There are three key areas to populate;

1. Services – What is being sold
2. Service details > Rates Tab – When (date period) the Service is sold
3. Pricing options for selected season – How the Service is sold

To create a new Service, click  on the Services Tab.

Name Field

Type the service name you wish to load e.g. Harbour View Room over “New Service”. For different supplier types, your services will have different types of names:

Accommodation suppliers
The name of the rooms you sell e.g. Harbour View Room, Garden View Room, Pool View Room etc.

Activity suppliers
The activities you sell e.g. Bungy Jump or Museum Admission.

Transport suppliers
The transport options you sell e.g. ‘Transfer from Auckland to Rotorua’ or ‘Private Coach Transfer from Queenstown to Wanaka’. If the supplier offers a service in the reverse direction this must be loaded as a separate service e.g. ‘Transfer from Rotorua to Auckland ’ or ‘Private Coach Transfer from Wanaka to Queenstown’.

Type Field

This is the Service Type – the drop-down list displays pre-loaded Service Types alphabetically. Ensure you load the correct Service Type here as this information populates various reports you can run from Tourwriter. To amend Service Types go to Tools > Setup > Service configs.

Adding Fields to the Services Workspace

There are two additional fields you can bring into the Services workspace: Currency and Charge. You only need to enable currencies if your supplier’s currency (the currency in which you buy a service from your supplier) is different to your Base System Currency (to view what your Base System Currency is go to Tools > Setup > Data setup > Currencies).  If you provide your clients with per-person-pricing, or if you quote on pax ranges, you need to enable the Charge column. Even if you don’t initially plan on using the Tourwriter Groups functionality it is strongly recommended that users enable Groups as a way of future proofing your database.

Enabling Currencies

Click View then select Currencies from the drop-down options. A tick will indicate Currencies is now enabled and a Currency field will appear within the Services workspace. 

If the currency you require is not offered, when you click on the down arrow to select a currency for your Service, go to Tools > Setup > Data setup > Currencies > Currencies Setup Tab and select (tick) the currency you wish to Enable from the list of Default Currencies.
IMPORTANT – Only enable Currencies where your Supplier’s currency (the currency in which you purchase a Service from a Supplier) is different to your Base System Currency  (Tools > Setup > Data setup > Currencies).

Enabling Groups

Enabling Groups refers to the way in which you load your Suppliers’ Services in order to use the Tourwriter Group Quote functionality. Click View then select (tick) Groups from the drop-down option.

The following things will happen:

• A tick will indicate Groups is now enabled.
• A Charge field will appear under Services.
• A Type field will appear under Pricing options for selected season.
• A Default field will appear under Pricing options for selected season.

IMPORTANT – Enable Groups for every Supplier loaded (this is a simple way to ensure your database is future proofed for handling Group bookings).

Charge Field

This is the Service charged per ROOM, per PAX or per GROUP. Select the Charge type accordingly.

Creating a new Service

In the Services workspace, click   to add a new Service. You will see a New Service line appears within the Services workspace. In the Name field type over New Service with the name of the Service you are entering.

• For an accommodation Supplier this is the name of the room sold, e.g. Standard Room, Deluxe Room, Family Suite etc.
• For an activity or tour Supplier this is the activity or tour being offered, e.g. Bungy Jump, Museum Admission etc.
• For a transfer Provider this is the Service being provided, e.g Transfer from Auckland to Rotorua, Private Transfer from Queenstown to Wanaka etc.

Allocating a Service Type

To allocate a Service Type click on the down-arrow in the Type field and a drop-down list will appear displaying Service Types alphabetically.  Select accordingly. Service Types can be amended by navigating to Tools > Setup > Data setup > Service configs.
It is very important that a Service Type is allocated to every Service that is entered within the Services Name field, as this drives the reporting functionality of Tourwriter (e.g. Accommodation vs. Meal, Activity vs. Tours etc).
Service Types are also coded to display in a certain manner if custom reports are created.

Allocating a Charge Type

A Charge type must also be allocated against each Service. Click on the down-arrow and select accordingly. You must decide whether the service is charged per ROOM, per PAX or per GROUP.
Once all the Services fields have been completed, within the Services workspace, you can move to the Service details workspace (right side of the Services Tab).

Entering Season Dates for a Selected Service on the Rates Subtab

Click  to add a new Season to the highlighted Service (on the left). Use the calendar window to select the Valid From and Valid To Season dates. Once the Season dates for the highlighted Service have been entered, you can move down to the Pricing options for selected season workspace to enter the Pricing options and rates for the highlighted Service.

Entering Pricing Options for a Selected Season

IMPORTANT – Ensure the correct Service and Season dates are highlighted before creating Pricing options.
Click   to add a new Pricing option. A new line will appear with New Option in the Option field. Type over the words New Option,  name of the Option  you are entering. For an accommodation Supplier this is the room configuration or occupancy e.g. Double, Twin, Single, Triple, Quad etc.

If no Season has been selected Tourwriter will prevent you from entering any pricing options (i.e. nothing will happen when you click the yellow plus).

IMPORTANT – You must create a Pricing option line for every Pricing option available, even if they are the same price.
This is so you can select the specific room configuration required for your client at the time of creating an Itinerary and so that you can ensure suppliers will be aware of the configuration required when they receive your booking request.

