Maintaining accounting for travel agents

Accounting means the classification, recording and summarizing information to determine the financial strength and weakness of an agency or any business. Accounting is a major factor in a business that is designed to communicate, record, and pass the correct information to the internal as well as external users and is also recognized as an information system.

It is no doubt an important area in a travel agency business that profitably demands all accurate information, recordings, and preparations of its financial statements. Accounting for travel agents helps in determining the correct and fair status of the travel agency business and also helps in making strategic plans and decisions. If you run a business or are thinking of running a travel agency soon, you must be preparing for some kind of investments to make for your business. It is really important to keep record of every penny you use for starting or running your business to calculate the amount you have spent and the profit you had from it. The basic objective of accounting is to get the information of profit and finance position of your business. To achieve this objective you are required to prepare and keep journals and some statements that include maintaining sales journal, accounting record of cash receipt, account receivable, keeping record of cash disbursement for accounting, the ledger or the chief book of accounting for travel agents. There are certain objectives of travel ledger like the identification of revenue sources of travel agency, determination of total sales, total commission earned, finding total amount owned to travel ledger and evaluation of performances of all travel agencies recognized by travel ledger.

These must also include some other journals like the pay roll journal, where all the records of salaries and other benefits relating to finance are maintained by a travel agency. Also, going digital helps a lot in data collecting, calculation, and safety; hence online travel management software is the answer.

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Tour Operator Woes: Why use a Software

Any tour operation generally runs on three main phases, Planning, Communicating and Delivering. Delivering is easy to understand but tour operators often have to struggle with planning and communicating. If you are into travel business and you do not use software for tour operator perhaps you are the only one who does that among your direct competitors!

Using software for tour operators really helps the business to run properly and efficiently without much manual work and keeps record of everything. Planning involves product, placement and presentation, here in travel business this translates into itinerary and travel themes. A good itinerary when presented the right way makes a good first impression and travel management software helps to create professional looking itineraries that work like breeze, creates itineraries from scratch and customize. It saves time and frees you up to plan more. As soon as someone enquires the timer for communication begins and every customer would want to get fast replies, they would want to be updated about the status of travel, 24/7 service and more. Travel management software helps to reach out to customers and follow-up with clients on time. The ultimate ease in a touroperator’s daily work is to be able to connect, communicate and deliver their services from anywhere and at anytime.

The CRM software developed by TourGenie is easy to use, helps you track all your query related customer information from one place and also helps creating and sharing professional looking itineraries with travelers on the go from anywhere and at anytime. You can know more about the plans for this SAAS (software as a service) by clicking here. Say hello to faster and more professional itineraries, systematic organization of data to help conduct smooth operations and deliver service that is making customers happy for all our client tour operators. Read full article at: https://www.tourgenie.com/travel-diaries/travel-blogs/tour-operator-woes-why-use-a-software

Accounting for travel agents

Accounting is recognized as a technical information system which is designed to communicate the right fiscal information to the internal as well as external users. Any professionally operated business house in travel business accounting is one of the key departments since it not only gives the indications as profitability but will also provide data for making right decisions. Today accounting for travel agents is a must as it records, and summarizes the incomes and payments plus gives the correct picture of Travel agents financial well being.

It is essential for travel agents for making strategic planning for future growth and expansion. Accounting basically is keeping records of every little to large operations, transactions, customer statistics etc it is the insights of the business. A travel agent has to maintain accounting for its income from sales proceeds, be it inbounds travel or out bound travel and will also have to maintain its payments to various service providers, for accommodation, transport, guiding services etc. A travel house can achieve efficient accounting process by either manual book keeping or use of technology and use accounting software.

In the manual book keeping system of accounting a travel agency have to maintain at least a sale book, cash and bank book, debtor’s ledger and creditor’s ledger. There are number of accounting software available in the market for travel agency accounting. Most of this software is travel ticketing software, central reservation systems, inventory control systems or CRM. Mostly travel agencies pick up CRM systems with built in basic accounting features which in most of the cases do not suffice. Some of travel B2B houses have come up with their systems brings together the travel agents and other travel service providers, but have nothing to do with accounting. Hence, a travel agent has to choose wisely to see the accounting features and the check out the CRM side of the software.

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Are you wondering about how to start a travel agency?

If you are someone who loves to pack your bags and wander around places, someone who loves to travel and make meticulous planning then you must definitely love to plan for others as well. Maybe you are considering of starting your own travel agency and become a travel agent. There are ways to become a fairly inexpensive travel agent with limited staff and little upfront cost but the question is how to start a travel agency?

If you are seriously considering becoming a travel agent and starting a successful travel agency, then you must know about some of the easy and effective ways and tips to start your business. There is no doubt that the market is fiercely competitive hence your success will largely depend on finding the right niche for your agency. But how to find the right niche you ask? The first step you can take is to start putting your effort in focusing into the market research. You need to set up your mind and be decisive, research on many successful travel agencies and understand the back story. You also need to put your effort in focusing on the branding and marketing.

