back away from a purchase if the system has glitches using promo codes and other discount options. Booking engines should also be equipped to handle external vouchers so that consumers can redeem them themselves at the payment stage — this saves everyone time and money.
In today's competitive leisure activity market, convenience and accessibility are essential components in attracting consumers. Seamless, automatic integration with other booking platforms such as Jollydays, TripAdvisor, and Viator can open your tour business up to a whole new group of consumers. It's important that your booking engine offers real-time integration with other portals, however, to avoid overbooking. You should also be able to synchronize your booking software with individual travel agents.
Travel industry service providers who don't use social media marketing are rapidly being left behind in favor of those with a significant presence on social media. Integrating social media platforms into your tour booking software lets customers share on their own pages when they've made reservations, providing your tour with an increased amount of exposure.
Because confirmation emails as well as reminders of reservations are time consuming to produce, generating automated emails is one of the major ways that tour booking software can save you a substantial amount of time. This also increases consumer confidence because confirmation and cancellation emails are sent immediately, providing consumers with the assurance that their reservations and cancelations have gone through.
Tour booking software should allow customers to customize their travel adventures, so look for technology solutions that promote personalization rather than those offering a one-size fits all experience. For instance, they should be able to easily include add-ons to their bookings depending on what their own personal preferences. This also gives tour operators the chance to upsell supplementary services and decide on intervals for remarking emails.
The ability to generate quick reports at any time provides you with a real-time snapshot of how your tour business is performing. This is invaluable for creating business strategies, making improvements, and identifying ongoing patterns in consumer behavior specific to your tour.
Few things are more frustrating then needing expert help from the developers when using software and not being able to reach them. Tour booking software should come with both online and telephone support teams that you can quickly access when you come up against a snag.
Today's traveler wants a convenient, hassle-free booking and payment experience, which means that utilizing up-to-date technologies provides individual tour operators with an edge over their competition. This will become increasingly important as we move farther into the 21st century.
Our tour booking software is designed to provide consumers with a seamless booking experience and to minimize the amount of back-office tasks for the tour operator. Please feel free to contact us to learn more about how our tour booking software can help grow your business and provide you with more time to concentrate on cultivating great guest experiences instead of being bogged down with back-office functions. We never charge you a set-up fee, and our skilled staff can walk you through the process of getting started.
