Ludvig Olsson has worked with VISIT customers for ten years, most of them using several products at once. Packaging has been part of that work from the start. Citybreak has offered it since 1999. The team calls it dynamic packaging.
He was joined by two product managers. Myrta Zemp has been with Citybreak for eight months. Stefan Vasic is new to the role but has worked on Citybreak as an engineer for about five years. “If Ludvig ever promised that we’ll somehow get features done,” Stefan said, “we are the somehow.”
Why packages
Ludvig looked at it from two sides. For guests, a well-built package makes the right choice easy. For operators, it raises the value of each booking. Guests who pay before the trip still have money to spend when they arrive.
It only works with good supply. Earlier that day, Ludvig and Stefan had given a session on integrations, and Ludvig called them the foundation. When accommodation, transport and activities are properly integrated, packages can sell in volume and run largely on their own. Guest data reaches every supplier. The money is reconciled, so everyone knows who gets paid what. That, he said, is what sets Citybreak apart.
No more dead ends
Stefan described a familiar problem with ferry packages. A guest picks a destination and a date, moves to the next step, and is told there is no availability. They have to go back and start again.
Citybreak already had availability calendars for accommodation and activities. Now there is one for transport. Select a destination and a route, and the calendar shows which dates have sailings, based on cached timetables. It is live today.
The next step is real availability for the whole package, shown in the search itself. If a hotel, activity or sailing is full, the date simply will not appear.
Stefan also thinks dynamic packages are not yet dynamic enough. Today the parts tend to fall on the same day. The team is exploring packages whose parts can fall on different days: a hotel first, a ferry three days later, then another stay somewhere else. The hard part is pricing. It still has to be one package price, not a list of components.
Simple on the surface
“Packaging and integrations are very complex,” Myrta said. “But your guests should never see that complexity.”
A VISIT initiative called Search and Book puts the guest’s view at the center, and search is where it begins. The best searches in the market look simple, but they already hint at what is possible. Myrta has inherited a long list of requests, such as filters for accessible rooms or pet-friendly stays. Instead of crowding the search, the team will test where in the journey each one belongs.
Setup is getting easier too. Commission per article on iTicket booking flow products is in pilot. Adding those products to dynamic packages is on the way, so you will no longer need duplicate products. Better search also means work behind the scenes, on caching, pricing logic and loading times.
Where to start
If you sell ferry or transport packages, ask your VISIT contact about the transport availability calendar. Then look at where guests leave your package search today.