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These systems were still used by the Airlines themselves, however they were comparatively easy to operate. The first Central Reservation System (CRS) marked the beginning of complex yet easy to operate systems that enabled travel agents to make bookings on them. However, there was still a catch, these CRSs were able to manage only one airline booking, meaning that each airline had its own CRS. This drawback was soon resolved by GDSs (Global Distribution Systems). The first type of scheme that enabled various airlines to be integrated as well as permitted travel agents to book from them. They were also very sophisticated systems with more capacity to search for data and to book. With just one significant step remaining to be accomplished with the kind of reach and complexity that these GDSs offered travel businesses on their fingertips. The significant move was the capacity to enable clients to book their own travel without any interference from airline companies and hotels or travel agents. This necessity gave birth to online booking motors that not only permitted travelers to book directly, but also cut off additional costs and helped book and pay instantly!

Evolution of the Online Booking Engine

The online booking engines evolved and made the booking process simpler and simpler. They began making it easier for clients to define their reservation demands such as location or hotel name, travel date, number of rooms, hotel star ratings and reviews, city-to-city flights, Airlines flights, and much more. This gave clients the most flexibility and an Online Booking Engine’s true value is in the company regulations and procedures that package the material and provide the ability to shop and buy.

Users’ location

Online booking engines have grown to be able to determine the place of customers to offer more customized and targeted deals. This increased the conversion rates quickly as travel providers could now send push notifications to customers about near-by hotels at great rates as well as near-by sightseeing spots. Customers are more likely to book or change their booking at the last minute if they get the right deal. Travel businesses have noticed this impulsive nature of clients and have taken this chance to provide an even higher experience to acquire more faithful clients.

Personalization

Personalization continues for all travel companies the most profitable single strategy. While many travel businesses have realized its potential, a significant number of companies have not yet exploited this opportunity which puts them a lot behind their competitors. Personalization enables travel businesses to know the behavior and travel habits of a traveler and send extremely tailored deals and provides that boost a prospective customer’s tenfold opportunity to book from you.

Reviews

Online reservation engines have also discovered new methods to maintain clients connected to their websites. They started allowing customers to post reviews on their website itself thereby maintaining control over the purchase journey.

Peer-to-peer travelling

Peer-to-peer travel is a fresh business model that online booking engines have inculcated in their business plan, enabling them to offer clients the capacity to more thriftily explore destinations. OBEs have understood the advances in marketing, such as social media marketing and email marketing that are bound to bring in more customers than any other form of marketing.

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Lifestyle changers

Maybe the internet’s latest advantage for travelers is not just planning and booking their travels, but also getting inspiration.  Besides families and friends from which most travelers are inspired; travelers have also begun to explore new destinations on their own, motivating others to do the same. This provides another chance for travel businesses to maintain track of such travelers with big numbers of supporters and partners to promote their services. Posting fresh and interesting travel thoughts not only enables travel businesses to get more company but also to appear as changes in lifestyle.

Travel meta search engines

After the birth of the online booking engine itself, perhaps the most notable advance was the birth of travel meta search engines that aggregate information from various internet travel suppliers and give the highest prices all in one location. A customer is no longer required to search for dozens of other locations before making his final acquisition. He can simply visit a travel meta search engine and key in his requirements and he will be presented with all the available options to choose and make bookings from.

Online booking engines have developed a long way, exploring more possibilities to develop continuously. What do you think about this article? We would like your ideas to be known. Please reach us by commenting in the comments section below and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Linkedin.

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According operations director for technology solutions provider Amadeus Qatar, the local market is spending $700mn in online travel bookings annually.

But the country’s local travel agencies did not benefit from the amount but instead was exploited by prominent Internet-based travel websites outside Qatar.

Qatar’s online travel industry is still at its “infancy stage” with many travel agencies unable to maximise the use of their websites. Other travel agencies are yet to let go from “traditional” industry practices.

While many travel agencies in Qatar own websites, only quite a few are successful. And these are the leading agencies doing 20 to 30 online bookings per day and at the same time are able to book hundreds of trips offline.

But with the ubiquitous presence mobile devices in the market and a younger generation making travel-related arrangements and other bookings on their smartphones, Qatar’s online travel industry is expected to experience a 15% to 20% growth by 2015.

Qatar’s online travel industry is still in its infancy stage but when you look at the global picture, 70% to 80% of bookings in Canada and the US are done online. So that shift is just starting here and in about five years, majority of bookings from this entire market will be online. In UAE and Saudi Arabia, its only a little better.

A study conducted revealed that the average traveller from Qatar spends $3,650 on regional trips and $6,690 on international trips; 64% of business travellers from the country prefer traveling alone (the highest in the region) while 33% prefer to travel with business colleagues, 3% are undecided.

The report added that 9% of “seasonal travellers” from Qatar travel during Haj while 68% travel during Ramadan and 23% travel “at other times.” Also, 28% of travellers from Qatar prefer to travel alone while 72% prefer to travel with their family and friends.

It also determined that Qatar’s Internet penetration is 75% of the total population with 33% of Qatar’s travellers using smart phones to make travel-related arrangements; 48% of Qatar’s business travellers use online travel agents for end-to-end services.

Also, 52% use direct carrier websites while 21% of Qatar’s luxury travellers used online travel agents and 79% used direct carrier websites.

Other statistics show that 33% of Qatar’s business travellers paid using corporate debit cards while 26% used personal debit cards, 8% used company credit cards and 9% used personal credit cards.

Thus local travel agencies should focus on creating a niche in the online travel industry by specialising on medical or adventure tourism, among others.

Another strategy is to maximise their presence on social media and capitalise on the existing technology available today in order to drive the market to their websites and bring more customers to their shops.

How Amadeus, Travelport, Sabre are important for agencies in Turkey, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia?

Success of online booking systems including airline reservation system depends on the type of inventory and pricing. GDS systems like Amadeus, Galileo and Sabre provide singular access to top inventory and thus better deals for end clients.  

RF – Gulf Time

PROVAB TECHNOSOFT (http://www.provab.com) is an award winning travel technology company, delivering best in class online travel software and CRS systems to global clients.

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