Complete Guide to Itinerary Builder for Travel Agents

Aug 26, 2024

TripMatrix is an all-in-one itinerary builder solution for travel agents, tour operators and DMCs. Among many benefits, itinerary builder for travel agents can increase your sales, reduce operational costs, and boost your productivity. Explore our complete guide to TripMatrix travel itinerary builder software and understand its features and possibilities for your travel business. We’ve covered how to create destinations, build a supplier list, add products, manage trip offers, and much more.

Step 1: Creating Destinations

Edit destinations within the travel agent itinerary builder menu. To make it more visually appealing, upload pictures to each destination or import photos from the integrated Google Search option. If you opt for Google Search images, you’ll be able to remove photographs you don’t like. Plus, easily connect exact location using Google Maps. If you want, there’s an option to write more details and facts on each destination.

Step 2: Building a Supplier List

When you’ve created destinations in an itinerary builder, it’s time to build a supplier list. TripMatrix has a dedicated supplier section. Create a list of your suppliers. For each supplier fill in their information. You can add information such as their address, main, and other contacts.

There’s even an option to send out an automatic booking confirmation email every time there’s a booking for the supplier’s products. Additionally, you can define cancellation and payment policies for each supplier. These policies will automatically apply to all the supplier’s products.

Step 3: Adding Products 

Within the travel itinerary builder, access the product inventory. Select a product type: accommodation, experience, or transportation. Write in the name of the product and connect it to previously added suppliers in a dropdown menu. Each product without the joined supplier will automatically have your contact information. 

If you’re adding accommodation, make sure to fill out check-in and check-out times. Also, you can mark the number of stars for hotels, join the previously created destinations and generate exact locations using Google Maps integration. It’s possible to expand on hotel information with guest information, as well as, cancellation policies. In case of any changes, all the information is editable. 

After completing the details on the hotel, you’re able to enter each room separately. For each room insert room type, price list, photos, description, and occupancy. Products under the experience category function similarly to accommodation products. Attach information to experiences such as location, prices, photographs, and cancellation policy.

With the rent-a-car category, you can list types of supplier’s available vehicles. Complete the information on car brands, luggage space, number of seats and doors. It’s important to add locations for each car for an easy search when creating a trip. 

Step 4: Managing Trip Requests

When a customer reaches out via phone or email, you’ll need to create a trip request. Add the name of the trip and the traveler, along with notes on their preferences. If it’s an existing customer, their name will appear in the dropdown menu. In case the trip request comes through your TripMatrix website, it’ll be added automatically to the travel itinerary builder. 

Step 5: Creating a Trip 

After adding a trip request, the next step is to create a trip. You can choose to create a new trip or copy any existing trip made in the itinerary builder software. By clicking on a “new trip”, you can select a currency, a number of travelers, and a trip start date. Additionally, you can put the number of passengers along with their personal information into the “pax details” tab.

When you’ve completed all the passenger details, you’ll access a “trip planner” tab to build out a trip. Firstly, add existing or new destinations to your trip. You can choose and connect different destinations for each day of the trip in the “trip planner” tab in the TripMatrix travel agent itinerary builder. 

After you’ve filled out destinations by days, it’s time to add products. Choose hotel options and allocate rooms for each passenger. You can select internal hotels from your suppliers or external hotels with real-time availability and pricing. 

Next, you’ll need to connect experiences from your product inventory to the trip. Information such as duration, start time or tour details can be edited later on. Finish off the products portion of the trip with transportation options. To include renting a car, you’ll search through the car options by entering a destination.

Ensure all the information in the “trip planner” tab is updated. All the information from the “trip planner” will be automatically generated to the “itinerary” tab. Then, move to the “itinerary” tab to any additional details for each day. Lastly, review and adjust all the prices in the “pricing” tab. 

Step 6: Offer Creation and Payment Processing 

Now that you’ve created a trip in the itinerary builder, you should be able to send an offer to your client. Click on the “send offer” button and select the payment due date. After you’ve sent the offer, customers can log in to TripMatrix Traveler Portal and review the trip details. In case there’s a need for modifications, any travel agent’s updates will be visible in real-time. 

When a customer has confirmed everything is in order, they’ll add their personal info, view a trip summary, and accept the offer. As a travel agent, after a customer accepts the offer, you’ll be able to examine and adjust a trip once again. TripMatrix itinerary builder software has flexible payment options. You can choose from wired transfer, Stripe payment and external payment options. 

Considering payment options and all the information is updated, it’s time for a customer’s payment. While before they had an “accept offer” button, now there is a “book now” option for customers to click on. When they click on the button, they’ll be able to finalize their payment. 

Following the customer payment, the travel agent marks all the products from the trip as booked. By doing so, travel agents get access to all the customers’ vouchers. Travelers can download all the vouchers and travel documentation. If a customer wants to print all the travel documentation, they can easily download it in PDF format without additional formatting. 

Other Useful Features in the Itinerary Builder for Travel Agents

One of the TripMatrix perks for travel agents is a customizable website serving as a web booking engine. Without the extra fee, you’ll be able to showcase your trip packages. Customers can send you trip requests through the website that are automatically stored in your system. Plus, you can update your website with social media links, feature your logo, and choose your branding colors. 

Along with the website, all the trip packages serve as trip templates that you can copy and reuse. When creating a trip, you don’t have to start from scratch. Moreover, the contact feature serves as an integrated CRM allowing you to access customer trip history. 

Want to Start Using a Travel Itinerary Builder?

TripMatrix is an intuitive travel itinerary builder solution. It’s easy to use and it’s tailored to travel agent’s needs. Whether you’re organizing group, business or seasonal trips for your clients, TripMatrix is a powerful tool for simplifying your operations. With its flexible payment options, you can choose a commission-based or a custom pricing plan. 

Ready to organize trips with TripMatrix? Reach out to book a demo, contact us for more information, or explore our pricing plans.