Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for tour operators.
A checklist built from how tour operators work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Tour costing
- Departures and bookings
- Rooming list and manifests
- Vouchers and confirmations
- Vendor payables
- Tour profit sheet
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For owners
- For sales and reservations staff
- For the operations team
- For accounts staff
- For tour managers
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Enquiries and quotations by source and status
- Departures with seats sold and seats open
- Costing sheet against actual vendor bills by tour
- Vendor bookings still awaiting confirmation
- Guest advances received and balances due before departure
- Vendor payables by hotel, transporter and guide
- Cancellations and refunds by departure
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- WhatsApp Business messages
- SMS
- Payment link and gateway
- Accounting export, agreed at set-up
- GPS tracker fitted on a hired coach
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Can our live files, guests and balances be moved in?
- Can one itinerary be reused for the next enquiry?
- How are seats on a fixed departure controlled?
- Does it work out the price of a tour?
- Can vouchers go straight to the guest?
- What happens when a group cancels?
- Can a retail agent log in with a credit limit and a wallet balance?
- Does it connect to hotel or airline booking systems?
- Does the invoice carry our tax treatment, and tax collected at source on a foreign package?
- Is this worth it for a small operator?
- When could reservations staff begin quoting on it?
- What papers should the operator collect?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Costing sheets are copied and broken
- Traveller balances are chased by hand
- Vendor payables are unclear
- Profit per tour is never known
Prefer to talk it through? See the tour operators page.