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IMPORTANT:
Due to a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with our client, the
names of the solution and the client have been changed. All
changed names have been prefixed with an asterisk (*). |
Travel Manager – Web-Enabled
Business Management Solution for Travel Management
In its effort to establish a network of travel service providers
or franchisees, *OurClient required a complete B2B and hybrid
B2C Web-based business management solution. The organization
teamed with Icreon for developing Travel Manager as a complete
travel management application. It had to be developed as a process-driven
tool for managing customers, franchisees, online bookings, and
the entire tariff structure for OurClient’s network. Visualizing
the need for complete process automation throughout the network,
we designed Travel Manager as an integrated set of modules for
synchronizing operations and managing customers. While franchisees
can access the application to view latest updates on their business
or check for other travel service providers, customers can search
for various travel destinations and book tours online. The uniqueness
of this application lies in its ability to make OurClient’s
network ubiquitous and constantly updateable with real time
data. Travel Manager revolutionized OurClient’s operations
by integrating the services of reputed travel service providers
within and outside India, offering higher customer satisfaction,
and of course, increased revenues for OurClient and its network
of franchisees!
Business Requirement
OurClient wanted to establish a community of reputed
travel service providers, specializing in one or more travel
services such as, package tours or airline reservations. Travel
service providers include travel agents, tour operators, hotel
and airline reservation providers, car rentals, and cruise organizers.
OurClient required a Web-enabled business management system
using which these service providers would be able to search
for other travel service providers and offer an entire range
of travel services to customers. Travel service providers would
be able to customize travel packages as per specific customer
requirements. The solution required to be a B2B and B2C Web-based
system, which would manage the network of travel service providers
and customers, displaying real time travel information and synchronizing
operations throughout the network.
Solution
Benefits
Reduced customer-response time
Automatic
management of commission structure and payments between OurClient
and franchisees
Customized
management of franchisee operations
Real-time
information on transactions, new tour packages and destinations
Centralized
management of franchisees, customers, and OurClient operations
Technologies Used
ASP.NET
SQL
Server 2000
JavaScript
IIS
Windows
NT
Requirements
Travel service providers, operating from distant locations and
providing specific services to customers, can only meet a portion
of customer requirements. For instance, if a traveler needs
to tour Agra, a travel agent may be able to manage the airline
reservation for the traveler, but perhaps, not the hotel reservations.
Similarly, another tour operator may offer the hotel bookings
service but the costs may not be feasible for a traveler. On
one hand, travelers need to search for multiple travel agents
to plan a single tour and on the other hand, travel agents are
confined to their specific areas of operations. After identifying
and isolating these problems in the travel industry, OurClient
wanted to develop a solution that would act as a ‘single
point of contact’ for travelers, while allowing travel
agents the opportunity to grow & expand their business,
without incurring any extra costs. They pictured the idea of
a network of travel service providers, who would be able to
utilize each other’s services to offer an entire travel
package to their customers. To implement this, OurClient required
a Web-based travel management solution that would allow specialized
travel service providers, (such as, a hotel reservation provider
or a tour operator), to offer each other’s services to
their customers. The solution would enable OurClient to create
travel franchisees, who in turn, would be able to create and
manage their customers, view their business status in real time
and utilize the services of other franchisees. In addition,
the solution would allow customers to search for travel service
providers and book tours online.
Endeavoring to develop an effective system to meet its goal
of mutual profits and cost-effective management, OurClient teamed
with Icreon to develop Travel Manager. We had to develop the
application as a feature-rich, easy to use, and scalable application
that could be accessed and administered ceaselessly.
End-to-End Travel Management
for Diverse Sets of Users
Travel Manager is a Web-based travel management solution
that can be accessed by franchisees, administrator(s), and customers.
The way OurClient planned to operate was to create travel service
providers as franchisees and then let them manage their individual
operations and customers through Travel Manager. The strategy
was to market the services of one franchisee through other franchisees.
For instance, if a travel agent operating in New Delhi specializes
in providing airline reservations, needs to make hotel reservations
for a customer, then the travel agent can search for hotel reservation
providers in the OurClient’s network, through Travel Manager.
