Release note 16.9

Graphic improvements
and B2B upgrades

The B2B trade tool has been simplified and harmonised in numerous ways, including improved titles, options and check boxes. These small upgrades make it less clunky, and more user-friendly and coherent.

For example:

  • In the list of departure cities, we display the country’s ISO code. The default ISO code “XX” has been removed from the alternatives “Without transportation” and “Departure from port”.
  • The sale criterion used to be a dropdown “Select Box” even though there were only two possible options: search for products which did or did not have sale availability. This means one fewer click for travel agents during every search for on-sale products:

Before: 2 clicks

Before: 2 clicks
Now: 1 click
  • The titles of the date fields in the Hotel and Flights + Hotels forms are now different to distinguish more clearly between the “arrival date” (at the hotel) and the “departure date” (of the flight).

Thanks to other refinements we have:

  • made Tour Operators’ logos clearer.
  • adjusted spaces between two search blocks to improve legibility.
  • harmonised partners’ default titles.
  • standardised the titles and order of meal options.
  • made the default closure of the list of links to Tour Operators’ sites configurable.
  • configured a default value in the “duration in nights” field in the user profile.

Editing of credentials directly in DPCache

DPCache is the name of the Orchestra module responsible for calculating the availability of pre-packages. It processes millions of availability options per day and is a central module which numerous in-house staff work on regularly.

To make Producer and Project teams more responsive when credentials need to be changed, it is now possible to edit sources’ credentials directly via the interface.

Optimisation of pre-package component updates

As part of the production of pre-packages, a system now allows us to update pre-package components directly in the product data in the administration tool without waiting for it to re-import via DPCache.

For indirect bookings, these updates are instantly populated in the producer’s product database and are therefore populated very quickly in distributors’ indirect booking systems.

So that a DPCache update process that starts before the edit that caused the direct population does not overwrite this edit, a system that compares the recency of availability options has been implemented so that the most up-to-date information is always kept.

Automatic anonymisation

Under GDPR, manual anonymisation actions were already possible.

To automate this anomymisation process, a method has been created that enables Orchestra clients who might keep information on their end customers and prospects to set configurable periods determining when all customer information must be anonymised, based on their last booking date for example.

Anonymisation algorithms are deployed continuously in databases to ensure proper data protection compliance without the need for manual interventions.

Tracking of the Fluo service

An upgrade has been made to improve tracking of the Fluo service and ensure that data collected is genuinely representative of the service delivered to internet users or travel agents when they use the service.

Tracking is now triggered when the table is displayed comparing the insurance included with the method of payment and the insurance offered by the distributor.

Accommodation categories from FRAM

It is now possible to sell alternative categories of accommodation from the producer FRAM.

We have upgraded the connector so that accommodation categories can now be selected during the booking process. To do this, we reconstitute the possible splits and the categories available depending on the accommodation combinations sent by the FRAM connector.

Yield in indirect booking

In an indirect booking, the distributor’s back-office used to receive all price lines including the yield potential entered by the producer.

Now, the price and yield policies for indirect bookings are solely a matter for the producer and the distributor receives in its back-office only the overall price of the package and its options without details on the price lines, which are grouped.

Orchestra inter-module security and SSO

To make SSO links more secure, a login method has been blocked so that only the most secure login technologies are authorised.

Improvement of the calculation
of merged package availability

We have improved the method of calculating the prices and availability of merged products so that updates of these items are only triggered if one of the sub-products has been changed.

This resource-saving measure enables merged packages to be updated more frequently and therefore ensures greater price responsiveness for this increasingly widely used production type.

Improvement of the selection of insurance criteria

To make the selection of criteria more effective in the sometimes very long lists of available criteria, we have added a functionality allowing users to search for criteria in the “Types of criteria” and “Available criteria” blocks.

Selection of criteria and criterion values via the search bar.