Some of the important steps to consider before starting your agency are analyzing and planning, market research and finding your niche, developing a brand, deal with legal side, determine funding strategy, market and launch. When you are starting a travel business, you have to take care of many things and there are some simple but really necessary things you should not keep your eyes away from. Like building good relationships with customers, promoting your agency, asking for feedbacks, regularly putting up your travel agency on social media, making effective business plans, getting partners, practicing goals, optimizing online business, sales opportunities etc.

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Travel Agency going online to sustain in competition

With drastic increase of travel companies in the market, the competition has become intense at local, national and international levels. Due to which developing smart campaigns and building up customer loyalty is a tedious task to accomplish. For a travel agency, identifying and extracting manual activities are challenging because of the nature of well integrated processes at the back end. However this can be taken care of by using certain travel management software and going online.

Travel management software provides integrated applications that work for front office as well as back office business processes and makes work easy plus enhances response time to customers giving better online competition to others. Travel agents need to understand how travel management can be simplified through automation of back end office by replacing manual work activities with software applications that bring down the frequency of committing manual mistakes. Investment on online automation software or dedicated ERPs for travel agents is a onetime investment that can resolve manpower issues and management issues of the travel agents.

More customers are now inclined to use a good travel agency. But that is not enough. From being a good travel agent to being among the best, you have to understand your customers thoroughly and offer them more than what they ask for. You have to engage them with an exclusive search experience as well as exciting travel content. Online travel agencies need to remember that the work does not end after traffic acquisition and also needs conversion which eventually earns revenue. Some helpful tips to attract and retain customers are to optimize the website with user-friendly interface, embrace the best marketing tool, customer personalization and segmentation, integrity pays, target high web traffic sites, customize packages and offer integrated loyalty program. A good value proposition is and will always be the only way to retain customers in the tourism industry and investing in good online travel agency software can do wonders for a travel business.

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THINGS TO DO IN CHERRAPUNJEE

The distance from Shillong to Cherrapunjee is just 50 kilometers and it takes about one and half hours to travel by road between these two cities. While driving from Shillong to Cherrapunjee many places of attractions and viewpoints can be seen. Local taxis are easily available and will normally charge about INR 2000 to INR 3500 depending upon the type of car and the time of the year. You can also hire a bike to travel from Shillong to Cherrapunjee or get in a shared cab. Shared taxis usually cost between INR 70 to INR 100 per person. If you have some heavy luggage they may charge some extra amount too.

While you travel from Shillong to Cherrapunjee you will come across many places of attractions to visit and you will find many things to do in Cherrapunjee. You will get to see these tourist places and be able to enjoy the natural beauty to the fullest extent. There are number of places of interest in Cherrapunjee and some of them are the popular Elephant Falls that lie at 12 kilometers from Shillong, the Mawphlang Scared Grove, Duwan Sing Syiem, David Scott Trail Exit and more. Wah Shora View Point lies at 38 kilometers from Shillong and Wah Kaba Falls at 46 kilometers and both of these places are two of the many popular places near Shillong. Similarly Llyngngai Falls, Mawsawdong Falls, Lyngksiar, Janailar Falls, Mawsawa Falls, Arwah Cave and the Umstew View Point are famous places of attractions in between Shillong and Cherrapunjee. There are also alternative routes that can be taken from Shillong to Cherrapunjee and one of the adventurous and off beat routes is the David Scott Trail that starts from Mawphlang village on the outskirts of Shillong.

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Guide to Tour Operator Software

Each business vertical changes rapidly, with time and the tourism industry are no less. In fact the pace of change in tourism industry is relatively higher. Sensing the same, tour operators businesses are opting tour management software to manage the entire booking cycle, automate business processes and in turn increase the sales. They are now moving from file-handling to client-handling by using software for tour operator. The tour operator software has become a busy space from managing supplier, tour booking tools, itinerary creation, and back-office systems being fundamental parts of the operations.

Naturally, as the market develops, so do the offerings provided by different tour operator software providers. That means there will be some solutions that fit your business like a glove and others that just don’t quite work for you so finding the right product is extremely necessary. The biggest advantage of using tour management software is to increase the competence of Tour business while minimizing manual efforts. The Software is flexible to permit changes to the component structure with key compensation like easy implementation, low maintenance, quick accessibility, and scalability for operators. It easily generates tour package details and one can share with customer in no time. Some of the common features to look in a software for tour operator is the software that manages the entire sales process, all inventory within a centralized system, sales automation to improve efficiency, flexibility to create own package from the available inventory, customizes tour package, completes documentation from inquiry to itinerary generation, insightful reports to track performance, maker-checker tool for approval at each stage and digital documentation.

