Pros & Cons of using a Dive travel agency versus booking direct?

[outofofficebrb]

Fair enough, you make some good points (though in 2019 certainly the technology must exist to link up sites so that Liveaboard.com/Padi Travel could have backend access to each operators live inventory). Regardless, not updating your website on a daily basis is one thing, but what I was referring to was something completely different, and imo more egregious:

Liveaboard.com is advertising (this is a made up example) a trip for Aug 15th - Aug. 22nd on boat XYZ for $1,200. But when I go to boat XYZ's website, they don't even show a trip that's scheduled for Aug. 15th - 22nd!

I'd be surprised if agents at Liveaboard.com don't monitor online discussions here & elsewhere about their company, maybe someone from the company can explain how / why this happens?

You should be surprised, then. I work with many large vendors regularly in retail. Many vendors have the same enterprise resource planning software that we use (hello, SAP...) and then fewer others also have electronic data interchange (EDI) for submitting orders and making revisions. That allows us for the most part to order, make changes to orders, invoice, and bill somewhat seamlessly but not everyone has that, but even with that, the only way we have access to their real time inventory is by manually logging into their back end portal by a username and password and manually checking availability by style number, color, size. There is nothing that auto updates. Customer service also can manually pull a report and e-mail it to us rather than logging in, but the point of it is that it is still a manual process and the availability is subject to whenever that report was pulled and not dynamic like logging into a portal is. My guess is most operators don't have a back end portal or if they do, that is a lot of manual checking on a regular basis. Think about how many different destinations of liveaboards there are, multiplied by how many boats there are in that one given area. It's like the Golden Gate Bridge...by the time you finish painting one end of it, it's time to start painting the other end again.

I suppose if I were an op, I could release a daily report on just changes from the previous day - new bookings. That could tell the agent to just update the availability on the sailings that I had new bookings from.

As for the example you gave, Liveaboard might have purchased all the spots to sell for themselves. There are a few different scenarios - or the boat might be on hold and so the op is showing that it is not available and they are trying to collect guests for that sailing with an agent, etc. I'm tagging @LiveaboardCom and @PADI Travel for you just in case they want to provide some insight.

 

[GR8FUL]

in this above instance, someone may have booked a charter and then asked liveaboard etc to publicize it to fill the slots. Sometimes travel agents do this.

Did not think of that, and that would make sense.

out of interest, did you ask liveaboard why they had a trip listed that wasn't on the operator's site?

No, thus far I haven't contacted any travel agency, I wanted first to get recommendations from others on this site as to travel agencies they've used in the past. Doubt I'm going to use liveaboard.com, so no reason to call them.

 

[Manatee Diver]

...but even with that, the only way we have access to their real time inventory is by manually logging into their back end portal by a username and password and manually checking availability by style number, color, size. There is nothing that auto updates. Customer service also can manually pull a report and e-mail it to us rather than logging in, but the point of it is that it is still a manual process and the availability is subject to whenever that report was pulled and not dynamic like logging into a portal is. My guess is most operators don't have a back end portal or if they do, that is a lot of manual checking on a regular basis. Think about how many different destinations of liveaboards there are, multiplied by how many boats there are in that one given area. It's like the Golden Gate Bridge...by the time you finish painting one end of it, it's time to start painting the other end again.

I suppose if I were an op, I could release a daily report on just changes from the previous day - new bookings. That could tell the agent to just update the availability on the sailings that I had new bookings from.

X12 EDI 846 Document. How often you issue it can depend on load, and how often it changes. And you don't have to use the standard X12 document, you can setup your own private API where you can request inventory changes was well as receive nightly updates to limit the interchange during peak periods.

There are no technical limitations that would inhibit setting up a system to track LOB inventory. The inventory and the rate of changes is a fraction of even a small warehouse company. The hard part is getting everyone onboard, and who would pay for the system.

 

[outofofficebrb]

X12 EDI 846 Document. How often you issue it can depend on load, and how often it changes. And you don't have to use the standard X12 document, you can setup your own private API where you can request inventory changes was well as receive nightly updates to limit the interchange during peak periods.

There are no technical limitations that would inhibit setting up a system to track LOB inventory. The inventory and the rate of changes is a fraction of even a small warehouse company. The hard part is getting everyone onboard, and who would pay for the system.

Ya know...I’m going to quote this and throw it to my IT/EDI people at work. I like the sound of it already. ERP and EDI isn’t cheap so I can understand folks not wanting to get on board, no pun intended, especially with a boat op who thinks status quo works just fine and doesn’t offer a lot of ROI.

 

[Manatee Diver]

Ya know...I’m going to quote this and throw it to my IT/EDI people at work. I like the sound of it already. ERP and EDI isn’t cheap so I can understand folks not wanting to get on board, no pun intended, especially with a boat op who thinks status quo works just fine and doesn’t offer a lot of ROI.

I wouldn't bother with a full ERP package, an ERP deployment approaches six figures even for smaller businesses. You just need a scheduling system with the right capabilities (namely an API for communicating over the web, and export to popular accounting systems, most likely Quickbooks). Heck there are probably software packages out there for similar industries that would work just as well. The key would be setting up the communication to the central booking store house.

Like I said, no technical limitations. Just money and getting the LOB companies to cooperate.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Something interesting came up. Another diver here had DAN Travel Insurance and the liveaboard sank before he could go on the trip. Start from the beginning of the thread but read my reply in the end about why it is also beneficial to avoid wire transfers but book with an agency and with your credit card.

DAN and AIG travel insurance absurd response ; Sinking boat not covered!