Technology plays a crucial role in customer service as it can help you better deliver on your customers' needs and expectations. As guests become increasingly accustomed to the convenience of online services, the demand for data accuracy and transaction speed has grown exponentially in the last decade. If booking a flight can be accomplished within a couple of clicks and hotel arrangements can be made in minutes, why should planning a diving vessel holiday be any different? While the diving industry has been hesitant to make changes, it has come to understand the magic of the "book now" button, which has rapidly appeared on dozens of vessel operators' and agencies' websites. The trick here is simple but disappointing - a "thank you for your request" message awaits the guest, whose plans to book their dream vacation have been surprisingly interrupted.
We've heard many sceptical messages regarding the automation of the booking process for vessel operators. They said that online booking is not possible as availability can't be up-to-date, the product is too complex so personal communication is always required, collecting guest information is too time consuming - these were just a few of the obstacles we had to overcome when developing a complex software solution for both vessel operators and agencies. However, we've managed to help our customers to achieve cases where the journey from initial option to completed trip can be accomplished without a single manual email or call. It's been a long way, and while some vessel operators still grapple with spreadsheets, others are focused on achieving unprecedented results in direct sales. Some are even exploring how AI can be utilized to enhance the customer experience.
Without further ado, we are thrilled to introduce the first version of our Booking Widget for Agencies. Now, you can effortlessly configure the booking widget or widgets (depending on your needs and website structure) and install it on your website. Say goodbye to manual or semi-automatic availability and price updates - now, required content is distributed directly from the booking management system of vessel operators.
What vessels can I display on the widget?
You can check available vessel operators under Integration settings in your Agency profile. Please make sure you have connected with all vessel operators you are planning to display on widget, as booking requests and options are only possible if the vessel operator has granted you access to their data.
How many widgets can I have?
You can configure multiple widgets depending on your needs and website structure. For example, if you have a vessel page on your website, you can create a widget that will display the availability of a particular vessel only. If you have a page dedicated to special offers, then you can create a widget where only trips with available special offers will be displayed.
Can I customize the widget?
If you would like to adapt the colors or fonts to your brand style, you can request widget customization at an extra charge.
How does the booking process work on the widget?
There are two different types of Vessel operators available in Inseanq. For the first type, Inseanq is the main booking software, and for such operators, online booking is available, meaning that the option placed by the guest on the widget will be immediately created in the system. You are able to view and access such options via your agency profile as usual. Availability for the second type of Vessel operators is imported to Inseanq from other systems, meaning that due to technological limitations, it's not always up-to-date. Therefore, booking requests are used instead of options. Unfortunately, it means that it's not possible to guarantee that such requests will be accommodated by the vessel operator.
Are you planning on adding new features to the widget?
Yes! We are actively seeking your feedback to update the widget accordingly. We are also planning further development of the online booking flow on the widget. Our ultimate goal is to provide you with tools for managing such options/bookings and even add the possibility to accept payments from guests.