Internet Booking Engines – What are the Benefits to My Business?

Whatever travel product you’re selling, your business could benefit greatly by incorporating an internet booking engine.

Let’s see the advantages that the implementation of an online distribution and booking solution would bring to your company:

24/7 Opportunities

Travellers who decide to rent a car or book a room, an excursion or an activity, don’t want to wait until you’re in the office to help them. They’re looking for an immediate response and confirmation. The use of an online booking engine means that your company is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week; an easy way to satisfy the customer from the outset.

Faster and Easier Payments

With an online booking system, any worries related to safe online payment methods are assuaged. The use of secure payment gateways with data encryption builds trust in customers. If you work in a B2B environment, you can also apply different conditions to your sales. There are also booking engines that offer multi-currency modules, which enable you to operate in different currencies, without requiring a sales channel for each one.

Hang up the Phone

Online booking minimises the dropout rate of potential customers, thanks to the fact that all information and booking details are always available. Customers who need to call a company to make a booking often lose patience if they are assisted by answering machines or subjected to awful hold music. In many cases these time-wasting activities become missed business opportunities.

Automation is King

Many travel processes are often dependent on manual intervention which can translate into errors, inaccuracies and duplication of efforts; all of which put pressure on top line sales and business costs. Automating the administrative processes currently performed by your travel agency staff will free them up to do higher-value work, ultimately maximising sales and conversion rates. Booking engine systems automatically receive both the booking and all the required customer information. Also, they send the guests automatic emails to confirm the booking and can issue reservation reminders. Finally, such systems can check availability quickly and easily, responding immediately to customer enquiries.

Upselling Opportunities

Using a web-based system offers the possibility of including additional services or products during the online booking process and payment. This way, you get additional ancillary revenue while offering your customers a breadth of choice.

If you’re in the business for a new reservation platform, it’s important to choose a provider who understands both the market and your business objectives. Traveltek’s flagship booking engine, iSell, offers users the opportunity to sell travel products in the most efficient way possible. Unlike many travel technology platforms, with iSell there’s no need to jump between systems. The cloud-based platform connects the industry’s largest network of buyers and sellers worldwide with links to over 300 suppliers, including all the major GDS. All travel components are available within B2B, B2C and B2B2C environments. Thanks to a series of XML connections, iSell is automated and fully-integrated, making manual data inputs a thing of the past. Plus, with live pricing and availability, advanced search filters and dynamic packaging tools just some of the numerous benefits of the platform, the system provides travel professionals with the most innovative booking solution on the market.