to understand internet booking engines and its working and steps involved in proposal preparation

8/8/2019 To Understand Internet Booking Engines and Its Working and Steps Involved in Proposal Preparation

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To understand Internet Booking Engines and its

working and steps involved in proposal preparation

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements

For the award of the degree of

Master of Business Administration

in

Software Enterprise Management

Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, Noida

Affiliated to

Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University


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DECLARATION

This is to certify that Thesis/Report entitled To understand Internet Booking Engines and its

working and steps involved in proposal preparation which is submitted by me in partial

fulfilment of the requirement for the award of degree MBA-(Software Enterprise Management),

to GGSIP University, Kashmere Gate, Delhi comprises only my original work and due

acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used.

Name : _____________________

Signature of the Student

Enrolment No:

Semester :

Date :


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ABSTRACT

An application, which enables booking services for Air, Hotels and Cars by providing a web based

platform for integration with third party services to be integrated with it, according to vendor

requirements, may be termed as an Internet Booking Engine (IBE).

The framework of such an engine should allow the ability to change in dynamic environments at a short

notice, focusing on quick customization and reconfiguration thus ensuring ability to build user interfaces

using any commercially available application server. The framework of such an engine should allow the

ability to change in dynamic environments at a short notice, focusing on quick customization and

reconfiguration thus ensuring ability to build user interfaces using any commercially available

application server.

A Business Proposal is a sales document offered by a seller to a prospective buyer. It is a key step in

sales process. It is a medium used by an organization to display its Financial strength, Technical

capability and overall Management skills. A business proposal is divided in sections to bring clarity and a

professional approach to the document. Each section is carefully planned and relevant details are added

to it.


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my profound sense of gratitude to Mr Amit Kumar Gupta, my faculty guide, who

has always given me motivational boost to go and perform. I would further like to thank him for his

persistence to listen to my problems and to give solution to the problems encountered during the

project work.


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CONTENTS

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TITLE PAGE NO.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 1: Introduction 1-7

1.1 The Travel Industry 2

1.1.1 Travel Industry Forms of Travel 2

1.1.2 Facts about Tourism Industry 3

1.2 Online Travel Market 4


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1.2.1 Major Components of Online Travel Market 5

1.2.2 Online Travel Industry Supply Chain 6

1.3 Purpose of Study 7

1.4 Objective 7

1.5 Scope of Work 7

Chapter 2: Study Methodology 8- 10

2.1 Data Collection 9

2.1.1 Study Outline 9

Chapter 3 : Business Function 11- 31

3.1 Internet Booking Engine 12

3.1.1 How it works 13

3.1.2 Architecture of an IBE 17

3.1.2.1 IBE Users 18

3.1.2.2 IBE GUI 19

3.1.2.3 IBE API 19

3.1.2.4 IBE Modules 19

3.1.2.5 Database 21

3.1.2.6 IBE ESB 21

3.1.2.7 External Interfaces 21


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3.1.3 Benefits of an Internet Booking Engine 22

3.1.3.1 Benefits to an Organization 22

3.1.3.2 Benefits to customers 22

3.1.4 Measuring ROI for an IBE 23

3.1.4.1 Challenges of measuring ROI 23

3.1.4.2 Method to measure ROI 24

3.2 Proposal Preparation 28

3.2.1 Sections of a Business Proposal 28

3.2.2 Prerequisites of a Business Proposal 28

3.2.2.1 Summary of a Proposal 28

3.2.2.2 Questionnaire for an RFP 29

3.2.3 Proposal Structure 29

3.2.3.1 Summary of Proposal 29

3.2.3.2 Understanding of requirements 29

3.2.3.3 Scope of work 30

3.2.3.4 Technical Solution 30

3.2.3.5 Assumptions 30

3.2.3.6 Cost Description 31

Chapter 4: Analysis 32 35

4.1 Case Study 33

4.1.1 Customer Profile 33


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4.1.2 Business Need 33

4.1.3 Functional Requirements 33

4.1.4 Solution Provided 34

4.1.5 Results 35

Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations 36 - 42

5.1 Summary for an IBE 37

5.2 Summary for a proposal 38

5.3 Conclusion for a proposal 39

5.4 Conclusion for an IBE 42

Bibliography 43 - 45

1. Websites 44

APPENDIX A - (Questionnaire) 46 - 47


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LIST OF FIGURES

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Figure No. Title Page No.

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1 Components of Travel Industry 6

2 Online Travel Industry Supply Chain 6

3 IBE Input 13

4 IBE Online Check 14

5 IBE Results Display 14

6 IBE flight Selection seat selection 15

7 IBE Reservation Details 16

8 IBE Architecture 18

9 Challenges of Measuring ROI 24

10 Method to Measure ROI 26


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CHAPTER1

INTRODUCTION


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1Introduction

1.1 Travel Industry

The travel industry caters to recreational, leisure and business travelers. According to the World

Tourism Organization, the travel industry generated revenues of US$856 billion in 2007.

