What is a Travel CRM?
Much like a regular CRM, travel CRM assists travel agencies in managing their customers. However, the functions are tailored to cater to the specialized needs of tour and travel companies. The software allows companies to strategize their outreach program through ads, acquire new customers, and pursue them further to manage their trip bookings.
Travel CRM system enhances the workflow of touring agencies and helps establish themselves in a competitive market. By streamlining operations through various features such as calling, follow-up, accounting, trip scheduling, and more, the software helps travel businesses tap into a wide spectrum of customers.
What Does a Travel CRM Software Do?
A CRM for travel industry accumulates leads from online advertisements and stores all the information in a centralized database. This includes contact information like phone numbers, email IDs, etc. The travel CRM software utilizes an integrated method to keep the customer informed, using features like sales management, marketing, and service automation.
A sound CRM system for travel agencies empowers them to stay ahead of the curve with customer-focused outreach and price management features. Traveling agents start the operation by contacting leads and placing them in a sales funnel to track their progress. They can schedule calls, send automated system-generated emails, etc. to initiate and establish a chain of conversation with the lead. Travel CRM solutions automate communication, offer business intelligence, and enable traveling agents to make the sales process smoother.
Travel CRM analysis works on three critical factors - innovative outreach, data analysis, and relationship management. These CRM for travel companies also ensure customer retention through a post-sales outreach module where customers are sent text messages and emails regarding new offers and discounts.
Why Do Travel Agencies Need a CRM?
Travel agencies need a travel CRM for various reasons, including data management, task management, performance tracking, workflow automation, and sales.
- Managing Customer Data: A CRM consolidates customer information into a centralized database, accessible to travel agents from any location. Travel agents can use this data to personalize their marketing efforts based on customers' past interactions, preferences, and travel history.
- Task Management: CRM for travel companies leverages automation technology to manage routine tasks efficiently. Travel agents can set up custom workflow for gathering customer information, reaching out to prospects, tracking customer journeys, and more. This automation ensures no tasks are overlooked and enhances workflow efficiency.
- Performance Tracking: Travel CRM enables companies to track customer interactions, facilitating quick responses to their inquiries and concerns. By personalizing customer interactions, the organization can foster stronger customer relationships.
- Enhancing Customer Service: Travel agency CRM software stores essential customer data, including demographics, purchase history, and communications, in one accessible location. Travel companies can optimize this information to customize marketing campaigns as per the specific needs of different clients, enhancing the overall customer experience.
- Boosting Sales: CRM for travel industry enables companies to create tailored sales plans, automate key sales processes, and gain valuable data insights. This, in turn, results in increased conversions, sales, and productivity.
What are the Key Differences Between a Standard CRM and a Travel CRM?
While travel CRM software shares the core features of a standard CRM, there are differences between the two in terms of lead management, master data management, reporting, and other features:
- Lead Management: While the lead management feature is standard in any CRM, travel CRM software offers a tailored lead management feature for capturing leads from various online sources. CRM for travel industry constitutes customizable fields for storing travel history of leads, their online interactions, and requirements.
- Quotation Builder: While most CRM tools offer quotation builders, a CRM for travel industry allows your company to automate the calculation of taxes, subtotals, and total travel amounts. Moreover, using a travel CRM, agents can also customize quotations in different currencies.
- Deals and Vouchers: Standard CRMs lack efficient deals, discounts, and voucher management features. Using CRM software for travel industry, agents can customize vouchers, combine different vouchers, keep track of voucher identification, and create invoices accordingly.
- Master Data Management: Travel agency CRM software enables users to streamline data management with the help of tailored fields for storing master data. Travel agents can easily manage information and documentation related to destinations, hotels, activities, sightseeing, transfers, and payments using a travel CRM.
- Reporting and Analytics: Unlike a standard CRM, travel CRM software is equipped with a user-friendly reporting feature catering to the specific needs of the travel industry. By enabling agents to monitor daily travel reports, including location and activities, a travel CRM assists companies in enhancing customer experience.
Benefits of Travel CRM
Travel CRM is a useful tool that aids travel agents in their routine activities, including lead management, marketing campaign planning, expenditure tracking, follow-up management, relationship management, and data analysis.
- Better Management of Leads: CRM for travel industry offers enhanced lead management by managing records of transactions incurred with a lead in a defined timeframe. The software uses this data for generating financial documents like invoices and balance sheets.
- Effective Marketing Campaigns: The CRM software for travel industry also enables marketing teams to generate cost-efficient marketing campaigns by gathering leads from various sources, analyzing customer behaviour, and providing useful insights into customer data.
