The travel advisor industry is notoriously outdated when it comes to technology. Basic tasks – like booking hotels or collecting commissions – are often done with piecemealed tools (and sometimes, the tech is even nonexistent). At Fora, we didn’t see a viable solution, so we built one.
At Virtuoso Travel Week (one of the biggest events in the travel advisor industry), we unveiled our integrated booking platform. The tool is a major upgrade to the travel advisor workflow, and it allows advisors to seamlessly browse, quote and book trips from their computer or on-the-go via their smartphones.
It’s all about the ease of this tooling. We know travel advisors are busy, and our booking platform streamlines their workflow. It negates the need for countless website tabs open, comparing different hotels and partner perks… Fora’s new technology allows advisors to go from research to booking with just a few clicks.
On the booking platform, advisors can search by specific hotel or browse by destination, comparing preferred partner hotels in real-time with crystal-clear visibility into Fora’s preferred rates and perks. The booking platform is connected to Fora’s Vault, a secure and seamless tool for payment card storage and collection. When advisors are ready to make a booking, they are able to securely add client payment information to lock down the reservation, all without ever leaving their Fora Advisor Portal.
Fora's hotel booking platform
Our tech team brought the vision for the booking platform to life based on a feedback loop with our network of advisors, as well as insight from my co-founder Henley Vazquez, who is also a seasoned travel advisor.
“Fora’s booking platform is the tooling I dreamed about in my years as a travel advisor,” Henley said.“I’m a firm believer that being a travel advisor is the best job ever, and Fora’s tech and tooling makes a travel advisor’s role that much easier — and fun.”
To give advisors more insight into a specific property, we’re developing content that is linked to hotel listings within the booking platform. It is powered by Fora’s central supplier database, so advisors get a transparent view that makes it easy to compare listings. For example, Fora’s bookings data is linked, and it shows Fora Advisors how many times a property has been booked by their fellow advisors. In the future, proprietary data (such as traveler and advisor reviews and related training sessions) will be available in the booking platform. We’re taking the mystery out of search and discovery for advisors.”
To power the booking platform, we partnered with Travelport, a leading GDS company, as our first integration partner.
“Travelport and Fora are a perfect match — both companies are focused on driving the travel industry to innovate, and modernizing the overall travel retail experience for every traveler,” said Dan Godsell, Head of New Business & Partnerships–Americas at Travelport. “With Travelport+, Fora’s users will gain access to a wide range of travel content from multiple sources, so that their travelers will have a wide range of options to choose from when booking their trips.”
The alpha release of Fora’s booking platform was unveiled to select Fora Advisors just prior to Virtuoso Travel Week 2023. All Fora Advisors will gain access to the booking platform next month. The alpha version includes a browse and book function for Fora’s 6,000 preferred partners, and additional features will follow in the fall months.
This next step is part of Fora’s larger vision for our tech platform because it brings together all of our tooling, and it’s only the start. Subsequent features will bring online all the 100,000+ hotels available through the GDS. In 2024, we’ll look at cruises, transportation, activities and insurance, creating a one-stop shop to seamlessly browse and book travel.
Our vision is to lead the way in developing tooling for advisors, and we’re thrilled that the booking platform has been so well-received by our network of advisors.
“Fora’s booking platform is amazing! The traditional way of pulling hotel rates is so time-intensive,” Natalie Kurtzman, a Fora Advisor and one of the early users of the booking platform said. “I cannot wait to see all of these features continue to roll out. A big thanks to the Fora HQ team for all of the incredible work that will help me scale my travel business.”