The travel sector covers the following services:

Transportation services (such as cruise ships, airlines and taxis) Hospitality services (including accommodation in hotels and resorts) Entertainment services (in casinos, amusement parks, shopping malls and the theatre)

1.1.1 Travel Industry: Forms of Travel

The major forms oftravel include:

Ship travel: Sea travel has largely been replaced by faster means of travel, such asautomobiles and airplanes. However, it is still used for short trips (ferries) and leisure

cruises. The largest cruise ships in the world include three ships of the Freedom Class

owned by Royal Caribbean International. Popular destinations for sea travel are the

Caribbean and North America.

Air travel: It is the most popular form of international travel, due to its speed andcoverage. Some of the busiest airports of the world are Los Angeles International Airport

(the US), Heathrow Airport (the UK) and Frankfurt International Airport (Germany).

Rail travel: The popular forms of rail travel include inter-city trains, rapid transit (metrorail) and high speed long distance trains. Rail travel is generally restricted to domestic
http://www.economywatch.com/world-industries/travel-industry.htmlhttp://www.economywatch.com/world-industries/travel-industry.htmlhttp://www.economywatch.com/world-industries/travel-industry.htmlhttp://www.economywatch.com/world-industries/travel-industry.htmlhttp://www.economywatch.com/world-industries/travel-industry.htmlhttp://www.economywatch.com/world-industries/travel-industry.html


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territory. However, it is permitted across some countries in Europe. Countries with the

largest rail travel density are China, India, Japan and Russia.

Road travel: It is the most popular form of travel and includes various modes such aspersonal automobiles, buses and taxis. The busiest road in the world is Highway 401

(Ontario, Canada).

1.1.2 Facts about tourism industry:

Travel & Tourism activity was hit hard by the global slump, with Travel & TourismEconomy GDP contracting by 4.8% in 2009. Even so, the sector worldwide still provided

over 235 million jobs last year.

Travel & Tourisms recovery - like that of the world economy - is expected to be agradual one. After growth of just 0.5% in 2010, Travel & Tourism Economy GDP is

likely to grow by 3.2% in 2011, with momentum building from the second half of 2010

and into next year.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): The contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP isexpected to rise from 9.2% (US$5,751 bn) in 2010 to 9.6% (US$11,151 bn) by 2020.

Growth: Real GDP growth for the Travel & Tourism Economy is expectedto be 0.5% in 2010, up from -4.8% in 2009, but to average 4.4% per annum over the

coming 10 years.

Employment: The contribution of the Travel & Tourism Economy to total employmentis expected to rise from 8.1%, 235,758,000 jobs or 1 in every 12.3 jobs in 2010, to 9.2%

of total employment, 303,019,000 jobs, or 1 in every 10.9 jobs by 2020.
http://www.economywatch.com/world-industries/travel-industry.htmlhttp://www.economywatch.com/world-industries/travel-industry.html


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Investment: Travel & Tourism investment is estimated at US$1,241 bn, or 9.2% of totalinvestment, in 2010. By 2020, this should reach US$2,757 bn or 9.4% of total

investment.

1.2 Online Travel Market

The acquisition of information and the purchase of travel-related services from businesses selling on the

Internet. The online travel market continues to evolve, creating both risks and opportunities for

shoppers. While a wide variety of airline ticket-booking sites remain, the market itself has

become more concentrated. We see improvements in five key areas: The ability to get low fares,

viable itineraries, ease of use, customer service and privacy and security policies. Yet we also see

many problems remain to be solved. Some are merely growing pains of a relatively new

business. Others reveal challenges created by the underlying characteristics of the travel industry

itself.

The advent of online travel created new business models that altered the relationships among the

key players. They became less interdependent and more competitive. Moreover, their two

primary goals were now similar:

First, generate revenue and build customer loyalty by selling directly to consumers; second,

improve profit margins by reducing transaction costs, primarily in marketing and distribution.

Instead of sharing customers, now they began to compete for them.

Providers such as airlines and hotel companies sought to reduce reliance on fees to travel agents

and Computer Reservations System (CRS) operators by selling directly to consumers through


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Web sites. The travel agents response was to build online stores for leisure and business

travelers. Credit card companies formed co-branded alliances with hotels and airlines to secure

customer loyalty and supplier acceptance, and incorporated travel links into their online payment

sites.As a result, todays online travel market is highly competitive, but also reveals remnants of

favoritism among providers and distributors, making consumer education critical.

1.2.1 Major Components of Online Travel Industry

ProvidersAirlines, hotels and transportation companies; these entities invested inproducts (planes, properties, vehicles) and services for travelers.

