THE CHALLENGE
To revamp the current website so that New Shan staff will be able to add and update airfares, hotel as well as tour / free & easy prices as soon as the rates change. This will enable the website visitor to see more accurate and up-to-date rates as compared to the current website in which updating is manually done. The new website must also have the capability of providing online booking of airfares, hotels, apartments, tours and free & easy packages, for the convenience of the website visitor. The challenge was to make the website interesting and vibrant since it is to sell travel related products.
THE SOLUTION
The old website tends to be dull and seems to be lacking some “human” element, making it look “cold”. The colours used are dull and not vibrant enough.
We decided to give the new website a “lifestyle” concept and look, since travel is a lifestyle choice! The colours chosen are bright and signify a dynamic company promoting dynamic travel products. We helped New Shan source, shortlist, and purchase a number of stock images that will add a sense of vibrancy to the website. The use of “people faces” images helps to create a happy and friendly mood to the website, making the website visitor feel at home when they visit the website.
TRAVEL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Based on the requirements gathered, we proposed and developed an integrated Travel Management System for New Shan Travel complete with e-shopping, content management, member management and booking engine.
The business rules (function operation logic) for Airfares, Accomodation, Free & Easy and Package Tours are all very distinct and very different. They are individually discussed and focus group discussions were held with staff that are in charge of these individual areas. The outcome of these focus group discussions were then analysed before the Requirement Specifications were produced and confirmed, afterwhich database design and development kick stats.
The functions of this integrated Travel Management System are listed below:
WEBSITE (INTERNET)
The features of the new website are as follows:
- Member Management – Allows members to update their profile, browse and book travel products.
- Promotions – Allows the website visitor to see travel products that are on promotion.
- Airfare Specials – Allows the viewing of airfare promotions.
- Airfares Section – Contains all airfare destinations and its corresponding prices, complete with Integrated Booking Engine.
- Free & Easy Section – Contains all Free & Easy Packages and its respective prices, complete with Internet Booking Engine.
- Package Tours Section – Contains all Tour Packages and its respective prices, complete with Internet Booking Engine.
- Accommodation Section – Contains all Accomodation Rates, complete with Internet Booking Engine.
INTEGRATED TRAVEL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (INTRANET)
The features of the integrated Travel Management System are as follows:
- User Management – Manage Staff Login Accounts, Manage Member Profile.
- Master Files Management – Manage Master files like Country, Vendor and Accomodation.
- Accommodation Setup – Set up Hotel & Apartment related information.
- Airfares Setup – Set up Airfares related information.
- Free & Easy Setup – Set up Free & Easy Package related information.
- Tour Package Setup – Set up Tour Package related information.
- Accommodation Booking Engine – Manage and Process Accom Booking received.
- Airfare Booking Engine – Manage and Process Airfare Booking received.
- Free & Easy Booking Engine – Manage and Process Free & Easy Package Booking received.
- Tour Package Booking Engine – Manage and Process Tour Package Booking received.
