Online scheduling software - why do we use them?

The concept of scheduling software has been here for quite some time now, and we participate in booking and scheduling more often than you might notice. Take the example of libraries, for instance. Traditional libraries generally have an inventory of up to 10-20,000 books on their shelves at any time. You browse through different sections, genres and authors and finally decide on your desired pick. You can now check out the book and receive the date for when to return it.

Occasionally, your favourite book could already be checked out, and you have no choice but to wait until the date it is available again. Without a booking/scheduling software, organizing and managing checkouts/returns in a library would become a tedious and lengthy task. Imagine having to manually log every book that gets checked out or returned!

Similarly, in the tourism and travel industry, scheduling softwares have made the lives of tour/activity providers and online travel agencies very easy and convenient. Although there is no checking out or returning of books as in a library, scheduling softwares like TripAdmit allows tourists and travellers to browse through available tours, see when a booked tour will be available again, and book their desired one.

For tour/activity providers, remaining organized and having a proper schedule in place is key. Before your customers arrive for their booked tour/activity, it is crucial to pre-plan. This includes being able to plan resources for the upcoming schedule of arrivals, such as allotting the appropriate amount of staff to provide optimum customer service.

Ideal online scheduling softwares have certain highlights in place to make sure tour/activity companies and providers remain on top of their schedules and bookings.

1. Direct Online Booking

In order to populate an upcoming schedule, customers must first be able to book online. Tour scheduling software like TripAdmit provides this functionality directly to a providers website, allowing unlimited listing. Tour/activity providers also have the option of adding tours and activities to third-party websites, multiple channels, and various online travel agencies such as Booking.com, Expedia and Reserve with Google, to name a few.

With TripAdmit, updating pricing and availability across the tours is a simple process involving a few clicks.

2. Booking Overview

Every time a customer books a tour online, this creates a booking overview. Booking overviews are essential to all tour/activity providers since they can access the booking details and make any updates if required. Furthermore, the booking overviews allow the provider to change the booking to later or earlier dates or process a refund (if needed).

Indexing every booking in a single place drastically improves administration times for tour/activity providers, enabling them to focus more on selling and customer service.

3. Manifests (Schedules)

TripAdmit provides its users with three manifest views:

- Daily

- Weekly

- Monthly

These three options allow tour/activity providers to scope out the upcoming bookings in advance and plan accordingly. Users can also use this feature to filter individual tours and locations if they operate in more than one at any given time, optimizing their entire experience.

Why are these features so important in today's industry?

Online scheduling software is changing the industry fast and for the bettor. Make the switch to scheduling software technology such as TripAdmit, which organizes most day-to-day admin operations, offers automatic refunds, and optimizes the entire booking process, allocating more time and effort to increasing marketing strategies and improving customer experience. TripAdmit is working hard to bridge the gap between the travel and digital industries. Visit our website today to find out more about our industry-leading functionality for tour and activity providers.