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Possibility of using the Master-Tour program in the work of a travel agency. Hardware and software requirements

MASTER TOUR

The software package consists of several workstations:

Formation of a tourist product;
- sale and registration of tour packages;
- work with partners;
- work on the Internet;
- Cashier's RM (WM - workplace);
- RM of the financial director;
- RM of the database administrator.
- sending faxes;
- sending faxes via the Internet;
- sending messages via E-Mail;
- statistical reports on the database;

We can say that the software package allows you to implement almost all the functions necessary for the functioning of a tourist office. The software package allows you to: create a tourism product, calculate the expected profit on a tour and the amount of commission to the agent, register any number of tourists for any tour in one or more tour packages, print the entire package of necessary documents (tourist packages, various lists of tourists, vouchers, application forms for embassies, financial reporting forms, etc.), control the conduct of the tour. The software package allows you to set quotas for any services that make up the tour, which eliminates the possibility of resale.
The software package allows you to track the progress of payment for the tour and assess the current financial condition of the company. The software package implements a multi-currency mode, that is, when describing a tour, you can determine the cost of services in different currencies.

All reports are made in MS Word or MS Excel format, which is very convenient for travel agency staff.

The program implements the following interfaces:
With programs for sending messages via E-Mail that support MAPI interface;
- with the fax sending program "Delrina WinFax Pro".
- with the Internet fax distribution system "Global-Fax".

- exchange between Megatech products using XML "MasterML".

- Advantages. main advantage

: "Master Tour" is a really working program. To date, the total number of tourists through the program in different companies approaches the figure of 500,000.

- “Master-Tour” allows you to quote and track the load of any service that makes up the tour, and not just air travel or hotel accommodation. In fact, the program allows you to control the progress of the tour at the level of any service included in it.

- "Master-Tour" has a fairly simple interface close to the interface of standard Microsoft products.

Already today, "Master-Tour" can work in remote access mode in real time (for example, via the Internet).

Currently, "Master-Tour" is becoming a standard in the automation of travel agencies.

- “Master-Tour” is used as a basis for further projects related to automation of the tourism business.

Short description.

Perhaps today you can’t find a tourist office that doesn’t have at least one computer. But few people think about the fact that this rather expensive equipment is used in most cases only as an ordinary typewriter. The product of the Megatek company, the MASTER-TOUR software package, is an attempt to change this situation.

"MASTER-TOUR" is a software package that transforms the work of a tourist office employee of any rank into creativity: you always have at your fingertips any information about each tour, each client, each partner and mutual settlements; accuracy in performing tour calculations; instant filling of any standard document forms: questionnaires, reservation sheets, vouchers, rooming sheets, travel vouchers, and so on.

The philosophy of the program is based on the concept of not a tour, but a service - a small “brick”, which, together with other services, makes up the program of any tour. Moreover, any other tour or package (a set of services provided by the host tour operator) can become such a “brick” (functional element) if they are included in the program of another, more complex tour. This composition allows the manager, while working with a client, to add, or if permitted by the senior tour manager, to remove any service, even from the standard tour program.

The program can be divided into five functional blocks.

The first and main block - "Tour Constructor" - is intended for creating packages of services and tour programs that are ready for implementation, calculating their costs, calculating profits, commissions, etc., and each service, for example the cost of hotel accommodation, may be different and depend on the host tour operator or even the package in which the stay at this hotel is used in combination with these services and transfers.

By entering “net” prices for services, changing profit or “gross” prices, the manager is able to calculate the cost of the assembled block (tour) for different seasons, assess the competitiveness of the tour and, ultimately, create an optimal tour. It should be noted that the program has a flexible pricing apparatus that allows you to distinguish between prices for services sold to a client in a package or individually, prices for the same services offered by different partners, as well as the amount of commission given to partners when selling a tour.

The second block of the software package is “Sales of tourism products”. By quickly compiling a tour according to the client’s individual wishes or calling up a standard tour program (in this case, when selling a tour to the client, you can show a graphical view of any service included in the tour - a view of the hotel, hotel room or attractions included in the tour program). By entering the clients' passport data, the manager is able to generate all the documents necessary for registration (contracts, vouchers, lists of tourists, application forms for the embassy, ​​etc.) automatically. All reports are made in the format of the popular Microsoft Word for Windows editor, which makes it easy to edit them if necessary. In addition, the program has a built-in mode for sending faxes via modem.

