This article includes step-by-step instructions on how to configure your trips, packages, and resources to get the most from Inventory Management on WeTravel. With inventory management, WeTravel empowers you to optimize the availability and utilization of your resources.
Let's look at how this works for accommodations, first exploring a simple example and then a more complex one.
🟢 Simple scenario: one room type and several packages
Let’s start with a simple scenario. You will create a program for one week in Izmir. You have an inventory of 15 double rooms, that can be booked with a double occupancy or a single occupancy configuration.
📦 Create your package for each accommodation option
You will create specific packages for each accommodation option you want to offer to your customers (double occupancy, single occupancy, shared rooms, dorm-style, etc.).
Start crafting your trip with our trip builder.
Create your double and single occupancy packages.
Publish your trip.
As a result, you created a trip page with two packages to choose from:
🛏️ Create your resources
Within the Inventory section, you can manage your resources. With this first version of Inventory Management, resources are limited to accommodations.
Click on “Create New Resource“.
Define the proprieties for this resource. By default, the resource type in this feature version is Accommodation. The name of the resource is "Izmir - Double Rooms". There are a total of 15 rooms available, with a capacity of two people per room. This resource is only available for private use and cannot be shared between different bookings or participants. (You can refer to the screenshot below for more information).
A new resource has been successfully created and added to your resource list. You can now view it in the trip builder.
🔗 Connect room types to each package
Now that your packages and resources are created, you can connect them. Once connected, the availability of your packages will be based on your room inventory.
In the trip builder's pricing section, ensure that you click "Yes" next to "Connect resource to package?" for each package.
Select what type of accommodation this package offers (private or shared) and choose the room type(s) accordingly. In the third step, select the package occupancy and click "Connect".
Your resource is now connected. The availability of your packages will be switched to “Based on resources availability.“
If you wish to, you can further restrict the availability of a package. For instance, you might want to limit your "Full-week program - Single occupancy" to 5 packages and ensure you have enough inventory left for double occupancy packages.
IMPORTANT: Your customers will not see any resources attached/connected to the package they book, as this information is only available and fully managed by you, the trip organizer.
🟠 More complex scenario: multiple room types and sharing options
You are planning a retreat in Colombia and would like to offer various room configurations to accommodate different group sizes. You have an inventory of 20 rooms, including single, double, double queen, and triple rooms. These rooms can be booked in different configurations such as single occupancy, double occupancy, shared for adults (two people per room), shared for girls (three to four people per room), or shared for boys (also three to four people per room).
📦 Create your package for each accommodation option
You will create specific packages for each accommodation option you want to offer to your customers.
Start building your trip with our trip builder.
Create your packages:
Full-week program with double occupancy accommodation
Full-week program with single occupancy accommodation
Full-week program for adults with shared room (two adults per room)
Full-week program for girls with shared room (three to four girls per room)
Full-week program for boys with shared room (three to four boys per room)
Publish your trip.
As a result, you have created a trip page that offers five different packages to choose from.
🛏️ Create your resources
Within the Inventory section, you can manage your resources. With this first version of Inventory Management, resources are limited to accommodations.
Click on “Create New Resource“.
Define the proprieties for each room type. In this version of the feature, the default resource is Accommodation. For example, you can name the first room "Nuqui - Double Room". You have a total of five rooms, each with a capacity of two people. This resource is for private use only and cannot be shared between different bookings or participants.
Another resource is “Nuqui - Single room“. You have a total of four rooms, each with a capacity of one. This resource is also Private only.
The next one is the “Nuqui - Triple room“ resource. You have a quantity of one with a capacity of three people. This resource can be configured as “Shared“. You will include this room type only for your girls' and boys' packages. You then define two sharing options: “Shared girls“ and “Shared boys, “both with a capacity of three.
Finally, create your “Nuqui - Double queen room“. You have a total of ten rooms, each with a capacity of four people. This resource can be configured as “Shared“. You will include this room type only for 3 of our packages. You have to define three sharing options: “Shared girls“ and “Shared boys“ (both with a capacity of four), and "Shared adults“ (with a capacity of two).
Once you create resources, they should appear in your resource list and be visible in the trip builder.
🔗 Connect room types to each package
Now that your packages and resources are created, you can connect them. Once connected, the availability of your packages will be based on your room inventory.
In the trip builder's pricing section, ensure that you click "Yes" next to "Connect resource to package?" for each package.
Select what type of accommodation this package offers (private or shared) and choose the room type(s) accordingly. In the next step, select the package occupancy and click "Connect".
Your resources are now connected. The availability of your packages will be switched to “Based on resources availability.“
A specific room can only be booked by one configuration. For instance, once you have one “Shared girls“ reservation allocated to one room, only new bookings from packages with the “Shared girls“ option will be assigned to this room.
👀 See bookings coming in and monitor your inventory automatically
As customers book the trips, room and package availability will be automatically calculated.
Let your customers book their trips and let the system adjust availability.
You can now easily see which trips a resource is associated with, as well as its quantity and capacity. Learn more about the Resource List here.
Use the Resource Calendar to track how many rooms are left for a given set of dates. Learn more about Resource Calendar here.
IMPORTANT: Your customers will not see any resources attached/connected to the package they book, as this information is only available and fully managed by you, the trip organizer.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What access will my team members have?
Team members who have been granted "Allow team member to create trips on my behalf" permission can access the Resource List and Resource Calendar under the Inventory menu as well as create, edit and delete resources on behalf of the main organizer. Team members with access to "Edit a trip" can edit the trip, including the resource connections in the trip builder. Team members with the permission "Issue refunds & change bookings" can add, edit and remove resources for a specific booking.
Can I edit or add the resource to a specific booking?
Yes! To do so, go to your trip dashboard and choose "Edit or Add Resource" from the drop-down menu:
If the package your customer booked has no resources connected to it, you will first need to connect resources to the package in your trip builder.
After selecting a resource, click "Confirm New Resource" to update the booking. No email notifications will be sent to your customers after updating or adding the resources.
Please keep in mind that any changes made to resources in the trip builder will only impact the new bookings. The instructions above will help adjust the resources allocated to existing bookings.
How can I keep track of overbookings?
Please be aware that switching packages with allocated resources for specific customers may result in overbooking resources. When the resources are overbooked for any given date, a red tag labelled "Overbooked" will appear in your Resource Calendar:
You can click on the resource availability and make necessary changes/edits to the resource if needed.
Tip: To easily view the dates for which the resource is overbooked, click on the "Overbooked" tag. This will display a 30-day calendar starting from the first day of overbooking. 💡
Can I connect multiple resources to one package?
You can select multiple resources for the same package, but only one will be used as the primary resource, while the rest will serve as backups if the primary resource is fully consumed. This is how it will appear on your trip builder:
Why can't I view all my resources while attempting to add a resource for a specific booking?
You will first need to connect the resources to the participant's booked package in your trip builder to view and add the resource to the booking. Alternatively, you can switch your participants to a different package that already has the correct resource attached
Please contact us at info@wetravel.com if you encounter any issues or want to share any feedback.