For example, a hotel might charge the same price for a room irrespective of whether single, double or twin configurations are booked, however all three configurations must be entered as separate lines in the Pricing options for selected season workspace. The same rates are applied to each Option.

We also recommend that you calculate and detail the group configuration when child pricing applies, e.g. Triple (3A), Triple (2A+1C 2-12 yrs inclusive), Quad (4A), Quad (2A+2C 2-12 yrs inclusive), Quad (3A+1C 2-12 yrs inclusive) etc.  

For an activity or tour Supplier, the Option text is Adult, Child, Infant etc., or Per Person if the Supplier does not offer tiered pricing according to age. With Child and Infant Pricing options, enter the age range applicable for each option, e.g. Child (2-14 yrs inclusive), Infant (0-1 yr inclusive); this allows the user to quickly determine which Pricing option is applicable to their client, when quoting the supplier. For a transport Supplier the Option text is Per group or Per transfer or, alternatively, multiple Options can be entered, if the cost for that service is different depending on the number of days booked,  e.g. separate entries for 1-4  days, 5-9 days, 10+ days.

For examples of how to load various pricing options into Tourwriter please refer to the following videos and pages:

Adding Accommodation Suppliers
Adding Tour and Activity Suppliers
Adding Transfer Suppliers
Adding Rental Car Suppliers
Adding Other Service Types

Allocating a Pricing Option Type

As part of the Groups functionality of Tourwriter, the Pricing option Type field must be populated for each Pricing option. The Type field options are pre-set within the Tourwriter database, with assigned divisors (to amend navigate to Tools > Setup > Data setup > Option configs).

For Services sold on a per ROOM basis, your Pricing option Type will be Double or Twin or Single or Triple etc. In most cases the Pricing option Type usually matches the name in the  Option field of the Pricing option.

For Services sold on a per PAX basis, your Pricing option Type will be Adult or Child or Infant etc. In most cases the Pricing option Type usually matches the name in the Option field.

For Services sold on a per GROUP basis, your Pricing option Type will be blank (i.e. no option Type is allocated).

Pricing Option Default Field

The Default field must be completed in order for Tourwriter to calculate Group pricing.

For Services sold on a per ROOM basis, your Pricing option Default will be your most commonly sold Pricing option. For example, if Double is your most commonly sold Pricing option, you will only tick (in the Default field) Double Pricing options and you will leave all other Pricing options blank (un-ticked).

If, however, Twin is your most commonly sold Pricing option, then you will only tick (in the Default field) Twin Pricing options and you will leave all other Pricing options blank (un-ticked). Twin would then be your Default option throughout your database.

IMPORTANT – If you have selected Double as your Default Pricing option throughout your database (for accommodation sold on a per ROOM basis) you can only select an alternative Pricing option as your Default, if Double is not a Pricing option offered by a particular Supplier.

For Services sold on a per PAX basis, your pricing option Default will be Adult. Tick all Adult Pricing options.

For Services sold on a per GROUP basis, your pricing option Default will be all pricing options (i.e. tick every Pricing option).

Adding Prices to Pricing Options

Either double click on a highlighted Pricing option or alternatively click   (far right of the Pricing option line).

The Tourwriter Price Editor window will pop-up. Choose an editing option (i.e. Net and Markup or Net and Gross or Gross and Commission) and enter the pricing information accordingly. Note that only two fields need to be populated; the remaining two fields will auto-populate.

If you have chosen Net and Markup as your editing option, you can round your Gross numbers, to the nearest 1, 5 or 10 (of your Currency), by ticking one of the Rounding boxes at the bottom of the Edit price box (Net and Markup is the only editing option that allows you to do this).  

Using the Copy Function at the Pricing Option Level

Once you have entered your first Pricing option line, you can copy it and then amend the necessary information in each field, for subsequent Pricing options. To do this click the Copy icon  to copy an entire Pricing option line, including the Option, Type, Default and all pricing details.  A new Pricing option line will appear below the last entry. Overtype the Option text with the new Option and select the appropriate Pricing option Type.  Please note that if you have copied a line that has the Default field ticked, you may need to remove the Default tick for your new line.  Then amend the prices accordingly.

Copying at Season Dates Level

It is very important to enter all the Pricing options for the first Season dates for each Service  before you copy information for the next Season dates, as this will save you from having to manually add in all the Pricing options again.

Click  and click the Yes button, in the pop-up Tourwriter Message window, to copy the season to the next start date.  Adjust the Valid To date and adjust the pricing for the Pricing options as required. If you have a contract where pricing is the same for different Season dates, you can copy the first Season dates and then adjust the Valid From as well as Valid To fields.
It is very important to remember to change the Valid From date as Tourwriter will automatically populate this field with the next day from the Valid To field of the copied season, which may not be applicable.

Copying at Services Level

Only copy at the  Services level once all Season dates, all Pricing options and as much information as possible has been populated on the Configs, Details and Warnings Subtabs. Copying at Services level copies all the associated information for the highlighted Service.

The post Services Tab Overview appeared first on Tourwriter Knowledge Base.