The fourth block of the software package is “Financial Condition”. The program allows the cashier to print out receipt/expenditure orders, invoices, various financial reporting documents, export data to the 1C Accounting program, makes it possible to control mutual settlements with partners and payments for tours by clients, and assess the real financial condition of the company at a given point in time.

The fifth block of the software package is “Administrator”.

This block of the program should help your company organize safe work. You can determine the authority to work in the software package for each employee of the company - from determining which modes the employee can work with, to which tours, countries or individual services he has access to. In this part of the program you have the opportunity to configure templates for output documents (reports).

The sixth block of the software package is reference. In this section, countries, cities and hotels are formed. Your manager can easily add a new category - any other directory.

The program has, in our opinion, a pleasant graphical interface, where all modes are interconnected. For example, during the registration of a tour, a manager can access the partner database and refresh his memory of graphic images of hotels intended to be included in the tour.

Inside the program, the possibility of remote agency-operator access is implemented, allowing the travel agency manager, by connecting to the tour operator’s server, to assess the availability of available seats and make a reservation.

The structure of the program allows it to become a universal automation tool for any tourist office - from a travel agency to the largest tour operator.

The cost of the program includes about 40 standard types of documents (reports) - these are all kinds of lists, reservation sheets, tourist vouchers, accommodation sheets (rumming sheets), statistical reports, questionnaires for embassies and other reports that are easily customized for a specific company.

The purpose of the complex is similar to the previous one.

The complex is implemented in the form of two modules: tourist and financial.

The tourism module implements the functions of creating and selling tourism products, working with partners and accessing the Internet. In administrator mode, access rights to the information base are differentiated - the sales manager, as a rule, receives the right only to sell, but not to create a finished product.

The financial module is designed to generate statements of settlements with agents and partners, reflect the movement of funds through the cash register, evaluate costs and financial results for the arrival and for the enterprise as a whole.

The SQL Server program from Centura is used as a means of processing queries during group work.

MORE DETAILS

Master tour

Automation tasks for a company arise from the moment it moves to a new office or from the moment when the capabilities of existing communications are no longer sufficient for effective work. The speaker Sergey Kobyzev (MEGATEK) spoke about his vision of the problem and the experience of his company. His main recommendations were:

  • The use of integrated chipsets and a reasonable set of peripherals in an office computer (motherboards on the Intel 810 chipset, made, for example, by Chaintech; a Fujitsu or IBM hard drive with 5400 revolutions and a minimum capacity of about 6.4 GB; memory of 64 MB; do not skimp on CD, because it is necessary to work with modern advertising materials and no Refurbished components).
  • The fundamental requirement for monitors is a resolution of 800 by 600. Manufacturing companies, gradually shifting their emphasis towards seventeen-inch (17’’) models, are beginning to forget about the quality of fifteen-inch ones. Therefore, the difference of $100 will pay for itself in the longevity and greater efficiency of the employee.
  • Upgrade, as a type of activity for computer specialists, is quite a satisfying piece of bread and butter, but for the consumer, upgrade is in some cases unprofitable. It can be considered acceptable to increase the memory on older machines to 32 or 64 megabytes or replace hard drives with very small capacity, i.e. up to 1 Gigabyte. Replacing processors, motherboards and cases cannot be considered acceptable in most cases - it’s cheaper to buy a new machine.
  • Buying a second computer is a reasonable time to build a local network. Construction of a network on twisted pair (in terms of reliability and scalability exceeds coaxial cable) and two-standard equipment - 10/100 Mbit hubs (with the ability to connect an old laptop). We must not forget about uninterruptible power supplies (on computers of ordinary users - the most inexpensive ones, from $50, on a server - from well-known manufacturers (such as APC) for 30-40 minutes of battery life.
  • In terms of total costs, buying an office machine in parts and assembling it with the involvement of third-party, but “our own”, interested specialists ultimately justifies itself both economically and politically.
  • It is preferable and much more reliable to use a fiber-optic cable than a copper cable (which was clearly “demonstrated” to us by the heavy rainfall that day in Moscow). And it is necessary to completely abandon wires “on the floor” in your office. Stepping over them shortens the life of the system by tens of times.

In the second part of the seminar, Vitaly Golovchenko (MEGATEK company) spoke with his vision of the approach to choosing software for intra-office work and for creating your own online store.

The software package of a travel company is the creative work of its employee, when the necessary information about each tour, each client, each partner and mutual settlements is always at hand; instant filling of any standard document forms: questionnaires, reservation sheets, vouchers, etc.