Distributors - Computer Reservations Systems5 (CRSs); technology companies thatconsolidated supplier information, inventory and pricing data, and provided a way to

electronically search, book and issue tickets and documents.

Travel AgentsUsing CRSs, provided leisure and business travelers with one-stopshopping guidance and pricing and schedule advice to make reservations, issue tickets

and provide ancillary services such as passport processing or currency conversion. They

operated in a variety of market segments, such as wholesale, retail, business, leisure and

specialty packages.

Charge Card companies - Played a role by making purchasing more convenient andsecure for consumers, and by providing corporate buyers consolidated transaction data

about their companys activities, which helped them with purchasing decisions and policy

tracking.

TravelersThe end-user or customer, who may be leisure and/or corporate traveler, ora travel planner who books trips for an employee to take.


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1.3 Purpose of Study

The study is done to understand an Internet Booking Engine, and find if adoption of Internet

Booking Engine is beneficial to an organization or not? As an application it can change the way

an organization (Airlines, Travel Management companies, Hotel sites, car rental sites) make

transactions online. Internet booking engine is an end-to-end solution for any organization. The

application has the functionality to access data from multiple sources online and present it in the

required format e.g. (GDS, CRS) . It can be seamlessly integrated with external applications to

perform other activities e.g. online payment. Seamless integration and overall coverage of the

application helps an organization to achieve higher profits and reduce costs.

1.4 Objective

To understand Internet Booking Engines and their working and steps involved inproposal preparation.

1.5 Scope of Work

Study Internet Booking Engine and Proposal. Study the working of Internet Booking Engine. Study of different parts of a proposal. Case studies on Internet Booking Engines.


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CHAPTER2

STUDY

METHODOLOGY


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2Study Methodology

2.1 Data Collection

The main source of information is secondary data. Detailed study of Internet Booking Engine

and Proposal would be done using data available from the internet and books.

2.2 Study Outline

The methodology would include the study of following:

What is an Internet Booking Engine? Architecture of an IBE. How an IBE works? What is a proposal? Different parts of a proposal Structuring a Proposal Benefits of an IBE Case Studies on IBE

The study is divided in four sections. The first section Introduction covers the travel industry

and it talks about current trends in the industry. The section also has information about the travel

industry for e.g. what is the terminology used in travel industry and what do these terms mean.

The second section Business Function sheds light on the business process like Internet

booking engine and Building a business proposal. This presents the working and architecture of

an Internet booking engine and also shares information on building a successful proposal.

The third section is Analysis, wherein a real world problem is chosen. Here the real world

problem is a case study of Aero Mexico. The case study shows the current status of the


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organization their business need and how this business need is fulfilled by providing an Internet

Booking Engine to the organization. It shows the mapping of requirements from an IBE to

organization needs.

The final section is for the Summary and Conclusion. This section contains summarized

information for an IBE and a Proposal Preparation. In the end we can conclude by listing the

major facts for an IBE and discussing the best practices for making a business proposal.


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CHAPTER3

BUSINESS FUNCTION


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3Business Function

3.1 Internet Booking Engine

Definition

An application, which enables booking services for Air, Hotels and Cars by providing a web

based platform for integration with third party services to be integrated with it, according to

vendor requirements, is termed as an Internet Booking Engine (IBE).

The framework of such an engine should allow the ability to change in dynamic environments at

a short notice, focusing on quick customization and reconfiguration thus ensuring ability to build

user interfaces using any commercially available application server. Internet Booking Engine

allows a customer to specify their travel requirements such as city of departure, destination,

departure date, return date and class of travel. Once this information is received, the IBE will

offer a list of available air tickets, hotels and excursions which the customer can then book. The

real value of an IBE is in the business rules and processes that package the content and provide

the capability to shop and purchase. This includes packaging and pricing rules, customized

displays for different customers and channels, business rules and check out and payment

processes.


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An example of an Internet booking engine.

3.1.1 How it works (GUI)

Figure 3


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Figure 4

Figure 5


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Figure 6


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Figure 7


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3.1.2 Architecture of an IBE

IBEs are installed on the home page of an airline to enable easy access for customers. When

shoppers enter their travel preferences the IBE contacts the GDS or Computer Reservations

System to receive the relevant information which is then shown to the user in an appropriate

interface. The flights and fares may differ according to type of customer accessing the IBE. For

example corporate members or frequent flyers may have access to discounted fares or will enjoy

privileges such as redemption of loyalty points against the airfare.

With the Super Passenger Name Record (Super PNR) function an IBE offers the capability of

booking non-air elements such as hotels, cars, holidays and insurance.