Supplier Setup

To load an allocation to Tourwriter, follow these steps:

1. Open the Supplier.
2. Go to the Services Tab, and select the Service you would like to add Allocations to
3. On the Allocations tab to the right of the screen, click to add a new line.
4. In the Valid from and Valid to fields, enter the date range to which the Allocation applies, e.g. 1 July 2020 to 10 July 2020.
5. In the Quantity field, enter the number of service units available – e.g. if you can sell 10 rooms, enter 10 in this field.
6. The Release field lets you enter the number of days prior to the booking start date the allocation can be used. The number of days between the day service is booked, and the booking start date should be greater than or equal to the ‘Release’ days. – e.g. if you can sell from your allocation until two weeks before the booking date, enter 14 in this field.
7. Make sure to Save (CTRL+S).

Note:- The Used and the Available column will automatically populate after you enter the Quantity and save.

Allocation Fields

Agents:- Lets you define the agents to which the allocation is applicable. The Agent field is set to “All” by default, meaning allocation applies to all agents. Click to select agents. Click to add a new Agent. Use the drop-down options to choose the Agent, and type in the Quantity that is only available to that agent.

Options:- This field lets you define the pricing option(s) allocation applies to. If your allocation can only be used for certain pricing options, e.g. Twin rooms and Double rooms, change the Options field from “All” to your chosen option types, by clicking into the field. The Options window will appear. You can then tick the relevant options (Twin and Double in the screenshot below) to specify that all 10 rooms entered in the Quantity field are only to be used for Twin and Double rooms.

Note:- A service can have two separate allocation quantities assigned for each pricing option (or sets of pricing option) at the same time. To do that, create separate allocation rows with a different quantity value for the same duration.

For example, say you have 10 Single rooms and 12 Double rooms available during the Christmas period. You can set it up by adding a separate row for the Double room and enter the same Valid from and Valid to dates.

Per Day Allocations:- The Per Day Allocation table is where you can set a cap on allocations per day. Each day is listed, with the dates from the Valid from and Valid to date at each end of the table.

1. Click the icon to open the Per day Allocation window.
2. Enter values in the Quantity and Release fields and click Apply Defaults. This selection populates the table below with the default values. You then have the option to update the Max Qty column and the Release column for each row by editing it.

3. The Max Used quantity refreshes when a service is added to an itinerary.
4. Once you’ve entered the maximum quantity for each day in the Per Day Allocation table, click Save to apply the changes.

Note:- The Max Qty entered in the Per Day Allocation table only provides a limit to the maximum quantity available for that day.

Adding a Service with Allocations to an Itinerary.

When we add a service with an allocation row which either exceeds the total or the per day allocations, the user is alerted with a Supplier Allocation Warning dialogue box.

1. On the Bookings tab of the Supplier, Click the sign or drag and drop the Supplier anywhere onto the Bookings List. Tourwriter will display the Add new booking popup window.
2. Select the Allocations tab under Service details to verify the allocations available for the booking date.

3. Back to the Rates tab on the Add new booking window, select the season and the pricing option. Ticking an Option will display the Service and the option information into the bookings chosen field of the window.
4. Once you populate the Nts/days, Qty and Date columns with the right information, click OK.
5. A Supplier Allocation Warning dialogue box will appear if you either exceed your total allocation or the per day allocation for the set duration.

Note:– Entering a quantity for multiple nights will display the product of the values in the two field in the Qty column. The column does not show the quantity booked per night.

6. Entering a booking date within the Release days will also alert the user:

Enhancements to the Supplier Allocation Feature

We have improved the performance of the Supplier Allocations feature. Besides optimising the Supplier Allocation search results, you can now set allocations to not be consumed when the itinerary Status is set either to Proposal, Quotations or Package.

Let’s look at an example.

1. Open any Supplier, for example Huka Lodge, and access Allocations under Services.
2. Add an allocation quantity of say 30 for a defined period.

3. Add the Supplier, Huka Lodge to an itinerary with the Itinerary Status set to either Proposal, Quotations or Package. Save the itinerary.

For Status Package

Note: You may not see Package as one of the Itinerary Type options. You can, however, add the option under Tools > Setup > General Lists > Itinerary Status.

For Status Proposal

For Status Quotation

4. When you switch back to the Supplier, you will see that the allocation is not consumed. The Used column under Allocations will still show 0 as the value as seen below.

5. When you change the Itinerary Status to an option besides either Proposal, Quotations or Package, and refresh the Supplier, you see the Used column under Allocations update to a new value.

The post Supplier Allocations appeared first on Tourwriter Knowledge Base.

Season dates for selected service

Click to add a new season. By default the next season Valid From date will always be the day following the last day of the Valid To season above. To copy all of the details (including related options) of one season, to another season, click on the season you would like to copy and then click on the Copy icon .
IMPORTANT: While this function is a time saver, you must ensure that after you have copied a season you remember to change the dates to the correct season.

Pricing options for the selected season

Ensure that the correct Service and the Season dates are selected (highlighted) before you enter a Pricing option and associated rate for your required service.

Option Field

Accommodation suppliers
This is the room configuration or occupancy. You must enter one pricing option line for every pricing option (even if they are the same price eg. Double and Twin). This is so you can select the specific configuration or pricing option required for your client at the time of compiling an itinerary.
Examples – : Double, Twin, Single, Triple or Quad.

Activity suppliers
Examples – ‘per person’,‘Adult’ or ‘Child’ if the supplier offers different pricing per age category.

Transport suppliers
Examples – ‘per group’ or ‘per transfer’ or separate ‘01-04 day’ or ‘05-10 day’ pricing option names, if the cost for that service is different depending on the number of days booked.

