tourdata.com

Business Requirements Document

"Build your own customized tour on the Internet"

Summary:
This document describes the requirements for a Internet based tour-building system.

There are three components to this system:

  1. A web-based tour-building system
  2. An XML based tour-component data supply system
  3. The technology component (Hardware, Software, Channels, etc)
Although, my main focus is selling the technology components, this document will focus on the "Tour-building" system, to allow me to correctly design the technology and back-end systems.

The "Tour-building system" is an Internet-based web site which allows the customer to easily shop and compare tour products, build a customized tour from a pre-existing template or from scratch, and make any changes. The customer can check product descriptions, pricing, and availability. Then, they can save or book their tour and provide payment information. The web site would then be used to check payment status and comfirmation information for each component and allow modifications or cancellations before and during their tour. Post-tour, this system could be used to provide fellow users with product-reviews or to process refunds and adjustments.

The tour-building system requires data from vendors. The data is supplied from the tour-component systems, and should be in a open, publicly-available, standardized format. The "server-side" of this system is an order fulfillment system for tour companies.

The technology component deals with physical hosting of the tour-builder, hosting of the tour-component supply systems, target customers, and sales channels for these systems.

Points:
  • The "Tour Builder" should be simple enough for an end-user to user over the Internet intuitively.
  • The tour data should be accessed directly from Vendor's web sites to provide accurate and immediate response.
  • Product delivery should be flexible--from direct, wholesale, or resale channels.
  • Feedback should be provided to supply reviews for future customers.
  • Vendor interfaces should use open (non-proprietary) interfaces.
  • How am I gonna make any money on this?
  • Customers:
    Product: Internet hosted tour builder supplying Tours, Hotels, Air, Cars, and other tour products.
    Target: Leisure traveler.
    Attracting Customers: Targeted Banner ads, Search engines, Press Release/Reviews in Travel/consumer Pubs. Traditional advertising. Also track lead sources.
    Displaying Products: Make sure customers get what they are looking for when they visit the site. Make sure they immediately know the value of this site "Custom built tours direct from the supplier" (on-line demo). Start with pre-built itineraries by destination. Specials. Past customer reviews by destination. Once they have started building a tour, customers need full control over every component of their tour. Immediate display of pricing and availability. Ability to compare prices/features of components and options. Terms of sales (timing of charges, charges for changes, cancellation). Insurance. Options, alternates (targeted banners?), recommendations.
    Processing Orders: Immediate confirmation of components or notification of On-request items to be cleared by e-mail. Secure credit-card entry, verification, and reservation of funds, notice of fund disbursement timetable/purpose.
    Fulfilling Orders: Voucher/Tour Order/Product descriptions/confirmations can be produced at any time for hard-copy presentation to vendors.
    Customer Service: Changes and cancellations can be made before and during the tour (since data is Internet hosted). Auto-notification of inter-connected product changes (flight change produces notice to supplier of arrival transfer). Communication with vendors (Pre-sale, post-sale, during tour, post-tour).
    Post-Sales Processing: Product reviews for future customers. Refunds/complaints for cancellations or services not supplied. Thank you correspondence to contacts/tour guides. Posting of itinerary and review for future customers.
    Typical Web Site: (Sales focus!)
    Vendors:
    Product: Server-side of the tourdata.com system. Standards-based publishing of product information, pricing, and availability. Ability to get orders, changes, cancellations, marketing info, and order details.
    Target: Travel suppliers. Airlines, Hotels, Car Rental, Transportation, Cruises, Local tour operators, Wholesalers, Retailers
    Attracting Vendors: Link/banner on tourdata.com, Targeted e-mail, physical vendor visits, Press Release/Reviews in Travel/consumer Pubs. Traditional advertising. Also track lead sources.
    Displaying Products: XML based data hosted on vendor site to be polled or read on-demand. Product descriptions/itineraries, Pricing, availability. Since this data can be static, this module can be supplied free to publish data at the vendor site (/xml).
    Processing Orders: XML based product availability, confirmation, and payment reservation/arraignment.
    Fulfilling Orders: Service recaps.
    Customer Service: Changes and cancellations (and charges).
    Post-Sales Processing: Correspondence with customers, adjustments.
    Typical Web Site: (Sales focus!)
    Technology:
    Product: Travel Vendor Internet based Back-office systems.
    Target: Tour-product providers (Hotel, Sightseeing operators, etc.)
    Attracting Customers: tourdata.com site, customer visits, direct (personalized) e-mail
    Processing Orders: (for the technology component) on-line order entry
    Channel: Resale through ISPs, VARs, or Hosted on a virtual server service
    Customer Service: e-mail, bug button, forum (no direct calls?)
    Typical Web Site: (Sales focus!)
    Competition:
    Who has similar products and what benefits do you offer your users?
    Microsoft Expedia (www.expedia.com)
    Travelocity (www.travelocity.com)
    Internet Travel Network (www.itn.com)