The 9 best travel agency management software tools in 2024

It’s hard to imagine any event that posed as grave a threat to both businesses and people as the COVID-19 pandemic. The quarantines and travel restrictions enacted to help prevent the spread of the deadly virus hit the travel industry especially hard.

Thankfully, with travel restrictions now lifted, the industry has rebounded strongly as people have clamored to get out of town, visit faraway places, and explore the world a bit. That’s been a positive development not only for airlines, hotels, and tourist areas, but also for travel agencies. 

With the travel industry in the midst of such a strong recovery, travel agencies need to make smart and effective decisions about the technology they rely on to get their customers where they want to go. Management software that’s been specifically designed and configured for the travel industry is a must for agencies to stay competitive.

In this article, we’ll cover the importance of travel industry management software and the benefits it delivers, offering tips on how to choose the right software for your agency, and providing an overview of nine of the best options to help you make the right choice.

The importance of travel agency management software

Imagine juggling all your clients’ destinations, itineraries, and travel needs without the aid of technology.

To run a successful travel agency, you have to attend to a lot of details, from managing client bookings to coordinating with your vendors to managing your finances, all while meeting your clients’ expectations so they keep using your services. Analog approaches in this hectic, complex environment simply won’t cut it. You’ll end up with errors that you can’t fix and lost opportunities you can’t win back.

Fortunately, travel management software can automate many of your critical processes, which can help reduce the chance of errors, improve your team’s productivity, and free up time that you can use to accomplish the things technology can’t do: create stellar customer experiences and grow your business.

The advantages of using travel agency management software

When you implement the travel management software that best fits your needs, it can significantly improve your operations and deliver a number of benefits, including

• Increased efficiency: Proper automation of routine, repetitive tasks such as itinerary planning, invoicing, and some aspects of client communication allows you to get more done in less time, and it requires less direct oversight, freeing up everyone for client management, business development, and other deep-work tasks. 
• Better client experience: Some apps and platforms provide a self-service portal for booking, payment, and itinerary tracking, making the process easier for your clients.
• Centralized data management: With one unified platform, you can rest easy knowing that you can maintain your data — client information, bookings, payments and more — securely in a single place. 
• More revenue and profits: Native reporting tools empower agencies to track sales performance over time, identify popular packages and destinations, and then make better decisions based on hard data to maximize profits.

Not every platform will provide each of these benefits to the same degree, of course. The advantages you’ll get from a travel management software will also depend on how well it’s configured and incorporated into your daily workflows.

Tips for choosing the right software for your travel agency

Before choosing any kind of business software, especially for mission-critical tasks, it’s important to start by clarifying your needs and goals. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What core tasks does your agency need help with? For some, it might be bookings, while others may need more help monitoring and managing payment information. 
• What software is already in your tech stack? Any new platform or app should integrate well with your current system and its components, such as tools for CRM or accounting. 
• How scalable is the software? If your agency grows, will the software scale with you, or will you need to switch systems in the future?

You can find travel management software at a number of different price points, but the key is finding the tool that offers the best value while also meeting your agency’s needs. To that end, it’s smart to take full advantage of free trials before you make a final decision. That will help you ensure you select a user-friendly solution that meets your expectations.

Features to look for in travel agency management software

What features should you look for in management software for your travel agency? The answer depends largely on your business goals and the needs of your clientele, but there are a few common features and tools you’ll probably want to include.

Online reservation and booking management

When you use a solution that offers online management capabilities, both staff and clients can book travel packages, flights, hotels, and tours — all in real time. Look for a platform that provides access to multiple suppliers, features an intuitive interface and self-booking tools for your clients, and gives you and your clients the ability to handle cancellations and changes efficiently.

Payment collection

The easier it is for clients to pay you, the more consistent your revenue will be. Look for seamless payment processing that supports multiple payment options, such as credit cards and bank transfers. Platforms with secure transaction systems, automated invoicing, and late-payment reminders will help ensure your agency’s overall financial health.

Integration with other tools

Keep the tools you’ve already chosen to help power your travel agency in mind, then select a travel management software that integrates easily with these tools to save time and streamline operations. Look for open APIs or built-in integrations with popular platforms like QuickBooks, Mailchimp, and Salesforce.

9 of the best management software for travel agencies

Based on online reviews, user experience, pricing plans, and offered features, we’ve selected nine of the best travel agency management software platforms to help you take your travel agency to the next level.

1. Amadeus

• Key features: Amadeus presents a one-stop shop for travel agencies and corporate travelers. You can find options for any aspect of a travel package with Amadeus, including rental cars, trains, flights, hotels and ancillary travel services and products. It also offers a solution specifically designed for small agencies.
• Pros: It’s relatively easy to use, and clients like the breadth of information they can find for booking travel.
• Cons: It may take some time to set up the software and learn to use it.
• Best for: Amadeus is suited for agencies that mostly serve corporate clients.
• Plans and pricing: For pricing information and quotes, contact the Amadeus sales group.

2. Ezus

• Key features: Ezus is an all-in-one platform to help you manage and grow your travel agency or destination management company (DMC). Automation features help your staff save time and resources, while the integrated CRM and payment portal help you stay connected to your clients and get paid more quickly. Ezus also offers a customizable, branded client portal to provide easy access to travel information.
• Pros: Its intuitive user interface makes it easy to navigate, which can improve conversion rates.
• Cons: Ezus takes some time to learn in the beginning. It might be more than a small agency requires.
• Best for: It’s a good option for agencies looking for a single platform to handle most business operations tasks and functions.
• Plans and pricing: Plans are either $85 or $115 per month for a single user. Enterprise-level packages with access for more than 50 users are available for a quote. 

