Reviews of Tourwriter

"Great so far"

Pros: We have just recently started to use Tourwriter to see if it is a fit for our business. We have only been using it for a few weeks so far but are very impressed. It definately saves us time in creating the itineries for our trips in a clean and professional style.

Cons: We have not encountered any set backs in the software yet

"Terrible - More hassle than its worth"

Overall: Terrible. I cant believe i'm still trying to deal with them but once you've invested as much time and personal hours as we have its hard to go back. Don't make the same mistake we did and cut your loses before you even start. Find another system.

Pros: It works after many many many hours of implementation. I'm talking 12 months +

Cons: The product knowledge of the implementation team is terrible. It has taken us over 12 months to try and get the implementation complete and we were always timely in getting our tasks completed. The problem stems from an itinerary template we signed up for as one of their standard available simply did not work. Then they would not read emails or action them until weeks later this took almost 3 months to get something that should have been pretty much ready off the shelf. Then their allocation system did not work, once again delayed by implementation team not reading and actioning emails we sent noting the errors. Then the API would not send all the data they said it would. Once again no response or action to issues that were raised for months until they finally pulled their finger out and talked through the issues with us and finally they tested it and then they see that it doesnt work the way they say it was meant to and they finally make changes. When they decide to action some changes it can happen quickly but thats once things have been escalated almost as high as they can go. The entire system is better off as a result of our stuggles because quite simply many aspects simply did not work in a way that was logical to even a very small tour operator such as ourselves.

"My one-stop-shop for running my tour agency. "

Overall: My overall experience with Tourwriter has been excellent. Not only is it an invaluable product for a tour agency, the customer support they offer is top notch.

Pros: The product is easy to use and is constantly being improved by Tourwriter, introducing new features. I like that Tourwriter can do everything for me in one place, eliminating the need for multiple programs.

Cons: There is nothing I would consider a con about Tourwriter. A minor point, especially being in India where internet connection can be erratic, is possibly that there isn't an offline version. When I'm without internet or travelling on a long haul flight for example, I can't attend to my work in the way I did when using Word and Excel. However, this is a minor concern and I would never go back to those draconian days!

"After much research and years of use - THIS IS YOUR BEST OPTION!"

Overall: I own a small travel agency called CostaRicaTravelMarket. Most of my decisions are mapped on a grid. I will research fully, select the market options and grade each value proposition. This is the same process I followed when we decided to upgrade our itinerary management software and we hit a home run! The software if fantastic, versatile and very easy to use. I have to say the production of itineraries, reports, quotes, and pricing documents are very professional looking and efficiently produced. I have used it with FIT's and groups and the functionality is great. Definitely designed by people inside the field who understand fully the quirks and nuances our industry has! I have to say for us, it has fulfilled some CRM functions as well. It allows me to keep track of the tasks for each client, and it gives me great reports on supplier actionable lead times and payments. The implementation was wonderful! Alison is the most professional, courteous and thorough implementer and Account Manager ever. I was told the implementation could take anything between 2-3 weeks to a couple of months depending on my pace of response, as a lot of the actual customization they carry out will depend on the client's specific methods, supplier profile, data entry speed, etc. I was up and running in about 6 weeks. Agent presented me with a schedule on how the implementation would progress, all in a logical and efficient sequence. My timing in fulfillment of tasks determined the speed of implementation - on their side they were timely every time. I read some ones review below before writing mine, and I have to say I find it incredible to believe because from my own implementation, I can honestly say I was impressed at the team work they displayed and the flawless cooperation they provided from across the globe to help me advance in a speedy and efficient manner. I wanted my itinerary in a very specific way, I also wanted two other documents to create quotes and area suggestions. They created all three without me having to compromise on any change. I was in awe at how sometimes I felt I was asking for something that seemed impossible, yet agent would take on the challenge and come up with the way to get it done! Every time! I never heard a "oh sorry, no - that cannot be done...." So my final recommendation is you cannot go wrong with Tourwriter! Hands down this is the best alternative in the market and I strongly recommend it. You will not regret it.

Pros: The ease of use, the cooperation during implementation, their ability to recreate my wishes to a perfect itinerary that works with the industry quirks specific to my market. Finally, the system is never down!

Cons: A few steps in the data entry process could maybe be simplified, but nothing that is big.

"Convenience that saves time"

Overall: Experience was very helpful.

Pros: Ease of finding an itinerary, unlike others, the speed to make a reservation is incredible, in addittion to the fair price. The support team is very good.

Cons: Sometimes it happens to be a little slow, but not always.

"I have been frustrated with Tourwriter from the moment I transferred the initial payment."

