Own website or a listing on someone else's platform: what travel agents should ask

A travel agent who wants to sell online has two broad choices. List your services on a platform that belongs to someone else, or run a booking website of your own. Neither is right for everyone. This guide does not compare named companies. It gives you four questions to ask of any channel, and what an Idea Holiday website answers to each.

Whose name does the customer see?

On your own website the customer sees your agency name, logo, colours and contact details. You choose from five designs: Classic, Modern, Elegant, Luxe or Vibrant, and all of them use your branding. The site opens on a free address of the form yourname.tripzoy.com, and you can use a domain you own as well. For agents that is free.

Who sets the price?

You do. You choose which products to sell and your markup on each. Customers see the net price plus your markup as one price. Your net fares, your markup, your bank details and airline booking references are never shown on the public site.

Who knows the customer?

On your website, the people who book are your customers. They can sign in with a code sent by email, in your website's name, to see their bookings, save travellers and ask you to cancel a booking. Enquiries from your site go to an inbox that you manage, and customers who fill in the checkout but do not pay are listed so that you can follow them up by call, WhatsApp or email.

Who handles payment, invoices and cancellations?

• Payment: by default customers pay through Idea Holiday checkout and nothing is taken from your wallet. You can add your own Cashfree or Razorpay account instead, so customers pay you directly.
• Invoices: customers get a booking confirmation and a payment receipt in your name. Travel agents with a verified GSTIN can switch on GST invoices in their own name, with credit notes when a booking is cancelled.
• Cancellations: you cancel from your booking pages. The hotel's or airline's refund goes to your wallet, and you refund your customer.
• Refused bookings: if the hotel or the airline refuses a paid booking, the customer is refunded in full.

What a website does not do for you

A website gives customers a place to book. It does not bring them to you on its own. Every website comes with tools that help people find you: destination pages, a blog, Google search settings, Google Analytics and Meta Pixel settings, and visitor statistics. You still have to share the link and write the content.

Which choice fits you?

If your customers already know you and book through you, your own website puts that relationship online under your name. If you have no customers yet, a website alone will not create them. You can start with the 7-day free trial, which needs a verified PAN and no card, and see how your own customers use the site before you decide on a plan.

Common questions

Can my own sub-agents book on my website?

Only if you switch it on. By default your website is for your own customers. You can switch sub-agent booking on or off at any time.

Do customers need a password?

No. Customers sign in with a code sent by email. An account belongs to your website only.

What happens when my plan ends?

Your site stops taking new bookings. Customers can still look up their bookings and your settings are kept. Renew and booking is back at once.