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Thursday 19 September 2013

Data Management: Some Important Factors to Understand First

For any organization, whether big, medium or small, much of the business success depends of how efficiently they manage the data. Data management is a broad concept that comprises of several aspects related to handling the data as a valuable resource. In travel industry, the system encompasses a number of aspects including fare management, baggage rules, ancillary product and revenue management and data mining etc. Without a proper operational system, the old saying “the devil is in the details” often turns out to be true in travel industry.
Many businesses outsource the data management operations to other organizations without considering a few factors first. The following are some of the most important aspects related to efficient data management. If you are also thinking to outsource your process, first consider reading the following:

Fare Filing: In travel industry, fare filing is one of the most important processes. For any airline, consolidator, travel company and hotel, the distribution of the fare content is the lifeblood for the business. While half of the process’ success depends on devising the best fares, the other half depends on error free management of the fares and distributing it to the potential consumers. These two steps determine how efficiently the organization will get the market share. Circulating special negotiated fares with accuracy can help attract a greater portion of the existing market. The efficiency of the process also helps organizations avoid revenue leakage.

Baggage Rules: In order to achieve greater revenue margin, airlines have started slashing free baggage allowance. In order to make the process simple, many airlines file the baggage rule/policy directly in ATPCO. Also, the airlines and consolidators can distribute their policies to GDSs, OTAs, departure control and reservation systems, and to other pricing engines. A minor mistake in filing the accurate baggage rule may lead to a huge loss of business and loosing the customer’s trust on the services offered.

Ancillary Revenue: Ancillary revenue is the profit that a service provider earns by offering additional services to the consumers. The profit margin of any travel service provider depends largely on this revenue stream. Airlines, hotels and similar service providers generate ancillary revenue from sources including à la carte features, commission-based products, frequent flier activities and advertising messages sold in or on aircraft. Being one of the most important revenue sources, it is crucial to properly display ancillary products and services to the prospective consumers. Filing the fare with entire ancillary product line is a good idea to attract consumers.

Data Mining: While managing the data is crucial for any business to run smoothly, not every datum is important from the business point of view. It is thus become extremely important to filter the data so that the most useful information can be devices. Data mining is a kind of computer generated data filtration process where experts analyze the existing data from different prospective and finally summarize it to useful information. The fundamental properties of data mining are – automatic discovery of patterns, prediction of likely outcomes, creation of actionable information and focus on large data sets and database. The more accurate your data mining is, the more the chances of business revenue returns.

Though many organization promise to offer an efficient data management solution, it is almost impossible to develop analytical tools for data handling without having a proper knowledge of the organization’s structure and its market.

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