Meet Violeta Yonkova, Senior API Support at Palisis / TourCMS. We sat down with her to discuss common supplier challenges in travel when it comes to connectivity with hopes to shed light on mapping and APIs.
Let’s start by saying that it’s normal (unfortunately) that operators get confused between which mapping codes and styles the various OTAs use.
Violeta Yonkova
Don’t worry, that’s why we have a distribution team, working as your consultants moving you through the process and making solid connections for these revenue streams.
Violeta helps us dive into mapping, tour operators can either go to the portals designed by the OTA for direct access or the OTA does the mapping behind the scenes. This references where the product ID, product code, or reference code is established.
For more of a self-service option, Palisis has also created a detailed checklist for each OTA option with step-by-step instructions for connecting. Or alternatively, use the verified section of the agent search. By clicking the verified buttons found in the list on our marketplace, managers have quick and intuitive options at their fingertips.
API quality control
Violeta is continuously keeping an eye on errors that may occur, she pays close attention to errors that likely transpire during the TourCMS set up by our customers. She monitors connected subsystems, ensuring that availability is being observed based on the dates, time slots, and quantity versus waiting until checkout which can result in inaccurate availability if demand is high.
As our QC expert, Violeta reaches out to customers proactively when spotting the potential for discrepancy based on how availability is checked by the reseller. When errors occur, we appreciate knowing whom from your team is best to assess product availability to get things ironed out straight away.
Let’s take, for example, our Premium Partner status with GetYourGuide, which we rank as one of the top 4 restech solutions. This preferred status is a direct result of our proactive approach to watching, responding and resolving errors efficiently. Our speedy resolution is directly correlated to our stability of performance and seamless experience by both customers and resellers placing Palisis as a highly reliable tech system.
Continuously integrating
In addition to QC, Violeta is focused on the future and how to integrate new partners like the Google Things to do connection and the ability for customers to connect to 3rd party products in their destination as an avenue for additional revenue such as offering an attraction ticket add-on. And of course, as OTAs start towards API pricing, she is tracking this as well. More to come.
The 2022 travel season
“In general, 2022 has been more complicated than 2019, so it’s not a fair seasonal comparison due to things such as lack of staff, etc, however, I hope this is still a great summer season for operators. In the off-season, I’d suggest to carve out time to review your mapping connections for the next year, reach out if you want any guidance”
She is also noticing that OTAs are pulling more and more info from the TourCMS fields, which makes the accuracy of product data vital for optimal flow. Resellers are using more API data, pulling content which is a shift from pre-2019 practices. “I’m excited about seeing businesses grow in use of API connectivity, which gives everyone more visibility,” comments Violeta.
About Palisis
Palisis is the leading technology provider of comprehensive sales and operations solutions for tourism and transportation businesses around the world. Due to its rich experience, specific market knowledge, consumer centricity and process orientation, Palisis is the industry technology pacemaker. As a full-service provider, Palisis supports your business processes and operational procedures with the most efficient and reliable solution available. Today, Palisis solutions are successfully and effectively used by customers in over 100 countries around the globe.