3. Jotform

• Key features: Jotform provides a robust array form templates that cover the different needs of travel agencies, from booking forms and travel consent forms to travel feedback and customer satisfaction forms. It also features tools to help you manage reservations, bookings, and payments. With Jotform, you can easily automate your workflows and embed your forms into your website as well as create contracts for your clients and capture signatures digitally for ease of documentation. Plus, with a wide array of integrations for everything from marketing to cloud storage, Jotform makes for an easy addition to your tech stack. 
• Pros: It provides advanced customization options, more than 200 integrations with apps like Salesforce, Mailchimp, and PayPal, and an easy form-creation process.
• Cons: It isn’t a dedicated travel platform, so it requires some customization. 
• Best for: It’s great for organizations of any size with the time and resources to configure it for business needs. It also offers an Enterprise plan for larger organizations.
• Plans and pricing: Jotform offers paid plans that range from $34 to $49 per month, as well as an entry-level free plan, each with different caps on form submissions and payment receipt. An Enterprise plan is also available for custom pricing.

4. Hero

• Key features: Hero offers destination-focused sellers and agencies a comprehensive solution for ticketing, payment, and booking. The platform helps you streamline and simplify your operations within a single system. The cloud-based solution helps optimize your in-store and online operations. 
• Pros: It’s a user-friendly tool that’s relatively easy to set up and configure. 
• Cons: You’ll have to contact Hero for a quote. 
• Best for: It’s a good option for small to medium-sized agencies. Larger agencies can take advantage of its API.
• Plans and pricing: Pricing is available upon request; contact the Hero sales team for information. 

5. FareHarbor

• Key features: FareHarbor is a powerful booking tool that goes beyond reservations and bookings, aiming to be a complete business management platform for tour operators and other travel industry companies. Key features include around-the-clock support, advanced reporting capabilities, website optimization services, and personalized advice for business growth. 
• Pros: It’s a scalable solution, and the user interface is visually appealing and easy to learn.
• Cons: Some users indicate that it’s not easy to customize the platform without contacting customer support. 
• Best for: It’s a good option for agencies and other travel businesses of all sizes.
• Plans and pricing: Contact FareHarbor for pricing information.

6. Manage Your Trip

• Key features: Manage Your Trip is a full-featured platform that assists travel agencies with handling common repetitive tasks, including creating itineraries, preparing quotes for prospective clients, and more. It provides back-office functionality such as customer relationship management and accounting support. 
• Pros: It’s designed to be an all-in-one solution for tour operators. 
• Cons: It offers fewer features than other platforms. It also doesn’t offer existing integrations with other software, though it does offer an API.
• Best for: It’s a good option for small to medium-sized agencies that are budget- conscious but want an integrated platform to handle the most common workflows.
• Plans and pricing: Manage Your Trip plans start at a monthly cost of $129 per user, per month (billed annually). It offers a free two-week trial as well.

7. Rezdy

• Key features: Rezdy is a leading online booking and tourism management solution that includes access to a large reseller network. Leading features include a booking engine that you can integrate into a website, exportable reports on customers, a mobile app, payment management tools, and more. 
• Pros: It includes free setup advice and a 21-day free trial. It also doesn’t lock you into a contract, giving you more flexibility. 
• Cons: Some users report it can be time-consuming to set up.
• Best for: It’s a good fit for many types of travel businesses, including resellers and tour operators.
• Plans and pricing: Rezdy pricing is based on a flat fee plus a percentage of all online bookings. Plans start at $49 per month plus a 2 percent fee for each booking. The percentage of the per-booking fee decreases with higher-tier plans. 

8. Travefy

• Key features: Travefy includes simple but powerful tools to help agencies and other travel professionals save time and attract more business by creating beautiful and easy-to-read client itineraries and proposals. It comes with over 100 supplier integrations, over 600 city guides, a live flights database, and CRM tools. 
• Pros: It features branded deliverables (quotes, itineraries, etc.) and sales tools to help close deals.
• Cons: Some customers say that the user interface could be more intuitive.
• Best for: It works well for travel advisors and agencies of most sizes.
• Plans and pricing: Pricing starts at $35 per month for one user when paid annually, and it includes access to booking, proposals, CRM, credit card and invoicing management, websites, and workflow automation tools. Licenses for additional users are available at $25 per month per user. 

9. Trawex Cloud Suite

• Key features: The assorted tools of Trawex Cloud Suite are designed to create a complete platform for travel agencies and other tourism-related service providers. These tools include CRM functionality, back-office systems, and booking engines for both B2C and B2B travel sales. 
• Pros: Users say the software is comprehensive and easy to use. 
• Cons: Users report that it’s expensive compared to other platforms.
• Best for: It’s a good solution for small to medium-sized travel agencies.
• Plans and pricing: For pricing and a demo, contact Trawex. 

The bottom line

Travel industry professionals are no doubt breathing a sigh of relief as both leisure and business travel have resumed, but to make the most of these trends, agencies need software they can rely on to get the job done. Given the breadth of choices available on the market, you’ll be able to find a platform that meets your needs and likely your budget as well. Don’t forget to take advantage of any free trial periods so you can make sure the program has the tools and functionality you need.