Inserting a product is the first step in setting up a product in Tourplan; many pieces of information must be added to it before it can be used (i.e. sold to customers). Setting up this information is called adding product detail and is the subject of this chapter.
Product detail is created in two main parts:
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The first part contains data which is specific to the service provided, regardless of the date the service will be used. This includes such things as minimum/maximum capacity, analysis detail, address detail, contact detail etc.
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The second part contains data which is specific to the date of the service, which means that if different conditions apply during different rate periods, only one service needs to be setup which will handle the different conditions.
About Products
There are some simple rules to remember regarding setting up products. These rules apply, not only to the Tourplan Product Database, but also to travel industry pricing generally.
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There are only two types of pricing – per person or per group. Even though accommodation is generally given by accommodation suppliers as per room, it is, in the final event, a per person price, i.e. $nnn.nn per person, share twin. Tourplan translates pricing entered on a per room basis to a per person basis in the Quoting or Booking process.
- Per person prices are exactly that – the price is in the Product Database as a price per person, and in a quotation or booking, these are added together to obtain the total cost per person. Examples of per person pricing are such things as Admission Fees, Meals, Seat in Coach Travel/Transfers, Flights (excluding Group Charters) etc.
- Per group prices are those that are divided by the number of passengers to obtain a per person price. Examples are Coach Charter, Rental Vehicles etc.
- Every product in the Product Database has two charge units. This means that prices are charged per xxx, per yyy. For example, accommodation is per room, per night. Any system – computer or manual – needs to know the number of rooms and number of nights. Similarly, a rental vehicle could be per car, per day; an attraction admission could be per person, per visit.
This data, along with rates, FOC policies, etc. are entered and maintained in the Product Database application.
Examples of Products
The Product Database has the flexibility to be able to cope with all types of products (i.e. services provided). Specific examples are covered in this Guide for:
- Accommodation:
- Transport:
- Sightseeing – Entrance Fees
- Restaurant Meals (Separate From Accommodation)
- Products that Apply Different Buy/Sell Currencies
- Package Non-Accommodation