The philosophy of the program is based on the concept of not a tour, but a service - a small “brick”, which, together with other services, makes up the program of any tour. Moreover, any other tour or package (a set of services provided by the host tour operator) can become such a “brick” (functional element) if they are included in the program of another, more complex tour. This composition allows the manager, while working with a client, to add, or, if permitted by the senior tour manager, to remove any service, even from the standard tour program.

“Tour Design” is a mode designed for creating packages of services and tour programs that are ready for implementation, calculating their costs, calculating profits, commissions, etc.

When working with a client, the manager has the opportunity to change the program of a standard tour (while showing a graphic view of the hotel and the interior of its rooms) in accordance with the client’s wishes and automatically receive the final cost of the tour. The program determines the availability of free places for quota services, which prevents resale.



By entering the clients' passport data, the manager is able to generate all the documents necessary for registration (contracts, vouchers, lists of tourists, application forms for the embassy, ​​etc.) automatically. All reports are made in the format of the popular Microsoft Word for Windows editor, which makes it easy to edit them if necessary.

The program maintains a database of company partners, information from which is used to send faxes and e-mails. We also maintain a database of regular customers, which allows us to work with them personally.

Financial module of the program allows you to control payments for tours by clients, mutual settlements with partners, assess the real financial condition of the company at a given point in time, print out receipt/expenditure orders and invoices for the cashier.

Software package “Master-Web” developed on the popular Centura Web Developer web application creation tool using Java technology and is used by tour operators to display their tours on the Internet and then be able to book them. Computer requirements for installation: Pentium 133 or higher, 64 MB RAM, 100 MB hard disk space. The remote client can operate in several modes:

  • guest mode,
  • travel agent mode,
  • mode of full access to tour operator information.

The work of a remote client when booking a tour will occur in exactly the same way as simple work in a browser when viewing HTML pages. Agencies do not need to install special software.

Software package "Master Agent"

The Master-Agent software package is designed to automate the activities of a travel agency. Since the release of the first version in 2002, more than 500 agencies and agent networks working in a variety of areas have become potential clients, and their number continues to grow.

The program is designed for a user who has basic computer skills, basic knowledge of the Microsoft Windows operating system, and the Microsoft Office office suite. No special technical knowledge is required to work with the program.

Advantages of the program:

* Ability to work in both single-user (local) and network mode.

* There is no need to fill out reference books before starting to work with the program.

* Data exchange between the Master-Agent PC and online booking systems from tour operator sites

* Storing in the program logins and passwords for online booking systems of tour operators and automatic login to the online booking system without re-authorization.

* Ability to expand client and travel descriptions by dynamically creating additional description fields.

* Access control system at the level of user actions.

* Ability to connect additional reporting forms.

* Ability to edit existing reports yourself.

Main features:

1. Booking and import. All data when booking on the operator’s website is transferred to the agent’s working database. All you have to do is print out the documents to hand over to the tourist.

2. Automatic change control. There is no need to call and find out information about changes to the application. There is a mechanism that allows you to quickly receive changes: by status, service, cost.

3. Linking files. The function of linking files to a specific trip. Linking files allows you to store and easily find correspondence, photographs, questionnaires and other documents related to the application.

4. Direct connection with the reservation system. Quickly go to your application in the tour operator’s online booking system.

5. Reminder and task system. Function for assigning tasks and control with the ability to attach a request.

Main functions of the program:

* Working with vouchers: creating a voucher, controlling changes, working with statuses;

* Mechanism for creating and storing applications. A package may contain one or more applications from one or different operators;

* Import of previously booked applications from tour operator websites.

* Checking changes made by the operator: in statuses, in services, in costs.

* Linking files to a specific trip

* Import of currency rates: central bank, internal operator rates. Uploading information on financial guarantees of operators.

* Ability to upload payments upon application from the online booking system to the Master Agent

* Work with payments: carrying out mutual settlements with clients and suppliers. Possibility of making advance payments and linking several vouchers to the payment made;

* Working with a client database: editing information about clients (passport, personal data, addresses, telephone numbers, etc.);

* Entering the client into the database of regular tourists without being tied to a voucher. Signs of a tourist, the main tourist and the payer for the package;

* The mechanism for warning and notifying agency managers when working with clients allows you to ban working with a particular client or inform them about the peculiarities;

* Working with a partner database. Entering, storing and editing information about partners. Linking tour operators to countries;

* Work with contracts. Storage of information in accordance with the requirements of the law on financial guarantees. Storing information about the interest on conversion under the agreement, notification upon expiration of the agreement;

* A warning and notification mechanism for agency managers when working with partners informs about the peculiarities of working with a partner, allows you to put a ban on working with a particular partner;

* Ability to create an agency organizational structure and link users to departments.

