Mapping is a hotel data reflection process from our end to client end. Assuming that hotels are the goods we have in our inventory, what mapping is doing is actually delivering our product list to the client’s hands so that they would know what we have. Once the customer wants to buy something from clients, clients just take these lists out of the pocket( Certainly other lists from other suppliers) and call us to ask the prices and availability(Searching). Then clients would give the customer the best one they get and make orders (Booking).
Mapping is the base stone of the whole integration process. All Online Booking procedures following after are based on successful mappings. Hotels would remain unknown to clients forever if they are not mapped, not to mention anything else. Mapping is not always the problem; sometimes it’s a placement and price problem. The Goal of mapping is to follow-up with the customer on performance and understand the income customer gets by mapping. Some companies can use automatic mapping, but mapping by room type is a manual process.
Mapping has limitations for potential destinations, client restrictions (Is blocked), and manual mapping – implications. Technology departments will also need to pitch selling mapping and show the ROI of it by providing creative solutions to clients and IT companies alike. It’s important to check the gross on newly mapped hotels.
Mapping procedures
There are two major parts of mapping: Destination Mapping and Hotel Mapping. Destination Web Service Mapping- Destination Mapping is to deliver our destination tree information to the client and integrate them into the client’s own geographic architecture. Hotels later mapped are stored under specific categories. We match Destinations by Destination Name, Destination Code, GeoCodes, and Destination Attractiveness. The Haversine formula calculates the distance between two geocodes,r_earth≈6360 km; represented by Latitude and Longitude (decimal);
d=2∙r∙
arcsin(√(〖sin〗^2 (∅_2-∅_1 )+cos(∅_1)∙〖sin〗^2 (λ_2-λ_1 ) )
- Continent (South America)
- Country (Argentina)
- State (optional) – US, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Australia (Distrito Federal)
- City (Buenos Aires)
- City Location (optional) (Once)
- City (Buenos Aires)
- State (optional) – US, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Australia (Distrito Federal)
- Country (Argentina)
Hotel ID Mapping – Hotel Mapping is the major part of the mapping. Generally, there are two methods to map: By loading our static PDS data or Using GetHotelsByDestinations WS. Either way has advantages and disadvantages. We would recommend using WS to map the hotels. In the final step they run the GetHotelDeatails to load all images, locations, remarks..etc details for hotels mapped. Unique Parameters include GeoCodes, Address, Contact Details, and Hotel ID. Non-Unique Parameters include Hotel Name, Hotel Chain, and Hotel Location.
Supportive Parameter:
- Other Supplier’s ID
- PDS (Not supported)
- Geo Codes
- Matching Tool: Tourico sends the client a template. The client sends his inventory to Tourico, with the given format.
Essential Parameters: Client’s Hotel ID, Hotel Name, Address, City (and State), Country, Contact Info, and Geo Codes.
Supportive Parameters:
-
- Old Mapping
- Zip Code
- Other Supplier’s IDs
Recommended Mapping Flow
Pull Cities and Hotels by using Destination Web Service methods. We want all clients to use Destination WS because it is updated; you can track how many request lines have been done; Why is it better?
GetDestination() –GetHotelsByDestinatons() — GetHotelDeatailsV3()
Mapping tools
- PDS- Static files in FTP; everyday; Csv file – comma separated file; simple text file that you can see separated by columns
- Destination WS
- Data Warehouse
- DOTs database
Hotel Touch
If this hotel was requested by any method. Determines client hotel “touch” logic by tracking following API requests from clients inside Data Warehouse DB:
- SearchByHotelId – when a single hotel is searched
- GetHotelDetails
- GetClxPolicy
- Book – by created reservation
A hotel can be searched, but not touched; if it is mapped it should be touched; we just care that the hotel is touched. The system must recognize that our hotel is matched with its hotel id.
Hotel “touches” in DW
- Agg.HotelSearchBySingleId – searches by hotel ID one ID requested only (daily)
- HotelDetailsRequest – show request per client and hotel
- GetCancellationPoliciesRequest
- Agg.CheckAvailabilityAndPrices
- ReservationWSItem
DOTS
An indicator of hotel status per client that helps us understand how the client is working to see if they are mapping
- Black DOT – Hotel that was not touched for last 12 months; Is potential = 1; I allowed = 4
Some clients wrapping – Matching
Destination code vs. Other Code
Very service conscious and more investment
Searches on Italians (Google Destinations)
Argentina Some clients will only sell what gets good ratings on TripAdvisor.
