What are the best booking systems for small tour operators and accommodation providers?
19th September 2011
As part of our ongoing commitment to support local and independent businesses, we have been busy researching the available booking systems for small tour operators, activity providers and accommodations – hotels, guesthouses, bed and breakfasts, chalets, yurts… you name it.
The benefits of doing so are clear - the best online booking and reservation management software systems are incredibly easy to use, low cost and offer significant time and labour saving over the manual systems many businesses still use. Time is money after-all.
Not least, the best booking and reservation management systems can be automatically integrated with many of your current marketing channels and external websites, so you never have to manually update numerous accounts again!
We know how much time that takes, and we will shortly be building our own capabilities to integrate with great systems like those highlighted below, so you won't need to worry about manually updating your listings, prices and availability on our site anymore either.
There are many choices out there, so knowing which to go for is not easy. They vary enormously in price, features and ease of use. We think the following booking systems are 'best in class'. If you use a different system or have another suggestion, please do comment below. Hopefully this can be a useful article to help guide all travel operators and accommodation providers looking at how best to automate their reservation management and marketing system.
Members of Much Better Adventures also get some great discounts when signing up.
Our pick of the best online booking and reservation management systems currently available:
1. For small/mid size tour operators: TourCMS
TourCMS offers small and niche tour operators the technology and support to assist them in the day to day running of their business. From a central system you can manage all your customers, bookings and availability, track and report on your marketing outlets, take payments, and auto-generate emails and documents. It offers huge time and efficiency benefits for your team, is at the heart of a vibrant community, and is always adding great new features to keep you ahead.
Click here to find out more or click here to sign up directly with a free trial account on TourCMS.
2. For day tour/activity providers: RezGO
Rezgo works provide adventure outfitters and day tour operators access to tools that can help them take care of the technical stuff so they can focus on providing superior experiences for their customers. Rezgo is software as a service reservation and booking management system designed for tour & activity providers.
Rezgo includes integrated on-line bookings, point of sale, back office booking management, reporting, and payment processing. Add a booking engine to your website and even your Facebook Page, it's all included.
By signing up for a Rezgo account through Much Better Adventures, Rezgo will provide a complimentary co-branding service (valued at $150 USD) as well as a $25 credit towards transaction fees. There are no signup fees, no monthly subscription, and no support fees.
Click this link to connect directly with RezGO to recieve complimentary co-branding and £25 credit
3. For small accommodation providers: KeepMeBooked
KeepMeBooked is web-based software to help you manage your accommodation. You can use it to record all your bookings, and you can easily link it to your website to take online bookings. It'll produce invoices for you, email your guests, and generate reports. Plus it has tools to let you share your availability with anyone you need to (online travel agents, someone's Google calendar, etc.).
Much Better Adventures advertisers get 2 months free (instead of the usual 1 month), if you use the link below or promo code "mba" when you sign up.
Click this link to connect directly with Keep Me Booked with 2 free months.
Are you a local or independent accommodation, tour operator or guide? Sign up for free now if you haven’t already to benefit from the above mentioned discounts.
Know of another good booking system for small businesses? Let us know in the comments below.
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2 Comments
On 11th March 2012 gemma pithers said:
you've missed 1 booking system.. http://www.bookinglive.co.uk are a specialist product for accommodation / activity / tour organisations too.
On 14th March 2012 John said:
not really an independant review Gemma, seeing as though you work for bookinglive. your system does seem rather 'clunky'