* Possibility of taking into account cross-currency rates and interest on conversion when making a payment, taking into account the payment office;

* Printing documents (“Tour package”, “Booking sheet”, “Service agreement”, etc.);

* Statistical data processing;

* Interaction with external information retrieval systems.

* Possibility of exporting data to 1C: Enterprise using the Master Payment Center program;

Hardware and software requirements

· Pentium III 300 MHz, 128 MB RAM.

· Microsoft Windows 98, NT 4.0 SP6a, Me, 2000 SP2, XP, Vista, Server 2003 or newer.

· Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 or higher.

· Network based on TCP/IP protocol - for working in network mode.

· Internet access - for data exchange with the tour operator.

Specifications:

The program is written for the Microsoft .NET platform. The program is built on a three-tier architecture; interaction between the client program and the application server is carried out using Remoting technology. Microsoft SQL Server 2000 is used as a DBMS. TourML format is used to exchange data with external systems.

Program prices

Table 3 shows prices for the Master-Agent software product version 2009.2.

Table 3. Price list of the MASTER-AGENT program 2009. 2

The price includes: 6 months of technical support, installation kit on CD.

Additionally ordered and paid for:

· training in working with a PC in the Contractor's office - 695 UAH for 2 hours; training in working with a PC in the Customer's office (in Kyiv) - 1,040 UAH for 2 hours;

· PC installation and initial PC consultation at the Customer’s office (in Kiev) - 1,040 UAH for 2 hours.

Table 4. Cost of subscription services for PC “Master Agent”

The complex is designed to assist the manager when working with clients of a travel agency:

  • choosing a standard or choosing an individual route;
  • selection of tour period;
  • formation of tourist profiles;
  • booking tour services;
  • registration of discounts, commissions, surcharges and formation of the total cost of the tour for a client or partner.

The complex is equipped with directories of partners, hotels, flights, services, prices, blocks of hotel rooms, blocks of places on transport and blocks of places on a tour. Based on samples from directories, service packages are created - a description of the tour route, a set of services at each point of the route, and the creation of stops.

At the request of clients, vouchers, TOUR-1 travel packages, air tickets, insurance policies, visa application forms for embassies, booking applications and lists of tourists are printed.

Client requests have the status “paid - unpaid”, which allows you to control payment for any period of time, including by partner and by guru in general. Based on applications, accounting documents are generated - invoice, invoice, cash receipt order. Based on the documents, a sales book is formed. Paid orders are included in the sales book.

The application database is used for statistical analysis and analysis of advertising effectiveness in particular.

The complex has the ability to connect to the Internet for remote processing of travel agent applications by the tour operator. The Windows SQL Server program is used as a query processing tool for group work.

Master-Tour software package

The purpose of the complex is similar to the previous one. The complex allows you to create a tourism product, calculate the expected profit from the sale of a tour and the amount of commission to the agent, assemble groups of tourists, generate the entire set of documents for registering the sale of services: air travel, transfer, hotel accommodation, several excursions, visas, insurance and additional services specific to the tour . The complex is implemented in the form of two modules: tourist and financial. Tourist module implements the functions of forming and selling tourism products, working with partners and accessing the Internet. In administrator mode, access rights to the information base are differentiated - the sales manager, as a rule, receives the right only to sell, but not to create a finished product. Financial module is intended for generating statements of settlements with agents, partners, reflecting the movement of funds through the cash register, assessing costs and financial results for the arrival and for the enterprise as a whole. The company's SQL Server program is used as a means of processing queries during teamwork Centura.

ComTUR software package

Provider companies CJSC Comstar and CJSC MTU-Intel are uniting to provide customers with comprehensive services. One of the pressing tasks is the preparation of solutions focused on individual industries. It is the absence of such that Western analysts call the main problem of ASP. Indeed, if the ASP model is the implementation of the slogan “Buy and use”, then such a model is implemented on the example of the tourism industry and the Komtur project (comtour.ru). The company "Integration Technologies in Commerce" (Intechnocom) has released a fundamentally new tourism system. AIS "Komtur" combines the functions of an in-office tour operator program with the capabilities of electronic trading platforms. Global trends in the development of the tourism industry and the growth rate of the use of electronic means of communication indicate that any “local” solutions will become obsolete tomorrow. The task was set: using the Internet, to convey information to where it is needed - to the travel agent and potential traveler. At the same time, it is possible to simplify as much as possible the search and booking of electronic tours in real time, which are presented in the form of familiar price lists.