After the passengers have finished selecting their preferred flights they have to choose a payment

method. There are several options to choose from; credit card payment often referred to as online

payment, offline payment by transfers or cash, loyalty program such as FFP (Frequent Flyer

Program) which allows the customer to redeem points for the airfare and discount vouchers. If a

customer chooses an online payment an E-ticket will be issued. The E-ticket contains a PNR

where the important information will be saved regarding the travel. If the customers wish to do

the payment offline they will have to visit an airline office and purchase the ticket.

As the IBE is an online booking system the interface is often in HTML. With the growth of

broadband, technologies such as Ajax or Flash are now used to support the change of the users

interactivity. IBE has real time connectivity to a credit card clearance agency as most payments

are made through credit card. Some IBEs offer multi-lingual and multi-currency support for

customer convenience.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FFPhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PNRhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PNRhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FFP


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Figure 8

3.1.2.1IBE Users

Airline adminThese are airlines administrators who can make structural changes tothe IBE. These changes can include time table changes, adding flights, deleting flights

etc.


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Web userThis is the end user who can access the site online and make bookings,create itineraries.

Travel Agency Super userThese are travel agency administrators who can assignaccess rights and other rights to the travel agents.

Travel AgentThese are the end users at the travel agency who make bookings for thecustomers.

3.1.2.2IBE GUI

This layer is what actually the end user sees and uses, for a web user it can be a html page that

can used to make bookings and for a travel agent it can be a desktop which from where the agent

can make reservations for the customer.

3.1.2.3IBE API

An IBE API enables the GUI to communicate with the IBE and other external interfaces.

3.1.2.4IBE Modules

IBE consists of different modules to perform various functions. Each module is defined on a

business function and performs a specified task. Different modules of an IBE are:

Air Availabilityo Air Scheduleso Air Availability by fareo Air Availability by class

Search Results


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o Search Result Matrixo Sorting by Airline Department

Traveler Informationo Traveler detailso Billing Detailso Contact Details

Payment Gatewayso Multiple mode of secured payment gateways

Booking

o Special Serviceso Food Selectiono Special Serviceso Frequent Flyero Promotional Codeso Online integrated Trip insurance

Reportingo Itemized Reportingo Track you booking

Pre-flight componentso Booking Changeso Flight Statuso Web Check-ino Optional Services


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airlines are known as global distribution systems (GDS). Airlines have divested most of

their direct holdings to dedicated GDS companies, who make their systems accessible to

consumers through Internet gateways. Modern GDSs typically allow users to book hotel

rooms and rental cars as well as airline tickets. They also provide access to railway

reservations in some markets although these are not always integrated with the main

system.

Other SystemsThis includes programs like Frequent flyer program, free milesprograms etc.

3.1.3

Benefits of an Internet Booking Engine

3.1.3.1Benefits to organization

It helps consumers to book flights, hotels, holiday packages, insurance and other servicesonline.

Internet booking engine is entirely web-based. Additional modules for standard packages, dynamic packages. Integration with GDS and other third party tools to provide increased functionality. An IBE can gather data from multiple places and present best results. Real-time reports to measure online marketing initiatives. Advanced merchandising tools at the point of reservation. Bookings can be done 24X7X365. Great marketing tool.

3.1.3.2Benefits to customers

Possibility for seat and meal reservation. No restriction through opening hours.


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Great service. No waiting on the phone or at the counter. Booking and payment in simple steps. Easy to use. Customers have 24X 7 X 365 access to booking engine; they can compare focus and

book immediately.

3.1.4 Measuring ROI for an Internet Booking Engine

One of the most successful and challenging things about marketing on the internet is that the

impact of your marketing efforts is measurable. While critical to your initiative, the measurement

of true return on investment (ROI) for the air industry is a complex exercise since the results

manifest themselves across multiple channels.

3.1.4.1The Challenge of Measuring ROI

It is very challenging to measure the true ROI generated from your SEM efforts. In many cases,

visitors leave your website and go to a branded booking engine or stand-alone booking engine to

complete the purchase rather than booking directly on the airline site. Most of the time, the

purchasing cycle is closed on a different server and not on the server where your airline website

is hosted. While you can find out the total revenue booked through your site, its quite difficult to

do sophisticated tracking, such as key word conversions, organic and paid conversions, unless

you embed tracking codes in the back-end on booking engine pages.

The typical marketing and booking scenarios for the air industry.


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Figure 9

3.1.4.2Method to measure ROI

Internet booking engines are a direct channel for your online marketing efforts, and are one of

the easiest channels to measure the return on investment and sources. The internet booking

engine may or may not be hosted on the same server as the website which is being marketed. In

either case, most booking engine reports will be able to show the actual bookings received via

the website that is being marketed. Make sure that you assign a special code in your booking

engine for all reservations coming from your website and for any online marketing campaigns

that you may conduct such as banner ads, email marketing, etc

We have segmented the key performance indicators (KPIs) for tracking online marketing efforts

into different categories depending on the goals and the level of sophistication of the user.