- White DOT – Hotel that was Black DOT but was touched; White Dots No Restrictions
- Swap- Black dot from white dot per week; -1 white to black; 1 black to white
- All hotels start with black dots and then monitor search
- On a weekly basis get from Juniper what hotels are mapped
Mapping Use Cases
If client searches by the following method, what mapping is mandatory for him:
- In the case of SearchHotelByID? GetHotelsbyDesstination is mandatory (CheckAvailabilityandPrice considered as SearchByHotelID)
- In the case of SearchByDestinationIds? Destination is mandatory
- In the case of SearchHotels? GetDestination
Mapping Dots Module
- Allows you to check the mapping situations of clients. Hotels mapped or not mapped are read as ‘1’ or ‘0’; Shows client status with hotel touch
- Black Dots-Haven’t booked or researched; Updated every 12 months
- Dot_Beta blacks some hotels for agencies based on certain countries, exclusive agencies, revenue management, and parity issue
- Hotels mapped 1-year x Potential Hotels = Expected Gross 2015 (AVG. INCOME)
- Hotwire never mapped hotels until recently
- Dots utilized Microsoft Cube to extract this data
- Biggest Disadvantage of Dots Module: When a customer is searching by destination; the hotel can be colored as unmapped; can be mapped, but not searched
- Dynamic Report-Hotels you want to map; Mapped but not selling -> Grey Dot
- Check hotels by a city to see why there is a decrease in compared to new white dots compared with gross; not always just price for the decrease
- Effective Dots -> low search in destinations (small destinations); Maybe they aren’t searching right (star rating, etc.)
Mapping Effectively
- Is allowed -> restriction by the client
- 0-All; 1-Destination; 2-Business Restrictions; 4-All\
- Mapping coverage should be more than 50%
- Look at black dots and potential hotel for the customer; the potential that the hotel is white
Why hotel activity and not mapping
- If the client does not search by hotel id
- If client search by hotel id but sends multiple hotel ID’s
- If the client cache data and does not do HotelDetails request
- If the client maps on the room type level
- Examples:
- B2S search by destination Id and does not map anything
- T4W clients. Clients searches by destination Id and hotel details caching is done by virtual credentials of T4W and not by clients credentials
- Travel Explorer does not show hotels with optional supplements
Troubleshooting
Errors on requests – identify the issue:
➢ Case Sensitive
➢ Incompatible open and closed
➢ Missing mandatory fields
➢ Order of nodes
➢ Illegal characters
➢ Paste dates
➢ Not exist Enum values
➢ Not exist hotel IDs
Investigate logs:
➢ Log viewer
➢ IIS Logs
➢ Windows Event logs
Call stack
Demo:
Debugging exception handlings in code
Performance investigations
Monitoring
Computing (nice to have?)
CPU:
- Memory
- File system
- Security
- Network
- Storage
- Virtualization
American Army created the Internet as an infrastructure; then universities joined, then commercial, then all the others. Internet-network of networks; every network is connected, but managing itself. Email, FTP, Telnet-opening machine and sending commands to another computer. Telnet (has its own port number) will not work because of security, or someone is not existing; just a global connection tool. Your browser is not a general tool; it is a tool for HTTP. Port number is the mailbox for people inside the building. List of numbers and Mac address is a physical address in the adapter. How do you find your IP? 192.168.200.61=2 to the 8th power, the total is 2 to 32nd power. Click on Internet Access->Open Network and Sharing Center->Local Area Connection->Details. How do you find your external IP: Address of Router. LIST IP is found through the IANA-Internet Assigned Number Authority; manage the IP’s. Organizations for each continent to pull ISP to provide IPs. You have to pay for static IP’s because it provides benefits and some type of service externally. You can buy one or multiple IP addresses; It is very difficult to get IPV4 addresses. Externally you can use NAT to have multiple IP internal addresses but makes it look like one external. You must have one local internal IP address and If it’s a dynamic IP address, you can tell. Why would you be interested in a specific IP address of a company?