Type Field (Shown if Groups is enabled)

Options sold on a per ROOM basis – Option Type will be Double, Twin, Single, Triple etc.
Options sold on a per PAX basis – Option Type will be e.g. Adult, Child, Infant or similar.
Options sold on a per GROUP basis – Option Type will be blank (no option type selected).

This field will only appear when Groups has been enabled (recommended). The drop-down options that appear here are determined by what is loaded in Tools > Setup > Option configs.

Default Field (Shown if Groups is enabled)

The Option Type that you assign as your Default will be dictated by the Charge Type of that particular service. Choose and apply one Option Type as your Default throughout the database e.g. Double. Only if a room is NOT sold on a Double basis can you apply the Twin as your Default Option Type in that scenario. Please find the following suggestions for your Default Field:

• If your service is charged per ROOM, (e.g. Accommodation) you must first identify your most commonly used/sold pricing Option Type. Usually, this will be the Double or Twin configuration. You will tick this Option Type as the ‘Default’ and leave all other Option Types unticked.
• If your service is charged per PAX (e.g. Activities, Meals, Tours), you will assign the applicable pricing Option Type as Adult, Child or Infant. You will tick all Adult pricing Option Types as the Defaults and leave Child and Infant pricing Option Types unticked.
• If your service is charged per GROUP (e.g. Transfers or Rental Cars), your Default will be all the Pricing Options (i.e. tick all of the Pricing Options loaded for the Service) and leave the Option Type field blank

This field will only appear when Groups has been enabled (recommended).

What does ticking an Option Type as my Default actually do?
Selecting an Option Type as your default will determine how your pricing is calculated in the Tourwriter Groups Quotes tab (Itinerary Bookings tab > Quote tab). By selecting Double Option Type as your Default for your services charged on a per ROOM basis, the database knows to take the cost of the Double room, and divide by 2 to obtain the per person price of that particular service.

Leaving the other Option Types unticked triggers the database to display the different prices for these other services in their own fields on the Quote Tab, meaning you can clearly separate the cost per person on a Double share basis, versus the the cost of a Single Supplement or Triple Reduction.

The post Services > Rates Subtab appeared first on Tourwriter Knowledge Base.

FOCs (Free of Charge) for Selected Service

Use this field when FOC’s are offered by a Supplier on a per-booking basis. To load click button and load the number of services Used (required) and the number of Free services given. The example above shows that for every 10 services used, 1 service is FOC.
IMPORTANT – This is an active field; the data loaded here will alter the cost of the Service in an Itinerary accordingly.

Examples:
For every 10 rooms booked, your supplier offers an additional room for free.
You would load this as Used = 10 and Free = 1 and the FOC service will be deducted from the cost of the itinerary if Quantity 11 is booked.

If for every 10 rooms booked, one room is FOC
You would load this as Used = 9 and Free = 1 and the FOC service will be deducted from the cost of the itinerary if Quantity 10 is booked.

Max Pax

This field is used to load the maximum number of passengers / occupants for the selected Service. This is a passive field (for user reference only) i.e. this information is not used anywhere else.

Payment Terms for Selected Service

These are Service level payment terms. The information entered in this field enables you to produce Payment Due Date Reports. Payment terms should be setup at an overall level per Agent name in Tools > Setup > Accounting setup. These can be customised further by loading Supplier level payment terms if the Supplier payment terms differ from the Default Payment Terms (Details Tab in each Supplier record). Payment Terms can also be edited on a Booking by Booking basis within an Itinerary if required.

Configurations that Match the Selected Service

This relates to the configurations available for the highlighted Service. This list is customisable in Tools > Setup > Service configs. This data can be used for internal purposes and/or it can also be displayed on your client documentation.

The post Services > Configs Subtab appeared first on Tourwriter Knowledge Base.

Service Check in or Start-time

This is an active field (i.e. the data loaded here populates other areas of Tourwriter). Service Types and their associated Start Text/End Text configurations for this field are located in Tools > Setup > Service configs. Times are displayed in the 12 hour clock (only).
Examples for the Check in and Check out fields:

• Accommodation – Check in/Check out (as shown above)
• Activity – Start time/End time
• Rental Car – Pick up/Drop off

Comments
This field is extremely useful for activities that have multiple departure times and/or multiple seasons. If information pertaining to this is entered in the Comments field, it allows the user to select the appropriate departure time for the client’s itinerary when creating an itinerary, saving the user from looking elsewhere (e.g. contracts or websites) for departure time/s (e.g. “Mon, Thu only” or “Summer only” or “Only one departure each day”).
IMPORTANT – All information loaded for each Service Name will be copied over to a new service only if you copy the service line to make the new Service. However, it will not be included if the Service is entered as a new line.

Early Arrival / Minutes Prior

Use this field to detail the number of minutes prior that a client needs to arrive at an activity, accommodation or transport to check-in.

Service Description and Service Comments

These fields are passive (i.e.for internal use only) and provide a convenient site for loading important reference information for each Service.

When adding a booking to your itinerary, quickly compare two services by clicking the Details tab as you switch between the services.

The post Services > Details Subtab appeared first on Tourwriter Knowledge Base.

Where Are Service and Supplier Level Warnings Stored?

The Services > Service Details > Warnings Tab within the Supplier record is where specific service and/or supplier information can be entered as warning messages across a specified date range.