Once the agent finds the most suitable hotel reservation provider,
a booking for the customer can be placed. The hotel reservation
provider can check for the booking request through Travel Managerand
confirm the booking status. This way the travel agent can provide
value-added service to customers, without any incurring extra
costs.
Some of the features of Travel Manager include –
Real-Time Data that shows Up-to-the-Minute Details
Facility
to Vet and Scrutinize Real-Time Information for Determining
Transactions and Profit Ratios
Proactive
and Enhanced Customer Management
Facility
to Search for Reputed Travel Service Providers
Automated
E-mail Alerts for Passport and Visa Expiry
Instant
Tour Booking Facility for Customers
Travel Manager allows franchisees to manage their operations
24/7. This Web-based Business Process Automation solution manages
the usage and availability of services provided by franchisees,
to organize customized tour packages with airline tickets, hotel
bookings, and other services that the customer demands. Franchisees
can share their resources online to provide upbeat and ‘top
of the line’ services to customers, while incurring minimal
costs.
For us, the aim was to develop Travel Manager as a process-driven
application that could be easily accessed by different types
of users – Super Administrator, Sub Administrator, Franchisee
& Customer. To make Travel Manager extremely effective and
feature rich for each of its “User Types”, we developed
four interfaces for Travel Manager, corresponding to each user
type.
The super administrator module is used to create and manage
the accounts of sub administrators and franchisees. The super
administrator is responsible for assigning roles to the sub
administrator. The role of a sub administrator includes managing
a particular service or various services, in one or more cities
and states. A new franchisee is authenticated and added to the
network, by the super administrator. In addition, the super
administrator can add different countries, states, and cities
in which OurClient’s franchisees are operating. The sub
administrator’s role revolves around monitoring travel
services such as hotels, packages, restaurants, car rentals,
and airline reservations in various travel destinations. The
services that the sub administrator monitors depend on the role
that the super administrator assigns.
For franchisees, Travel Manager offers a multi-faceted interface.
Franchisees can login with the username and password assigned
by the super administrator. With Travel Manager, they can store
information about their services and create packages with complete
details about the cost and availability of the package. It tracks
the reservations and bookings offered by franchisees, within
the network. The data available to franchisees is real-time,
providing them the current status of the required information.
Travel Manager provides franchisees, the ability to manage existing
customers and add new customers. Franchisees can configure automated
email notifications for passport and visa expiry and resolve
customer queries. A franchisee can add tour packages, hotel
services, transfers, car rentals, and a host of other services
to the list of services. The sub administrator needs to validate
these services, to allow the franchisee to sell these services.
For customers, the interface offers innovative services such
as, information about various travel destinations, hotels, restaurants,
airports, and other services available for the customer’s
destination of choice. Customers are associated with Travel
Manager through a particular franchisee. The username and password
supplied by the franchisee, is used by the customer to login
to Travel Manager. They can view information about the weather
and currency of the destination and book tours accordingly with
the services that they require. The customer can provide details
about the people for whom the tour is being booked. The associated
franchisee will book the tour along with the entire range of
services for the customer. This way, customers need not go to
various different travel agents, and hotels for bookings. They
can simply login to Travel Manager and book their entire tour
from their desktop.
We designed all the interfaces with highly interactive features,
providing useful tips right when the user needs them. The application
includes a comprehensive Help Desk to allow users complete ease.
Travel Manager was developed for high scalability, compatibility,
and long-term use. With these considerations for a Web-based
solution, a 3-tier architecture based on .NET framework, was
the best alternate. We suggested and designed the architecture
based on these considerations. Following is the technical architecture
for Travel Manager. |
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The front-end application was developed
on the .NET framework using ASP.NET. SQL Server 2000 is used
to function as the database or back-end. The entire application
runs on IIS 5.0 web server. We selected these technologies to
ensure optimum management of network traffic and high application
performance.
Summary
The travel industry is growing at a fast pace and OurClient
seized this opportunity to implement a strategy that would allow
travel service providers to grow & expand as a community
of reputed travel franchisees. With Travel Manager, OurClient’s
network offers a cost effective alternate for franchisees to
offer customized and value-added services to their customers.
A high-end travel management solution that automates and manages
various tasks for franchisees, Travel Manager is designed to
meet the present and future growth requirement of OurClient’s
network.
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