- Efficient Expenditure Tracking: CRM for travel companies helps agencies to track all the expenses involved in any trip conveniently, further assisting the agents to automate quotation building and invoice generation.
- Follow-up management: Travel CRM also enables the company to schedule reminders and notifications related to payment collection or other trip-related information for follow-ups through SMS and text messages.
- Customer Satisfaction: CRM for travel industry ensures customer satisfaction through seamless checkout and customer feedback forms.
- Relationship Management: The software allows traveling agents to initiate customer relationship management. It can be used to keep the customers updated with new travel plans and discount offers.
- Automated Reports: Travel CRM provides a smart assessment of the expenses and costs for companies to build cost-effective travel packages. Moreover, the software provides insights into customer behaviour and interaction history to customize marketing plans.
Features that a CRM for the Travel Industry must have
Listed below are the key features to look out for in any travel CRM, including lead management, travel invoicing, booking management, payment notifications, client profile management, and so on:
- Lead Management and Tracking: Travel CRM software accumulates lead information, including contact information, email addresses, phone numbers, etc. Agents can initiate their outreach by tracking the lead status through the sales funnel.
- Travel Invoice: CRM for travel industry can generate invoices for your customers with details of all their expenses along with taxes. It includes the cost of travel stay, food, etc.
- Booking Management and Tracking: Once a customer confirms the booking, travel CRM processes the travel request and tracks the customer's journey. CRM for travel companies helps travel agents create a personalized itinerary for their clients.
- Reports: Traveling agents can get access to comprehensive reports on leads, bookings, expenses, customer behaviour, etc. using a travel CRM. Traveling companies can analyse this data and generate targeted advertising campaigns for planned outreach by Reporting Tool.
- Payment: Travel CRM empowers traveling agencies to save time and resolve billing hassles with online payment automation. It includes multiple online payment methods like credit cards, debit cards, online banking, mobile wallets, and many others.
- Automated Follow-up: Travel agents can initiate the conversation and set up automated follow-ups with the customer. The system generates notifications to remind agents about following up with customers.
- Task Management: Traveling companies can coordinate and streamline the entire operations through a single platform. Travel CRM allows managers to assign leads to the agents and manage inter-departmental work smoothly.
- Client Profile Management: Once the sales process is complete, travel agents can save customer information and contact details in the travel CRM. It includes personal verification documents such as Aadhar cards, bank details, etc. This enables agents to create a detailed profile of a client, facilitating companies to track their customers efficiently.
- Visa Management: Travel CRM solution enables tour operators to manage the immigration system for Visa processing of the customer. It ensures secured visa generation and payment processing. Some travel CRM includes the lead management for Visa immigration as well.
- Multi-Currency Management: Traveling companies that conduct foreign tours can use CRM for travel agencies to calculate accurate forex rates for managing their expenses smartly. It includes costs for traveling, lodging, food, etc. that will be spent on the trip.
- Expense Management: Travel CRM offers an expense management system that allows users to track their spending efficiently. It also helps in managing the finances of travel businesses.
- Contact Management: A good travel Agency CRM software stores all the contact information generated from the leads for retargeting during specialized ad campaigns. The contact information is also used to inform existing clients about new discount offers and travel plans.
- Email Alert: Travel CRM informs customers regarding new travel programs through automated email generation and scheduling.
How to Choose the Best Travel CRM?
To choose the best CRM for travel agency, it is important to consider factors like the user-friendliness of the software, automation features, communication management, data security, third-party integrations, and so on:
- User-Friendliness: When seeking a CRM for travel companies, consider the ease of use, so that travel agents can easily navigate the software without the need for extensive technical training.
- Workflow Automation: Opt for a travel CRM that enables you to automate your routine travel management activities and streamline workflow by integrating with your existing systems and tools.
- Communication Management: The right CRM for travel industry would combine effective communication tools for personalized messaging through various channels like emails, SMS, and social media.
- Data Security and Compliance: Maintaining privacy and data security is imperative for building the trust of customers. Look out for a travel agency CRM with effective security features and compliance with regulatory requirements.
- Analytics and Reporting: CRM for travel industry must offer powerful analytical tools for generating custom reports. The software should provide detailed insights into customer behaviour and enable data-driven decisions.
- Customization and Scalability: The right travel CRM should accommodate your business growth without hampering work continuity. Seek a CRM for travel industry that offers customizable features and scalability support.