Applicable warning messages will pop up should the Service or Supplier be dragged and dropped into an Itinerary.

How To Set Up Service Level Warnings

1. 1. Click the Warning Tab located in the Supplier’s Service details work space
   2. Ensure the correct Service is highlighted within the Services field and then click (above the Description field) to add a warning message for this Service
   3. The dates in the Valid from field and the Valid to field default to today and tomorrow’s dates respectively, click the down arrow in each field to access the calendar and change the dates accordingly
   4. Add the warning message in the Description field
   5. Save changes

Service warnings; shown when using this service
Example of a Service level warning message:
Valid From 01/04/2017 Valid To 30/04/2017: Family Suite closed for refurbishment
Valid From 01/07/2017 Valid To 30/07/2017: Hotel restaurant closed in July

How To Set Up Supplier Level Warnings

1. 1. Click the Warning Tab located in the Supplier’s Service details area
   2. Click  (above the Description field) to add a warning message for this Supplier (it does not matter if a service/season date range/service warning message is also highlighted)
   3. The dates in the Valid from field and the Valid to field default to today and tomorrow’s dates respectively, click the down arrow in each field to access the calendar and change the dates accordingly
   4. Add the warning message in the Description field
   5. Save changes

Supplier warnings; shown when using this supplier
Example of a Supplier level warning message:
Valid From 31/12/2017 Valid To 02/01/2017: Minimum 3 night stay applies
Valid From 25/12/2017 Valid To 25/12/2017: Closed on Christmas Day

IMPORTANT – Entering a Warning Message will  warn (i.e. create a popup warning message when the related Service is used in an itinerary), but will not prevent the user from adding a Service into an Itinerary Bookings List, or from sending off a Booking Request to a Supplier.

Customisation Options

Ordering Warnings
The Warnings (within a Supplier) are, by default, ordered in ascending order of the  Valid from field. This is a useful display option, however if you wish to order by an alternative field, such as Description (for example), click on that field header.  A triangle appears on the far right of the field  header – this indicates the warnings are ordered by Description, in ascending order.  If the column header is clicked again, the triangle becomes inverted which means the warnings are now ordered by Description, but in descending order.

Moving Fields
The field order can be changed by clicking on a field  header and dragging it and placing  it elsewhere.  The field will be dropped in where the double arrows appear and once the mouse button is released.

Adjusting Field Width
The width of each field can be adjusted by hovering the mouse at the end of the field header until double horizontal arrows appear; double click and the field will minimise (or expand) to fit the longest piece of data that features within any cell of the field being adjusted.

Reviewing Warnings When Booking Dates Are Changed

Changing an itinerary start date or an individual booking date may mean different or new service or supplier level warnings apply; a window will pop up and ask if you would like to Open rates management screen to refresh rates and check warning?. Click the Yes button. You will then be given the options to Refresh Rates, Keep or Cancel. This pop up will appear if dates are changed in the following locations:

1. Itinerary Start Date field
2. Booking Start Date field within the Booking Items work space
3. The two Booking Start Date fields in the Tourwriter bookings pop up window (i.e. the window that opens up when a booking is double clicked from the Booking Items workspace)

Click Refresh Rates within the Refresh Rates pop up window. Warnings should be reviewed if a yellow triangle () appears within the Warnings field for any of the booking items.  To review Warnings, simply click the .

The post Services > Warnings Subtab appeared first on Tourwriter Knowledge Base.

Q: How do I Enable Groups?
A: Open a Supplier and select the Services Tab. Click the View button and tick Groups. You will see three new fields enabled on the Services Tab:

1. Charge Field (Charge Type) – In the main Services workspace
2. Type – in the Pricing options for selected season workspace
3. Default Fields – in the Pricing options for selected season workspace

Q: What Does the Charge Field (Charge Type) do?
A: The Charge field helps determine how your pricing is calculated in the Tourwriter Groups Quote Subtab (Itinerary > Bookings Tab > Quote Subtab)

By selecting ROOM (as the Charge type) in the Charge field, for your Service, the database knows to take the cost of your Default Pricing option and divide by its divisor (as set up under Tools > Setup > Option configs) to obtain the per person pricing.

For example, if a Standard Room (Service) is sold on a per room basis, and the Double Pricing Option Type has been selected as the Default (i.e.tick in the Default field), and the cost is $100 for a Standard Room, Double, Tourwriter will divide $100 by 2 to obtain the per person pricing (i.e. It will allocate $50 to each paying passenger in the Groups Quote Subtab).

By selecting PAX (as the Charge Type) in the Charge field, the database will allocate the full cost of that pricing option to each paying passenger. For example, if the cost of an Activity is $25, Tourwriter will allocate $25 to each paying passenger.

By selecting GROUP (as the Charge Type) in the Charge field, the database will divide the cost of that pricing option between each paying passenger. If the cost of a Coach is $1,000, and I have 10 paying passengers, Tourwriter will allocate $100 to each of the 10 paying passengers.

Q: What should I select as my Default Option Type?
A: The Option Type that you assign as your Default will be dictated by the Charge Type assigned to that particular Service.

If a Service is charged per ROOM, (e.g. Accommodation) you first must identify your most commonly used / sold Option Type. For most, this will be the Double or Twin configuration. You will tick this Option Type as the Default and leave all other Option Types unticked.