1)Simple Conversion Tracking

The KPIs for the simplest form of tracking can give an overall snapshot of whether your SEM

efforts are working or not. This tracking is ideal for senior management and non-technical front-

line/management staff. Simple conversion tracking provides an overall idea about the return on


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investment from the marketing activity without going into a lot of detail about the search engines

or keywords used to find the flights.

Indicators for Simple Conversion Tracking:

Visitors: Is my search marketing working? Is my site traffic continuing to increase takinginto account seasonality. Look at a year-on-year comparison.

Page Views: Is my site attracting the right kind of visitors? Is the site sticky? Click-Through to Booking Engine: How many people went into my booking page to

check rates? Several marketing sources, both internal at the flight and external agencies

will regard this as the true measure of the success of their campaigns. Once you have

gotten the consumer to check out your rates, the marketing campaign has been successful.

At this point, the responsibility for conversion shifts from Marketing into Revenue

Management and has a strong bearing on whether the hotel has rooms, if the rates are

competitive with the market, and if the booking engine is easy to use.

Actual Revenue Generatedthe bottom line. This may be available from your websiteanalytics software if the pixels from the tracking software are embedded in your booking

engine. Or, the same report should be available from the booking engine reports and can

be tracked for most brands and booking engines in the market.


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Figure 10

2)Advanced Conversion Tracking

The next level of detail in analyzing the website analytics report involves understanding the

source of visitors coming to your website. This will enable you to determine the effectiveness of

different search engines and referral directories as well as the keywords that are being targeted.

The main KPIs to review are:

Search TermsWhat people type in the search engines to get to your website Referring Search Engines and DirectoriesWhich search engines and directories are

most effective in driving visitors to your site

Feeder MarketWhat are your feeder markets where visitors are coming from Visitors by Campaigns: SEO, PPC, Banners, EmailsWhich campaigns are most

effective in driving visitors to your website


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Advanced tracking should be done at two levels on your websiteone for the total visitortraffic to your website and then for the visits that result in confirmed reservations. If the

tracking software pixels are not embedded in the booking engine, the next best thing to

analyzing confirmed reservations is to understand these KPIs for the visitors going into

your booking engine. Analyzing visitors going into your booking engine, although not as

ideal as tracking actual confirmed reservations behavior, gives you a very good measure

of the effectiveness of your online marketing campaigns.

3)Sophisticated Conversion Tracking

The next level of sophistication in analyzing your website analytics report comes from

understanding the click-through path of the visitors to your site and gaining a better

understanding of which pages on your website are most effective and which pages result in

consumers getting turned off. The main goal of tracking these metrics is to understand how to

improve the content and navigation flow on your website to maximize conversion.

Some main KPIs to monitor include:

Click through path for confirmed reservations or click-through to booking engine. Exit pages of your website. Entrance pages of the website


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3.2 Proposal Preparation

Definition

A business proposal is a written offer from a seller to a prospective buyer. Business proposals are

often a key step in the complex sales process--i.e., whenever a buyer considers more than price

in a purchase. It is a selling document to convince the customer that we are the best one to solve

the problem.

3.2.1 A Business Proposal consists of following sections.

Management Section - This section contains the details of the methodology used tocomplete the project. It also shows the client the financial strength of the organization

and its capability to undertake the project.

Technical Section This section contains the detailed understanding of the technicalrequirements of the project and talks about the solution provided.

Cost SectionThis section contains the details about the costs related to the project.

3.2.2 Prerequisites of a proposal

Before a proposal is prepared there must be certain steps which need to be followed. These step

are listed below.

3.2.2.1Summary of a proposalA summary of the RFP document should be created before

preparing a proposal. This summary should cover the whole RFP and should contain following.

Summary of requirements. Functional and Non- Functional requirements. If client is already a customer or not.


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Any previous experience on the project. Our expertise in technology and manpower for the current project. Risk and assumptions of the project.

3.2.2.2Questionnaire for an RFPA high level questionnaire should be prepared a input

document for a proposal. This questionnaire should cover all the parts of a RFP. It should

include questions from functional, non-functional requirements, technical and cost sections

from an RFP. Anything which is unclear must be asked in this questionnaire and response from

the client must be updated and used as an input in proposal preparation.

3.2.3 Proposal Structure

3.2.3.1Summary of Proposal

The first step of preparing a proposal is to understand and create a summary of the proposal. This

summary should include major highlights of the proposal. It should contain details about the

requirements of the client. What the business need is and what kind of solution the organization

is looking for. Further details of functional, non-functional and any other details should be

mentioned in this summary. Details about the time line mentioned by the client if any, if the

client is already an existing client to the organization, and do we have the technical knowhow to

complete the project and the risks involved with it.

3.2.3.2Understanding of Requirements

Once clarification has been made on the requirements of the proposal an effort should be made to

understand the problems in detail. This will include a high level solution to the problem.


