Low cost e-commerce solution means affordable trade/direct sales for operators.
TravelOptions` breakthrough product offers tour operators a complete web bookings package for a single payment and a negotiable fee per booking rather than a hefty annual licence. Its cost-effectiveness means tour operators with tighter margins than their larger rivals can compete on a level playing field.

The fully-customisable solution allows operators to turn a website into a fully bookable travel store with real time transfer of reservations into their TravelOptions back-office system. Its flexibility makes possible both direct and commissionable agency bookings, which means tour operators selling through the trade can future-proof themselves if the industry migrates from viewdata to the web.

TravelOptions has already successfully web-enabled a series of pilot customers from ski, villa and flight-only specialists to car rental brokers. Connect Car Rental began trading online with TravelOptions in January 2001 and now handles over 4000 web bookings a month - more than half of Connect`s total monthly bookings.

TravelOptions` marketing director Tim Argent said: “Our groundbreaking technology and expertise has allowed us to develop complete web bookings functionality that is highly cost-effective for smaller or specialist tour operators. E-commerce is just one area in which TravelOptions enables operators to take advantage of cutting edge technology for less.”

TravelOptions` web bookings package starts from as little as £15,000 and comprises all technology, installation, training and after-sales software support.

Included in the deal is a year`s free data hosting, with TravelOptions` server handling searching and bookings traffic, dynamically linked to the tour operator`s inventory server. This external hosting ensures increased processing speeds, resulting in quick customer responses and increased security against hackers and viruses. After the first year, data hosting costs £2000 a year.

TravelOptions` management is based in London and has a wealth of experience gained with some of the UK`s top tour operators. The company also believes its customer offering is distinguished by its service, including free consultancy, training and support for all systems.

TravelOptions` customers include operators from the UK and abroad, such as Shortbreaks, SkiWorld, Connect Car Rental, Servitour of Spain and Tenerife`s Linair. The company believes its customer offering is distinguished by its service, including free consultancy, training and support for all systems.

About TravelOptions

TravelOptions was established in 1989 and is one of the UK`s fastest-growing tour operator systems providers, delivering the market`s most cost-effective solution.
The company enables operators to sell online through low-cost e-commerce solutions.


TravelOptions` initial mission when it was set up was to develop a fast, affordable system capable of running on a PC server without the need for high-cost, high-maintenance server systems. As a result, the TravelOptions system can operate across up to 200 individual PCs or dumb terminals, at speeds faster than high-cost products.


Because the solution is modular, Operators only pay for the functionality they need and can even upgrade the level of users on an individual basis, making it the ideal solution for developing companies

 

Tour operators selling on the web using TravelOptions` solution include Travel Extras, Ski World, Short Breaks and Cottages to Castles.

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