IMPORTANT – You should only choose and apply ONE Option Type as your Default throughout your database e.g. Double. You could therefore only select Twin as your Default Option Type if a Supplier does not have any double rooms.

If a Service is charged per PAX (e.g. Activities, Meals, Tours), you will assign the applicable Option Type as Adult, Child or Infant. You will tick all Adult Option Types as the Default and leave Child and Infant Options Types unticked.

If a service is charged per GROUP (e.g. Transfers or Rental Cars), you will leave the Option Type field blank, and tick all Pricing Options as the Default.

Q: What does ticking an Option Type as my Default actually do?
A: Selecting an Option Type as your Default will determine how your pricing is calculated in the Tourwriter Groups Quote Subtab (Itinerary > Bookings Tab > Quote Subtab). By selecting the Double Option Type as your Default for Services charged on a per ROOM basis, the database knows to take the cost of the Double room, and divide by 2 to obtain the per person price of that particular Service (as explained above). Leaving the other Option Types unticked triggers the database to display the different prices for these other services in their own fields in the Quote Subtab, meaning you can clearly separate the per-person cost on a Double share basis, versus the the cost of a Single Supplement or Triple Reduction.

Q: My Double and Twin rates are always the same. Do I need to create these as separate Pricing Options in Tourwriter?
A: We recommend that you create one Pricing Option per room (bed) configuration for your Accommodation Services. By loading these as separate Pricing options in Tourwriter, you are able to clearly show both your clients (on Quotations / Client Pricing reports) and Suppliers (on booking emails) the specific room (bed) configuration that is required.

Q: My Suppliers provide me with Additional Person rates rather than Triple occupancy rates. How do I load this in Tourwriter?
A: To take advantage of the per pricing capabilities of the Tourwriter Groups module, we recommend adding the cost of the additional person rate to the Double rate provided to create the Triple rate when you are loading your Pricing Options within the Supplier record.

Q: How are the figures calculated on the Bookings Quote Subtab?

A: Member count: Minimum number of paying passengers for this Pax Break
Member rooms: Minimum number of rooms on double/twin share required for this Pax Break
Staff count: Number of tour leaders/staff/tour escorts/drivers who will accompany the group. The cost of staff gets divided between all paying passengers (Members) of the group. The number of Staff required may increase the larger the group gets.
Staff rooms: Number of rooms required for Staff. Each Staff member may require their own room, or they may share.
NOTE – The calculations below are based on the 10-15 pax + 1 Pax Break, unless otherwise specified.

For GROUP based Services – EXAMPLES – Coach transport / Rental Cars

Client: Take the Price for the Default service ($6,500.00); divide by the minimum number of paying passengers or Members (10). Result: $650.00 is allocated.
Staff: Will be blank – it is up to the user to ensure the correct vehicle size is booked to accommodate the group size. Result: $0.00 is allocated.
FOC: Typically blank but if FOC is allocated at Supplier level (see examples further below for ROOM and PAX based FOC’s), it will calculate on the basis that the cost of the FOC is divided by the minimum number of paying passengers or ‘members’ for that Pax Break. Result: $0.00 is allocated.

For ROOM based Services – EXAMPLE – Accommodation

Client: Take the Price for the Default Service (e.g. 110.00) multiply by the number of Rooms required (5) then divide by the minimum number of paying passengers (10) for that Pax Break. Result: $55.00 is allocated.
Staff: Take the Price for the Default Service (e.g. 110.00) multiply by the number of Staff Rooms required (2) then divide by the minimum number of paying passengers (10) for that Pax Break. Result: $22.00 is allocated.
FOC: We must use an example of another accommodation Supplier where an FOC is offered and therefore loaded at the Supplier level.

Review the Member Rooms amount for Pax Break 21-25 pax + 1 > 11 Member Rooms are required for this Pax Break:

Since the User has loaded an FOC where 10 Standard Rooms are booked, an additional 1 Standard Room is FOC

The QUOTE does the following:
If Member Rooms are such that the FOC requirement loaded at Service level is met (in this case, 11 rooms are required before we are entitled to an FOC), the cost of the total FOC rooms is calculated (in this case, 1 room is FOC which is $220.00), this figure is then divided by the minimum number of paying passengers for this Pax Break (in this case, 21 members). Result: $10.48 is deducted from each paying passenger. -$10.48 is therefore shown in the Quote table

For PAX based Services – EXAMPLES – Meal / Tour / Activity

Client: Take the Price for the Default Service (e.g. 20.00) and allocate to each paying passenger. Result: $20.00 is allocated.
Staff: Take the Price for the Default Service (e.g. 20.00) multiply by the number of Staff required (2) then divide by the minimum number of paying passengers (10) for that Pax Break. Result: $4.00 is allocated.
FOC: We must use an example of another Pax based Supplier where an FOC is offered and therefore loaded at the Supplier level.

Review the Member Count and Staff Count for Pax Break 10-15 + 1 > 10 Members and 2 Staff are required for this Pax Break. A total of 12 pax.
Review the Member Count and Staff Count for Pax Break 16-20 pax + 1 > 16 Members and 2 Staff are required for this Pax Break. A total of 18 pax.
Review the Member Count and Staff Count for Pax Break 21-25 pax + 1 > 21 Members and 2 Staff are required for this Pax Break. A total of 23 pax.

