Software for Travel and Hospitality
A hotel room or a seat on a tour is worth nothing the morning after it goes unsold. That makes availability the most valuable data a travel business holds, and the hardest to keep right, because it is sold through the website, the telephone, agents and online travel sites all at once.
We build software for operators who need those channels to agree, and for agencies that assemble trips from many suppliers. Sometimes the answer is a custom booking engine. More often it is careful plumbing between a property management system, a channel manager and a payment processor.
How bookings go wrong
The same room sold twice
An online travel site and the front desk both take the last room, since availability reaches the channels minutes late.
Commission on guests who already knew you
Returning visitors book through an intermediary because your own site is awkward on a phone.
Itineraries built in a word processor
An agent copies flight times, transfers and hotel details by hand. One changed flight means redoing the document.
Prices that ignore demand
Rates are fixed for the season and updated when someone remembers, whatever the occupancy.
Group bookings by email thread
Rooming lists, deposits and dietary needs scattered across forty messages.
Guests queueing for small requests
Late check-out, an extra towel or a taxi all require a call to reception.
What a travel business can have built
Direct booking engine
Live availability, rate plans, extras and payment on your own domain, designed for a small screen first.
Channel and property system links
Two-way connections so a sale anywhere reduces inventory everywhere, using the interfaces your channel manager and property system publish.
Itinerary and quotation builder
Components drawn from supplier feeds, priced with your mark-up rules, and issued as a document the traveller can open on a phone.
Supplier integrations
Connections to flight, hotel and activity content through a global distribution system, NDC airline APIs or a wholesaler.
Guest application
Check-in ahead of arrival, requests to housekeeping, local information and the bill, without a visit to the desk.
Rate rules and occupancy reports
Pricing that follows rules you define, with reports on pick-up, lead time and channel mix.
Questions to resolve with your advisers
Each answer becomes a requirement we build to. Legal advice is not something we offer. Verification and certification are for your auditor and the relevant authority.
Payment cards
PCI DSS applies to card handling, including numbers taken over the telephone or passed on to a hotel. Tokenised payments reduce what you must secure.
Package travel rules
In Europe and the United Kingdom, selling combined services brings duties on information, refunds and insolvency protection.
Passport and identity data
Guest registration and advance passenger information involve sensitive documents. Privacy law governs storage and deletion.
Price display
Many countries require the total payable, with taxes and compulsory fees, to be shown from the first screen.
Tourist taxes and invoices
City levies, GST or VAT on accommodation, and the invoice format each tax office expects.
Agency accreditation
IATA accreditation, or an arrangement with a consolidator, determines which airline content you may sell.
Order of work
Discovery
A paid study of how a booking travels through your business today, and of what each supplier interface allows.
Scope and price
A written scope for a first release. It can carry a fixed price, or run hourly if you prefer flexibility.
Build
Fortnightly demonstrations against supplier test environments, using test cards and invented guests.
Launch in a quiet period
Release is timed away from peak season, with the old booking route kept open for a while.
Hand-over
Code, credentials and documentation pass to you, with optional monthly support afterwards.
Asked by hoteliers and agency owners
Will a new booking engine bring more direct bookings?
It removes obstacles, which is all software can do. How many guests book direct also depends on price parity, marketing and habit, so no figure is promised.
Can you connect to our property management system?
Only through the interface its vendor provides, and some vendors charge for access or restrict it to approved partners. We check before you commit.
Who signs the contract with the distribution system or wholesaler?
You do. Supplier, payment and hosting accounts are all opened in your business name, and we work with the credentials you grant.
Do you handle multiple currencies and languages?
Yes, both are ordinary requirements. Translation itself should come from a person who knows the destination.
What happens after launch?
Supplier interfaces change, so some upkeep is unavoidable. A monthly retainer covers it, or your own developer can take over using the documentation.
List where your bookings come from
Give the channels, the systems behind them and the error that costs you most. A written reply follows within one business day.