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Discussing an approach to follow or technology to be used in the project. The requirements

should further be broken down in sub tasks and analyzed. The analysis can be based on time,

technology, knowhow, past experience, cost, manpower needed for the project.

3.2.3.3Scope of work

The scope of work includes the boundary to be defined. The boundary helps to define the

deliverables of the project. The scope of work will distinguish the requirements that are to be

addressed and the ones that are not to be addressed. This will help to set user expectations and

define the objective to be achieved.

3.2.3.4Technical Solution

This section will include the detailed information about the technical solution to be implemented.

This will include the technology to be used, any requirements of software or hardware, high level

diagram of the application, detailed description of technical architecture. This section includes

Project execution approach and a high level project plan it also includes the key deliverables of

the project.

3.2.3.5Assumptions

These are assumptions related to the project and the information provided by the organization in

the RFP. The Vendor has to consider these assumptions before they can actually come with a

proposal. Assumptions can be related to functional or non-functional requirements or any other

information that is provided in the RFP. This information can be based on the cost or any

functionality related to the application.


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3.2.3.6Cost Description

This section includes the description of the costs related to the project. The estimates and the

breakup of the cost related to the project. Costs can be broken down into parts this can be given

by the vendor.


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CHAPTER4

ANALYSIS


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4Analysis

4.1 Case Study ( AeroMexico)

4.1.1 Customer Profile

The client is AeroMexico, member of IATA (International Air Transport Association) which

provides its passengers a developed network of flights to all major destinations in Russia and

CIS. The organization is an appointed carrier to 20 countries of the world.

4.1.2 Business Need

The organization has wide scope of work and a huge client base to service. This demands a

stable and complex application which can provide more functionality than the current

application. This would also lead to satisfied customers and thereby increasing the overall

business and profitability of the organization.

4.1.3 Functional requirements

1) Improved user interface, is easy to navigate and consistent.2) A stable and robust application which can perform under different situations like heavy

traffic, 24 X 7 without fault.

3) The application should provide an interface to the travel agents for booking.4) It should be capable to make online payments.5) Validations on search and booking, so that it can provide valid results.6) Addition of merchandising feature.7) Providing intuitive booking flow (e.g. while putting the name of the place some options

should be displayed) and provides multilingual support.


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4.1.4 Solution Provided

To address the identified needs, as well as a host of content issues the organization is in need of

an end-to-end IBE which resolve these issues.

Name of the productConsumer travel booking engine

The product would be integrated with the website of the organization. The current website would

also be revamped so that it can provide improved and consistent navigation. This would address

the above mentioned issues and bring the following benefits.

1) Better user interface and improved site navigation as the site would be updated. Easier for theuser to navigate the site, choose and select options they like.

2) The system will provide online access for 24X7 which would be beneficial for the consumeras they can make bookings at point of time.

3) The application will provide a user interface for the travel agents so that they can makebookings for the customers.

4) Integration with different payment gateways would allow this capability. The applicationwould be able to access different payment gateways of different banks and would be able to

make transactions based on credit and debit card.

5) Checking the downloaded data from the database using validations would ensure that thesearch and booking results are correct. Validations can be made on the data while

downloading from the database and at the time of actual booking.

6) The system will provide an interface so that it can be integrated with any merchandising tool.7) The functionality within the newly designed website would provide for multilingual

functionality and intuitive booking flow.


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4.1.5 Results

The new booking engine would ensure 365X24X7 accessibility of the site. Better navigation and user interface would reduce site abandonment. Booking options with travel agents would provide more consumer reach and increased

availability of reservation options.

The design of Internet booking engine would allow it to be easily integrated withdifferent external applications and easy future expansion to other external tools.

Validations on data would mean that the bookings are correct thereby increasingefficiency and reducing customer complaints. This will finally lead to satisfied customers

and increase the customer base.


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CHAPTER5

SUMMARY AND

CONCLUSION


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5Summary

5.1 Summary for an IBE

An application, which enables booking services for Air, Hotels and Cars by providing a web

based platform for integration with third party services to be integrated with it according to

vendor requirements, is termed as an Internet Booking Engine (IBE).

An IBE has following modules:

Air Availability Search Results Traveler Information Payment Gateways Booking Reporting Pre-flight components Multilingual

An IBE can be customized according to the needs of an organization. It can be integrated with

the existing web-site providing it the functionality to do various tasks. An IBE has many

advantages to both an organization and a customer. The business should first define their need

and understand it themselves and then proceed to implement an IBE.

The benefits of an IBE to an organization are:

24 X 7 open ticketing which increases the business of an organization. Multilingual capability which increases the reach of the business. Great marketing tool.


