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D13 OnTour: ESPRIT Project No. 26956OnTourThe OnTour solution aims to implement the above described scenario. The service requestsare send to the central OnTour server. The server manages the service offers of suppliers,destination agencies, tour operators and travel agencies and is therefore able to generateimmediately a list of appropriate products. The reliability and actuality of service data isensured because reserving or modifying the service offers are carried out completely electronicallythrough the central server instance. Moreover, the assessments of the supplier'sservice quality captured by the server (cf. chapter 5.2.2: A5 monitor processes) should preventthe sellers to promise more than they are able to keep.A3 Book productAfter the buyer has found services meeting his needs, he has to book the respective servicesby sending the booking data. The booking data (cf. [D12], chapter 4.1) contains informationconcerning the duration, name(s), age(s), quantity, etc., as well as specific datadepending on the service type (e.g. accommodation, car rental and sightseeing tour).If a tourist directly buys services via OnTour he/she can usually specify the complete set ofbooking data. In case of resellers, only core booking data are available for reserving theproducts. The personal data of the actual tourists have to be captured first during the sellingprocess. Therefore, the booking data of resellers needs to be completed later on 8 .Computerised task processingThe computerised support of the booking procedure should allow the buyer by selectingand combining services. If the buyer wants to book a service from the list generated in theprevious step, he has to mark the service. Then, the buyer can start new searches andchoose among the service offers. Thus, the buyer is able to step by step generate a "bookinglist" that may contain any combination of services from different service provides. Byconsulting the booking list the buyer is able to continuously inform himself about the totalcost of the selected services.The entering of the actual booking data can be accelerated if the standard personal respectivelyenterprise data is inserted automatically by the application. Only the service relevantinformation (e.g. type of room or car, special wishes etc.) should be entered manually. Afterentering the booking data the buyer can send his reservation requests by pressing a button.In order to avoid that in the meantime a requested service is not any more available,the application should provide a function to ensure that either all or none of the services arebooked. The booking request should be answered immediately by a respective confirmation.Transferring booked service data into local systems should allow resellers to re-use thedata directly in their back office application for e.g. bookkeeping as well as to transfer theservices into other computerised reservation systems.OnTour8 Except, if an alternative offer has to be organised. In this case the tourist data is usually known.7 June 1999 D13V04S3 Page 28
D13 OnTour: ESPRIT Project No. 26956In order to fulfil this requirements the OnTour system will provide respective functions forselecting and combining services. The reliability and legal validity of the booking processfor both sides - buyer and seller - will be supported in OnTour by using digital signatures 9and the explicit confirmation of booked services. Since the OnTour server can decide atonce, whether the requested services are vacant, the buyer receives an immediately feedback/confirmationregarding his/her booking.Users, who frequently work with the OnTour application, can generate local profiles, containingthe personal respectively enterprise data, to enter this part of the booking dataautomatically 10 .Concerning the data exchange between the OnTour client and back office solution, theOnTour project aims to develop respective interfaces exemplary for the systems used bythe OnTour partners to demonstrate the integration of the software into company's IT systems.Prerequisite for the profile function as well as for transferring data into back office systemsis, that the booking forms for each kind of service have a homogenous structure and containa complete and compatible data record in relation to the existing computerised reservationsystems.A4 Purchase servicesAfter the services are booked the buyer receives a booking confirmation including the listof booked services and the prices to pay 11 . The actual moment of payment depends on thecustomer and the specific service conditions of the seller. Tourist have to pay usually inadvance, while reseller often pay after the service has been carried out and the collectedvouchers are received and evaluated.Tourists have to receive the travel documents in time before their departure. The traveldocuments (vouchers, tickets) contain the information of the booked/paid services and areused to claim services by the suppliers.Modification and cancellation of the buyer have to be passed to the seller and may haveconsequences regarding the payment or vouchers. Whether a cancellation fee has to bepaid depends on the conditions of the product.If a reseller completes the booking data with the personal data of the tourists (indicatedwith the arrow "booking data from resold products" in diagram number 1) the informationis passed as modification to the original seller of the service.Computerised task processingThe drawback analysis and the requirements of the OnTour industrial partners shows that itis very important for the buyer to receive fast a binding booking confirmation in order to9 Even if the legal status of digital signatures is currently not handled uniquely in Europe, the issue of a respectivelaw for electronic signatures is in preparation (cf. [COM(98) 586][COM(98) 0297]).10 alternatively the data may also be provided by the OnTour Card.11 Prices respectively the invoice represent only a confirmation. The buyer knows the cost of the bookedservices already in the moment of booking (cf. A3 Book product).7 June 1999 D13V04S3 Page 29
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