The below Supplier shows two levels of FOCs have been loaded. In all cases above, the Group is entitled to 1 FOC where 10 Pax are booked.

The QUOTE does the following:

10-15 pax + 1
If Members are such that the FOC requirement loaded at Service level is met (in this case, 11 pax are required before we are entitled to an FOC), the cost of the total FOC pax is calculated (in this case, 1 pax is FOC which is $60.00), this figure is then divided by the minimum number of paying passengers for this Pax Break (in this case, 10 members). Result: $6.00 is deducted from each paying passenger. -$6.00 is therefore shown in the Quote table.

16-20 pax + 1
If Members are such that the FOC requirement loaded at Service level is met (in this case, 11 pax are required before we are entitled to an FOC), the cost of the total FOC pax is calculated (in this case, 1 pax is FOC which is $60.00), this figure is then divided by the minimum number of paying passengers for this Pax Break (in this case, 16 members). Result: $3.75 is deducted from each paying passenger. -$3.75 is therefore shown in the Quote table.

21-25 pax + 1
If Members are such that the FOC requirement loaded at Service level is met (in this case, 11 pax are required before we are entitled to an FOC), the cost of the total FOC pax is calculated (in this case, 1 pax is FOC which is $60.00), this figure is then divided by the minimum number of paying passengers for this Pax Break (in this case, 21 members). Result: $2.86 is deducted from each paying passenger. -$2.86 is therefore shown in the Quote table.

The post Enabling Groups FAQs appeared first on Tourwriter Knowledge Base.

Tourwriter’s Supplier rates are loaded in one currency. We call this the Supplier Base Currency. The new Cross Currencies feature has been designed to allow Supplier Gross (Sell) rates to be loaded in a different currency, which is referred to as the Supplier Cross Currency. This allows for a set Sell price to be used, which is not affected by currency exchange rates when added to an Itinerary.

This help file outlines the steps to take to enable and load a cross currencies rate in the Supplier, as well as how to interpret the Bookings List where Cross Currency bookings have been made.

Supplier

Create a Service and season following the standard procedure outlined in these guidelines. At the same time as enabling the Supplier Base Currency and Groups via the View drop-down, click the CrossCurrency option as shown below:

Once the Service and the Season has been added, click to add a new Pricing option. The Cross Currency section will now be visible on the Tourwriter Price Editor screen.

First, add the Net (unit) amount into the Net field. This will be in the Supplier Base Currency (e.g. EUR). Gross (unit) can also be loaded in this area, or left blank.

In the Cross Currency section, click to load the new Gross (unit) amount in your chosen Cross Currency (‘New Currency’).

Complete the New Currency and Gross Cross fields:

Close the Price Editor window and save your changes (CTRL S).

Beta testing note: If Cross Currencies has been enabled in a supplier, the assumption is that ALL Services and Pricing Options for that supplier will have a Cross Gross (unit) loaded.

Itinerary

Important note: The Cross Gross (Unit) rate of any booking added to the Itinerary must match the Itinerary Output Currency. For example, if supplier rates are in EUR, and you have loaded cross rates in USD, then your Itinerary Output Currency must be USD. Please check your Itinerary Output Currency in the bottom left corner of the Bookings List before adding any Cross Currency bookings:

In the Itinerary, add a booking to your Bookings List as normal. Help for adding bookings to an Itinerary can be found here.

The Bookings Selector will display the Gross (unit) in both the Base and Cross Currency, if Cross Currencies have been loaded.

Once added to the Bookings List, if Cross Currencies is enabled for your selected service, the Gross (unit), Gross (total) and Gross (final) amounts on the Bookings List will all be displayed in the Cross Currency. The CrossCurrencyCode field will also confirm that this is a Cross Currency booking by displaying the currency used here.

The Net (unit) and Net (total) amounts will remain in the supplier’s base currency. The Net (final) will be the Net (total) multiplied by the Exch rate. The Gross (total) will be identical to the Gross (final) for services with Cross Currencies enabled (Exch is ignored).

The post Supplier Cross Currencies appeared first on Tourwriter Knowledge Base.

You may have come across an itinerary booking with a red warning sign. When you hover over it, it reads “Start date does not match rates”.

The Supplier Rates Bulk Update feature lets you change the price for a season and update the existing itineraries with the modified price. Once the Itinerary is updated, the “Start date does not match rates” error message will not be visible.

How to Bulk Update

Firstly, a User with Administrator Permissions must enable (tick) the Bulk service/rates update Permission in Tools > Setup > Account Types > Administrator > Permissions in selected Role.

Then follow the steps below to Bulk Update:

1. Open the Supplier to be edited
2. Highlight the Service Name
3. Highlight the rates season that needs to be updated  (On the Rates Subtab under the Season dates for the selected service)
4. Edit the Pricing option/s for the selected season.
5. Save changes.
6. Ensure the edited Pricing Option and the respective Season dates for the selected service are still highlighted
7. Right-click > Bulk update > click to see > the Update Bookings popup window

   

   

8. Apply any required search filters by inputting Booking Date information and/or Itinerary Create Date information, with or without Booking and/or Itinerary Status.  If no filters are required, click the Load .
   NOTE – Regardless of the inputted search criteria, Tourwriter will only fetch Bookings for the season that has been highlighted at Supplier level before the Bulk Update was initiated.
9. Review the data and deselect any rows for Bookings that should not be updated, either by manually selecting/deselecting the tick boxes to the far left of the Bookings workspace, alternatively click the tick box located next to the Load icon to deselect all rows and then manually select individual Bookings.
10. Click Update  to update Bookings.