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Cost Description

5.3 Conclusion for a Proposal

Best Practices for a Proposal Preparation

1)Clarity

Before you begin to write the proposal, summarize the concept in 2-3 sentences, and then show it

to a lay person and check for understanding. If they don't grasp the basic idea, rewrite until they

do. Until you can do this, you are not ready to start writing the proposal. How many times have

you received a document that you had to read over and over before you comprehended the

meaning? When this happens, it may be because your comprehension skills are under-

developed, but it's more likely that the writer substituted clarity of thought and good document

structure with sloppy thinking, wordy, rambling explanations, vague descriptions and heavy

reliance on buzzwords and jargon. It's worth saying once again: If you can't summarize it in 2-3

sentences, you are not ready to start writing.

2)Strive to communicate, not to impress

If you have a good idea and you communicate that idea clearly and effectively, the recipients

will be impressed. If you try to baffle them with your brilliance, you'll lose ground.

3)Error Free

Your proposal will be competing with proposals prepared by professional writers, graphic

designers and desktop publishers. You may not have those resources at your disposal, but you

can be fastidious about checking for typing, spelling and grammatical errors. Spell checkers can


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only go so far; the rest is up to you. Ask someone else to check your document for errors before

you submit it, or wait a few days before rereading it. If you have worked on a document

intensely, you will "learn" to interpret errors as being correct. It takes a fresh eye to spot the

typos

4)Print and Bind

Print your document on good quality, heavy- bond paper, using either a laser printer or a good-

quality bubble jet. Take it to an office service for backing and binding. For less than $10, you

can produce a nicely done, professionally presented package.

5)Visual Elements

Include visual elements sporadically throughout your document. Logos, clip art, graphs, charts,

tables and other elements greatly enhance the visual appeal of your document and make it easier

for many people to read and comprehend. Pages of pure text are tiring to the eye and a challenge

to the attention span. Additionally, many people are visually oriented, meaning the preferred

method of learning is through imagery and not text.

6)Title Page

Begin with a Title Page that includes images (graphics, pictures, etc.), the name of the proposal

recipient, the name of the project, your company name and address, the date, and your copyright

symbol.


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7)Be Politically Correct

Whether you support political correctness or whether you don't, the issue here is to avoid

offending the people who will receive your proposal document. Avoid any language that can be

construed as offensive to any group of people - including women, men, persons with disabilities,

persons belonging to visible minorities, senior citizens, and so on. If you're not certain of correct

terminology, consult with someone knowledgeable before submitting your proposal.

8)Jargon Free

Every industry has its own particular "language" - words, terms and expressions that are

common to that industry but foreign to people from other industries. Avoid the use of jargon, or

if you must use it, explain it. For example, expressions like "branding," "turnkey solution," "E-

commerce" are not necessarily understood by everyone who is doing business. Also remember

that your proposal may go to a committee that is comprised of people from various walks of life.

Make sure they understand what you are talking about.

9)Technology

What was just said about jargon goes double for technology. If your proposed project involves

the use of technologies, be very careful with your explanation. The persons reading the document

may have little or no technological background. Therefore, in the body of the proposal, it's

usually recommended that you explain your technology in terms of what it will do - i.e. "A data

base that members can use to search for information about your products." There is a place for

detailed information about the technology that you are proposing - and that spot is the appendix.


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In many cases, a non-technically oriented business will engage a technology consultant to review

your proposed technology. This person can use the detailed explanations that you include in the

appendix while other readers will be able understand the proposal itself

5.4 Conclusion for an IBE

An IBE is a bundled with functionalities. It is not always necessary that an organization utilizes

all of them. An organization should first lay down its requirements and then decide if it wants to

go for an IBE or not. Also the modules or functionalities can be reduced or cut down in an IBE

according to customers requirements.

The main aim of any investment is returns and an organization should make sure they have put in

place the measures that will measure these returns. Once an organization adopts an IBE then it

should also set up the scales that can measure the performance of the IBE. It can be measured by:

Simple Conversion Tracking Advanced Conversion Tracking Sophisticated Conversion Tracking


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BIBLIOGRAPHY


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6Websites

http://www.economywatch.com/world-industries/travel-industry.htmlassessed on Wednesday 3rd

March, 2010 6.30 p.m.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourismassessed on Wednesday 4rd March, 2010 13.00 p.m.

http://www.etc-corporate.org/resources/uploads/ETC-Insights-2009Q4.pdf assessed on

Wednesday 4rd March, 2010 14.30 p.m.

http://www.sabretravelnetwork.com/images/uploads/releases/Forrester_GetThere-

Sabre_TEI_Release_FINAL_92109.pdfassessed on Wednesday 5rd March, 2010 18.45 p.m.

http://www.epam-cms.com/downloads/nonregister/CS_S7.pdfassessed on Wednesday 8rd March,

2010 19.30 p.m.