Overall: The software is great my issue is with the implementation period

Pros: The software is great, exactly what is needed for my business however the whole setup leaves a lot to be desired. The whole setup process has been painfully slow and not designed with my business needs in mind. * From the moment I paid the setup costs I was expected to wait 2 weeks until tourwriter sourced an implementation manager. * Training is painfully slow, sticks to a script and in my experience at least 5 hours was a wasted, they did not judge my knowledge of similar systems and provided a rudimental explanation of task such as creating a folder in tourwriter - I have been using similar systems for 20 years I know I already know how to create a folder and they could see in my tourwriter that the folders were already organised. I have to think was it deliberate just to waste the hours of training? * I was told that I was not expected to use the system for daily business operations for 4 months even though I was paying full price for the licence, I find this ridiculous.

Cons: * Again the implementation of the itineraries has been painfully slow. I purchased 5 hours for the implementation of the itinerary to suit my business needs, after receiving my requests I was told it would be a total of 8 hours, now the itineraries are created in (what looks like) PHP coding. Having some knowledge of HTML I have been able to change text, colours sizes and perform basic tasks and I feel for an experienced user the tasks I asked tourwriter to undertake could be completed well within 5 hours, it seemed to me to be simple. To be fair to tourwriter stated they would not charge however I do feel that the coding came nowhere close to 8 hours so again it has made me question tourwriter, Also it is now 10 weeks since I bought tourwriter and I STILL do not have an itinerary designed especially for my business. I do feel that tourwriter work the training and implementation totally around the needs of the tourwriter business and NOT around the needs of the customer. The system itself is great however Tourwriter really need to focus on the customers needs, listen to their requirements and provide a usable system within at least 1 month not 4 months. At present I would not recommend tourwriter due to the continual issues arising from the implementation process.

"All in one place"

Pros: Keeps all my data in one place, can access online or offline.

Cons: The treatment of foreign currency as an 'inverse rate'

"broken promises and poor service"

Overall: My company purchased the software almost a year ago, and were told we would be up and running in 6 weeks. We are still waiting to be able to utilize the software to help us. We felt that the person training us on the services was rude and impatient with us, but continued to interface in hopes that the software would come together quickly. We have had nonstop contact with the IT team at TourWriter, and our itinerary still cannot be built as promised. Upon contacting the owner of TourWriter about our displeasure, he proceeded to blame our employee as the reason why the system was not up and running. We have invested thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours into this software and have seen no results and had no support from the TW team. This software is not worth the stress and hassle that it causes.

"Tour writer is very easy to learn and use. It has allowed us to do more work with fewer people."

Overall: The largest benefit has been the dramatic reduction in labor hours needed to produce a finalized itinerary.

Pros: There are numerous things we like about the software, but some of the major items: -Ease of itinerary building -Data analysis -Report flexibility & generation

Cons: Overall, there are very few things we dislike/like the least about the software. Our biggest problem was the delay of the markup to gross feature. This has recently been added.

"the ideal product for any size tour operator"

Overall: Surpassing a six figure revenue stream and still keeping our manual processes was becoming extremely cumbersome and error prone. I never realized a perfect software existed, that was tailor-made to fit a tour operators needs. Tourwriter is extremely efficient, familiar (looks just like MS Office) and easy to pick up. After everything is set up and implemented, the return comes in almost instantly. Our company has been using TourWriter over 5 years now, and I can't imagine how we used to do all of this by hand. Drag and drop itinerary creation, publishing proposal documents, booking supplier services, generating financial documents, its all automated. The only thing that's missing is a built in accounting module to link up to our QuickBooks, but we've seen software with this feature, and the price tag increases drastically. We have no problem sticking to the current export into QB method that's available here. Strongly recommended.

"Shamrock Vacations Quoting Software"

Overall: Since beginning researching and comparing the range of software that could best fulfill our current and future needs, we quickly determined that the Tourwriter significantly outshone the others in terms of reputation, affordability, and support. After testing Tourwriter, and with one to one support we began using Tourwriter in Jan 2013. In fact, in addition to fulfilling the requirements of our current situation, the product offers a number of supplementary capabilities that could prove useful down the road. We have access to additional bespoke reporting, at anytime. It is continually being developed, and developers are open to listening to what we as customers need from the software.

"Ahipara Luxury Travel"

Overall: Our experience with TW remains excellent on all fronts - the Database functionality works well feeding suppliers through to specific itineraries. The new publishing reports work well and the support that we have received from TW in creating new reports and customising TW for our use has been very good. Our main disappointment with TW is its limited online capability - we feel TW needs to move forward in making itineraries and data available online and also incorporate a map functionality so that clients can get a visual of where they are going in New Zealand

"Wonderful software"

Overall: TourWriter is a wonderful software for travel agencies. It has changed the way we do our job helping us saving time and being more efficient! The support and training has been wonderful. It took us a few months to implement the software and start working with it BAU but thanks to the training and support service this process has been easy. Thank you so much for making our work easier!!