Top 10 Travel CRM in India
Listed below are the top 10 best travel CRM, compared based on key features and pricing:
Top 10 Travel CRM Comparison |
Softwares | Features | Travel CRM Pricing |
DeBox Global Travel CRM | Intuitive Dashboard, FTO/Corporate Management, B2C Management, Supplier Management, Query Tracker, Quotation Builder | Price On Request |
Webnfoz Travel CRM | Lead Management System, Follow up, Quotation Maker, Masters, Client Communication, User Management | Price On Request |
Kapture CRM | Quote Management, Contact & Account Management, Opportunity & Pipeline Management, Customer Contract Management, Lead Qualification, Reports & Dashboards | Price On Request |
Travel & Expense Management System | Raise Travel Request, Multi-tier Approvals, Expense Check, Reconciliation, Business Intelligence, Vendor Management | Price On Request |
Technoheaven Travel CRM | Integrations, Filters, Task & Management, Customization, Time Management & Scheduling, SMS / Email Notification | Price On Request |
Salesboom CRM | Contact & Account Management, Opportunity & Pipeline Management, Quote Management, Customer Contract Management, Lead Qualification, Business Process Automation & Security | Starting at ₹ 980 |
Travelomatix | Travel Management, Online Booking, Tour Packages, Scheduler, Discount & Scheme, Payment Gateway | Price On Request |
Phptravels | Central Reservation System, GDS/OTA Integration, Itinerary creation, Client Management, Payment Processing, Reservations Management | Price On Request |
Stingo LMS | Contact & Account Management, Opportunity & Pipeline Management, Customer Contract Management, Lead Qualification, Workflow Automation and Management, Email Marketing, Campaign Management | Starting at ₹ 5,880 |
TeleCRM | Contact & Account Management, Opportunity & Pipeline Management, Customer Contract Management, Email Marketing, Campaign Management, Social Network Integration, Campaign Management | Starting at ₹ 2,547 |
How Do We Rate and Review the Best Travel CRM for You?
Finding the best travel CRM that is tailored to meet the specific needs of the travel industry can be difficult. To help you find the right software, we have shortlisted the best CRM for travel agency, based on their key features and pricing.
Further, we have analyzed some of the best travel CRM in terms of their user-friendliness, workflow automation support, task management features, multi-currency support, and data security.
Travel CRM Modules
A CRM system for travel agency encompasses various modules, some of which are central reservation, itinerary creation, quotation management, customer database, marketing management, group reservations, voucher management, and so on:
- Central Reservation System: A central reservation system (CRS) module in travel CRM streamlines travel operations and enables inventory management by providing updated information on hotel inventory and rates.
- Itinerary Creation: With the help of an itinerary creation module, travel agents can create custom itineraries based on the location, events, and schedules of customers.
- Quote Management: CRM for travel industry also helps agents to create and manage quotations easily using pre-configured templates.
- Customer Database: A travel agency CRM consolidates customer data including contact information, previous bookings, feedback, and preferences. The information is stored in a centralized database, accessible to the agents from any location.
- Marketing Management: Another key module in travel CRM software is to manage online marketing operations, create integrated marketing campaigns, and monitor the performance of online advertisements.
- Single / Group Reservations: With the help of a travel CRM, travel companies can cut down on the hassle of booking hotels, flights, cars, and packages online. In a single click, the agents can reserve travel and stay packages in bulk.
- GDS / OTA Integration: Travel CRM integrates with the Global Distribution System (GDS) and Online Travel Agencies (OTA) to make online bookings.
- Voucher Management: By using the voucher management module in a CRM for travel companies, agents can generate, manage, and monitor travel vouchers.
How to Get Started Using a Travel CRM System?
The steps involved in getting started using a travel CRM system include database creation, segmentation, data monitoring, and automating follow-ups:
- Database creation: The first step to setting up a travel CRM system is integrating the software with live chat history, chatbot cases, email templates, and web forms to create a centralized database of customer information.
- Creating data segments and custom fields: Once the database is created, the next step is to create custom fields, such as contact information, demographics, travel history, and so on. These records can further be segmented as per the unique preferences of customers to personalize interactions.
- Monitoring customer data and interactions: Using a custom report dashboard of a travel CRM, the company can gain insights into customer behavior, monitor the success of marketing campaigns, track conversions, and personalize online interactions.
- Automating workflow and follow-ups: The last step in setting up CRM software for travel industry is to automate recurring tasks, such as repeat bookings, sharing follow-up messages, gathering customer feedback, and so on. This can help the travel company to cut down on major costs and time consumed in performing such redundant tasks.
Travel CRM Price in India
The price of some of the best travel CRM software depends on various factors such as the number of agents, volume of customer database, integration requirements, etc. The average price of a travel CRM in India starts at ₹ 980 per month.
Travel CRM is mostly available at a monthly subscription rate per user. While there are some free travel CRM available, it is important to upgrade to a premium plan to enjoy more advanced features and analytical capabilities.