Customisation Options

Ordering Bookings
To order by BookingStartDate (for example), click on the BookingStartDate field header.  A triangle appears on the far right of the field header; this indicates the Bookings are ordered by start date, in ascending order.  If the field header is clicked again, the triangle becomes inverted which means the Bookings are now being ordered by start date but in descending order.

Removing Fields
Any fields that are surplus to requirements can be removed from the workspace by clicking on the Field Chooser iconand deselecting any fields within this Update Bookings popup window.  These fields will be automatically removed from the Update Bookings workspace.

Moving Fields
The field order can be changed by clicking on a field header and dragging it and placing it elsewhere.  The field will be dropped in where the double arrow  appears  and once the mouse button is released.

Adjusting Column Width
The width of each field can be adjusted by hovering the mouse at the end of the field header until a double arrow appears; double click and the field will minimise (or expand) to fit the longest piece of data that features within any cell in the field being adjusted.

Saving Layouts
The revised layout can be saved by clicking the Layouts button and selecting Save current layout.  This layout can then be loaded as a substitute to the default workspace layout, which has all fields enabled in a set order. NOTE – Bookings must be loaded into the workspace before loading the saved layout.

Filters
Filters can be applied to the fields by clicking on the filter icon .

Exporting
The current view can be exported to Excel by clicking on the Excel icon .

Expanding the Update Bookings pop up window
Hover the mouse over the bottom right corner of the Update Bookings window until a double arrow appears and then click and drag to expand.

Introducing Season-level Bulk Updates

Tourwriter now allows you to extend the Bulk update functionality to a season. Thus, updating a season updates all the options that fall under the season. Follow the steps below to perform a season-level Bulk update:

1. Open the Supplier to be edited.
2. Highlight the Service on the left-hand panel.
3. Highlight the season that needs an update.
4. Right-click the season and select Bulk Update to see the Update Bookings popup window.

5. Refer to steps 8 to 10 in the How to Bulk Update section to filter the search results and perform a bulk update.

Additional Information

• Clicking the Update icon without loading any data beforehand will not work, data must be loaded prior to updating.
• In addition to edits made to the Net, Markup, Gross and Commission fields, changes also made to the Supplier Name, Service Name and Pricing Option fields will also be reflected in the bulk update.
• Any open Itineraries must be refreshed in order to view the Bulk Update changes.

The post Supplier Rates Bulk Update appeared first on Tourwriter Knowledge Base.

The new Price Editor offers the ability to load rates for any Pricing Option according to the day of the week (e.g. mid-week or weekend rates). These ‘Day Rate’ bookings will display as one booking item in the Itinerary Bookings List.

Please note that any custom reports (Itineraries, Quotations, Pricing reports) developed prior to the 3 August 2016 release may repeat Day Rate bookings publishing content. Please contact your Customer Success Executive or our Support team for assistance with amending any templates where Day Rates are used (please note charges apply).

Supplier level

Add your Supplier information as normal, including the Pricing Options for selected season grid. Open the Price Editor by double clicking the applicable Pricing Option (or clicking ).

The steps for loading rates are as follows:

1. Choose an editing option (Net and Markup, Net and Gross or Gross and Commission).
2. Fill in the applicable pricing fields (you can tab through these).
3. If this rate is applicable for all days of the week, simply close the Price Editor, you are finished.
4. If this rate is applicable for only certain days of the week, click the to add in an additional pricing line for this Option. Fill in the pricing fields and then tick the boxes for the day/s of the week this price is valid for.
   
   
5. If there are additional prices to add for other days, click the a second time and follow step 4 again.

Additional Information

• All existing supplier rates will convert to the new Price Editor and will have one pricing line with no days of the week ticked.
• Only the rates for the first pricing line will display within the Services > Pricing options for selected season grid. To see if additional Day Rates apply, open the Price Editor.
• If an additional pricing line is inserted but no Days have been ticked, this pricing line will automatically disappear once the Price Editor window is closed.
• There can only be one tick per day. If a day does not have a tick applied to it, the tick will automatically revert to the first pricing line (even if the tick had just been moved from another line and then unticked).

Itinerary Level

To use a Service that has different Day Rates, proceed as normal to add the booking to your Itinerary. As the booking drops into the Bookings List, Tourwriter will calculate the total and final prices, taking into consideration all relevant pricing options.

NB: Currently if the Date, Nts or Qty fields within the Bookings List are then altered, the booking will recalculate taking into consideration all relevant pricing options regardless of whether the Refresh Rates table is used or not.

Bookings List
Within the Bookings List, Tourwriter will indicate that a Day Rates booking exists by displaying a green symbol () in the Booking Name field and a magnifying glass () in the ‘Net (unit)’ and ‘Gross (unit)’ fields. A quick view of the different rates included in the booking can be seen by hovering the mouse over the magnifying glasses.

To gain a more comprehensive breakdown of the booking (and to edit the booking), double click the booking to open the Tourwriter Bookings Editor and select Edit > Price.

The post Day Rates Price Editor appeared first on Tourwriter Knowledge Base.