Empower your travel business with an integrated management system

The latest travel technology can empower travel agents by relieving the hassles of administration and allowing more time for selling. Additionally, data-driven insights help not only increase sales quantity but also substantially improve quality. These benefits are the result of the enhanced power of automation and predictive analytics when powered by an integrated solution and will lead to a better customer experience. Research by Dimension Data shows that companies that improved their customer experience reported increased customer loyalty (92%), higher revenue (84%) and lower costs (79%).

Automation lightens the administrative load

Travel agents are frequently weighed down by the heavy administrative burden of mid-office and back-office operations. However, the load can be lightened by automatically integrating bookings in a single system, regardless of whether they come in through your website, Amadeus, or from another source. By utilizing AI, integrated travel agency management software can automatically generate orders and then send them to the customer.

Several back-office processes are also ripe for automation using integrated travel management software. These include:

• Invoicing
• Customer payments
• PSP payments
• Bank account reconciliation
• BSP reconciliation

Just imagine how much time you and your staff can save by automating all these processes. But that’s not all. Automating these processes and leveraging predictive analytics empower your travel agents to take a more proactive approach to customer service, making for ever-better customer experiences.

Predictive analytics opens the door to greater personalization

In leisure travel management, predictive analysis can generate insights by analyzing data on the number of times a customer traveled with the agency, where they went, and the average budget. This is then compared with the data of similar customers to give the sales staff predictions on where this customer will want to go next so they can recommend a booking.

Incorporate travel management, insights can be based on analyzing which destinations and hotel groups were used most frequently by a client in the past years for benchmarking. For example, an agreement could be signed with a frequented hotel group and other discounts and advantages secured for the client.

Corporate clients also appreciate the ability to track the locations of employees on business trips in real-time. This enables travel agents to stay on top of customer needs and proactively intervene to help reroute travelers in the event of airport strikes, airplane technical difficulties, or even more severe circumstances like natural disasters and terrorist attacks.

Integrated travel software allows you to leverage more Big Data and run more powerful predictive analytics. This allows you to ride the megatrend of personalization, which was highlighted by Skift as the most important trend for the customer experience in 2018 and gives you the opportunity to wow your customers.

Insider tips for moving to integrated travel management software

You can enjoy much lower costs and greater functionality and security with regular updates by going for standard software as opposed to customized ERP landscapes. It also brings the cost down, as the cost is shared by all the companies using the standard software.

Knowing your own processes and what types of orders and customers you have will give you a better idea of what kind of travel management software will match your needs. This will also give you a head start on using a new system efficiently and getting the most value out of it. And remember, just because you’re dealing with standard software doesn’t mean you’ll miss out on GDS and OBT integrations.

Look for an integrated travel solution based on standard enterprise resource planning software for the back office, such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, with all the relevant travel industry integrations you need in the mid-office. With this, you’ll fly past the competition and your customer experience will soar to new heights.