Inventory system in travel
Inventory system in travel refers to a set of all travel-related products sold by their providers or distributors such as wholesalers, travel agencies, or tour operators. Thus, travel inventory can include
- flights,
- lodging (hotel rooms, apartments, vacation rentals, or any other kind of accommodation),
- car rentals,
- cruises,
- tours and activities, and
- other kinds of transportation, e.g., rail or bus tickets.
For a travel agency, inventory management is one of the core back-office activities that involves sourcing inventory and managing content. The main workflows of inventory management are
- creating an inventory database of static and dynamic content;
- content management (creating attractive design, managing descriptions, adding pictures, etc.), localization, and mapping; and
- static and dynamic packaging of travel products.
It’s also crucial to integrate an inventory management module of a travel agency software system to other IT solutions (such as a pricing module, booking engine, accounting tool, etc.) to establish seamless data exchange.
Travel agencies typically source their inventory through aggregators and other middlemen, via direct supply and integrations, or through an extranet.