In today’s tech-savvy travel domain, people demand a variety of content to plan their trip. Creating custom itineraries and managing the same now becomes convenient with the right tour software. It contains master data for business operations like destinations, activities, transport, stays, and itinerary.

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What really is an online travel agency?

The main function of any travel agency is to provide comfortable and wonderful travel experiences to its clients. These works can include selling tickets, reservations, travel products, arranging tours etc. But what is an Online Travel Agency? In simple words an online travel agency is nothing but a travel website that specializes in the sale of their travel products to clients and customers.

These online travel agencies sell variety of products that include various modes of transportations like flights, trains, buses, hotels, cruises, car rentals, different activities and packages. However it is not obvious that all online travel agencies sell these kinds of products. When a sale is made by a travel agency, the customer is issued some kind of voucher or a ticket that must be provided to the tour provider he has registered with through the travel agency to redeem the service. An online travel agency plays a vital role in making the process and experience for their clients extremely easy.

Due to the advent of online travel services any last minute segments and bookings have become easy. The frequent usage of smart phones has also made these travel services really popular. The customers are on-the-go with online travel services, one thing that has become extremely uncomplicated is that no one has to go door to door finding hotels and stays during their trip to certain places or stand beside a road to stop a random taxi. Once you book with an online travel agency all you have to do is make payment and start preparing for your travels. All will be taken care by the agency and also they provide customer services where you will be able to directly contact people working for the agency. These services can also be customized according to your desire. Whether you are traveling with a group of people or solo, the travel agency will take care of everything. An online travel agency is basically online company that allows customers to book various services related to travel through internet.

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A journey time from Shillong to Cherrapunjee

Shillong the capital city of Meghalaya also called as the ‘Scotland of the East’ in India and is a great place to spend holidays at. Tourists visiting Shillong often visit Cherrapunjee. Shillong was nicknamed as the ‘Scotland of the East’ by the British during their invasion for the fact that the landscapes of this city resemble to that of the Scotland. Both of these places in northeast India are easily accessible by road.

Visiting Cherrapunjee from Shillong by road is loved by all travelers and if you want to add some thrill to your journey, hire a bike and hit the road. The distance from Shillong to Cherrapunjee is not very much it is about 53 kilometers and is almost an hour and half drive. There are many places to stop by and feast your eyes to the natural beauty of these places. You may hire a taxi that are easily available from Shillong however the taxi fare may depend upon the driver, the kind of taxi you hired, your preference of the taxi and the season. If you are visiting Cherrapunjee during the peak tourist season you will have to pay a little higher price for the taxi than what you usually pay when you visit the place during the off season. Normally a day trip taxi fare from Shillong to Cherrapunjee is around INR 2000 to INR 3500, depending upon the time of the year and the taxi a traveler prefers. Many tourists prefer to stay in Shillong since the capital offers a large number of hotels, guesthouses and homestays; plus the tourists can choose any kind of stay they prefer within their budget. There are many places of tourist attractions to visit on your way to Cherrapunjee from Shillong and of the most famous places is the Elephant Falls. It is about a distance of 12 kilometers from Shillong and offers spectacular three-tier natural waterfall with beautiful surroundings.

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Incredible things to do in Shillong

Shillong is often referred to as the ‘Scotland of the East’ for its picturesque mountain ranges and landscapes. This colorful city Shillong is located on the Khasi Hills and is a perfect destination for tourists to experience natural beauty and take a challenging trek or two. Shillong is not only famous for its popular tourist destinations but it is also the education hub of northeast India due to the presence of many reputed educational institutions. The picturesque hill station Shillong is surrounded by pine forests has numerous enchanting waterfalls, ancient megaliths, mesmerizing valleys and dreamy landscapes.

Some of the top things to do in Shillong are to visit Shillong Peak located at a distance of 10km southwards of the main city and get lost in the views of the panoramic sights of waterfalls, Himalayas, the lush green surroundings and Bangladesh plains; visit Umium Lake 15km north of Shillong and go for boating and have some relaxing time by the lake. Other incredible things to do in Shillong are to visit Elephant Falls, the three tier waterfall of Shillong, Lewduh the largest traditional market, visit Laitlum Canyon one of the most amazing and picturesque tourist destinations perched atop the East Khasi Hills. The Laitlum Canyons literally means “The End of Hills” or “The End of The World”. Nestled in the embrace of majestic hills and valleys in one such spot from where the vast, verdant and fascinating panorama of Meghalaya could be viewed and admired. You may also visit Wards Lake at the center of the Shillong city and indulge in paddle boating. Lady Hydari Park, Police Bazar, Don Bosco Museum are some of the other popular places of attractions in Shillong no one should miss visiting. The police bazaar is also called as the Khyndailad Bazar and is located at the centre of the Shillong. This bazar can be added to the place to visit in Shillong for shopaholics.

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