http://www.epam-cms.com/downloads/nonregister/CS_AeroMexico_EPAM_CMS.pdf assessed

on Wednesday 20rd March, 2010 11.00 a.m.

http://www.vizergy.com/pdf/Vizergy_CaseStudy_PMG.pdf assessed on Wednesday 25rd March,

2010 09.00 p.m.

http://www.serenata.com/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/CaseStudies/CaseStudyTajEng.pdf

assessed on Wednesday 5th April, 2010 21.30 p.m.
http://www.economywatch.com/world-industries/travel-industry.htmlhttp://www.economywatch.com/world-industries/travel-industry.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourismhttp://www.etc-corporate.org/resources/uploads/ETC-Insights-2009Q4.pdfhttp://www.etc-corporate.org/resources/uploads/ETC-Insights-2009Q4.pdfhttp://www.sabretravelnetwork.com/images/uploads/releases/Forrester_GetThere-%20Sabre_TEI_Release_FINAL_92109.pdfhttp://www.sabretravelnetwork.com/images/uploads/releases/Forrester_GetThere-%20Sabre_TEI_Release_FINAL_92109.pdfhttp://www.sabretravelnetwork.com/images/uploads/releases/Forrester_GetThere-%20Sabre_TEI_Release_FINAL_92109.pdfhttp://www.epam-cms.com/downloads/nonregister/CS_S7.pdfhttp://www.epam-cms.com/downloads/nonregister/CS_S7.pdfhttp://www.epam-cms.com/downloads/nonregister/CS_AeroMexico_EPAM_CMS.pdfhttp://www.epam-cms.com/downloads/nonregister/CS_AeroMexico_EPAM_CMS.pdfhttp://www.vizergy.com/pdf/Vizergy_CaseStudy_PMG.pdfhttp://www.vizergy.com/pdf/Vizergy_CaseStudy_PMG.pdfhttp://www.serenata.com/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/CaseStudies/CaseStudyTajEng.pdfhttp://www.serenata.com/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/CaseStudies/CaseStudyTajEng.pdfhttp://www.serenata.com/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/CaseStudies/CaseStudyTajEng.pdfhttp://www.vizergy.com/pdf/Vizergy_CaseStudy_PMG.pdfhttp://www.epam-cms.com/downloads/nonregister/CS_AeroMexico_EPAM_CMS.pdfhttp://www.epam-cms.com/downloads/nonregister/CS_S7.pdfhttp://www.sabretravelnetwork.com/images/uploads/releases/Forrester_GetThere-%20Sabre_TEI_Release_FINAL_92109.pdfhttp://www.sabretravelnetwork.com/images/uploads/releases/Forrester_GetThere-%20Sabre_TEI_Release_FINAL_92109.pdfhttp://www.etc-corporate.org/resources/uploads/ETC-Insights-2009Q4.pdfhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourismhttp://www.economywatch.com/world-industries/travel-industry.html


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http://www.economywatch.com/world-industries/tourism/trends.html assessed on Wednesday

13rd April, 2010 16.15 p.m.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposal_(business) assessed on Wednesday 15th April, 2010 18.00

p.m.

http://www.purdue.edu/SPS/proposals/what.html assessed on Wednesday 21st March, 2010 17.00

p.m.
http://www.economywatch.com/world-industries/tourism/trends.htmlhttp://www.economywatch.com/world-industries/tourism/trends.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposal_(business)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposal_(business)http://www.purdue.edu/SPS/proposals/what.htmlhttp://www.purdue.edu/SPS/proposals/what.htmlhttp://www.purdue.edu/SPS/proposals/what.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposal_(business)http://www.economywatch.com/world-industries/tourism/trends.html


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Appendix-A

Development of Next Generation Flight Portal

Customer Profile

Aero Mexico (www.aeromexico.com) is the leading air carrier of Latin America. It operates over

300 daily flights to 30 cities in Mexico, 15 destinations in the United States, two in Europe and

three in South America from its main hub at Mexico Citys International Airport. Aero Mexico is

also a member of the Sky Team marketing alliance with Delta, Air France, and Korean Air

Lines.

Situation

AeroMexico realized the need for an effective high-performance online sales channel. Its legacy

website, operated by another outsourcing provider, had a number of challenges which created an

environment that made it difficult for consumers to access and purchase flights and other high-

value products.

Problems included:

Poor User Interface (UI) which confused consumers and led to unusually high abandonment

rates

Poor overall performance which created a barrier for consumers in particular in Mexico

(AeroMexicos largest customer base)

High search and booking error rates which undermined the credibility of the site and negatively

impacted Aero- Mexico as a brand


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Lack of merchandising features

Non-intuitive booking flow

Confusing plethora of loyalty programs which needed to be manually updated and maintained

to understand internet booking engines and its working and steps involved in proposal preparation

Documents