Traveling to Africa Just Became a lot Easier

The travel industry has been revolutionized with the integration of advanced online booking technology and traditional services. Travelers have more control and access than ever before. Travel agencies and airlines have also benefited as well.

Before you start making your plans to visit Africa, consider using some of these technological advancements designed to make the entire process a breeze.

Automated reservation systems

Computerized Reservation Systems (CRS) have been around for decades. However, in recent years the automation of reservation systems has become a common practice and makes booking trips easier than ever. In fact, travelers can essentially use these systems to be their own travel agents in some ways. You can compare the different flights, ticket prices, and even make hotel accommodations. Online services like Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, and Kayak can offer today better prices for flights, hotels and rentals than almost any agency. They offer membership, VIP points and can be used to plan every moment of your trip.

In fact you can organize your entire trip from your home computer, Android, iPhone, or tablet thanks to a variety of mobile apps. In today's fast paced society, consumers want convenience and the ability to act quickly. Automated reservation systems allow for on demand booking. Customers can reserve their flight, hotels, and make online payments to secure their trip at any time of the day.

Movement towards mobile

Mobile web browsing, applications, and the general "on the move" culture that is dominating the world right now created a new demand for the travel industry. People want to be able to handle every aspect of traveling remotely.

There are a variety of mobile applications that have made traveling a lot easier. TripIt allows travelers to create a central hub for all of their travel plans including hotel room confirmations, flight plans, and setting your entire itinerary for each day you travel. The Trip Advisor and Hotels.com mobile apps give you all the features from the websites on your smart phone or tablet.

Mobile computing also makes handling payments with remote services easier. Certain activities such as tours aren't handled in an office, so making payments can be a little tricky. Customers can make payment via mobile applications or even with a credit card and attachable swipe devices if the merchant has the tools. The technology used by mobile payment processors integrates a variety of currencies so no matter where a person is traveling, they can make payments with ease.

Traveling to Africa just became a lot easier

One area in particular that has benefited from the technological advances in the travel industry is Africa. The continent has experienced tremendous economic growth in the past few years, and is attracting tourists from all over the world. Hotels, Airlines, and travel companies in Africa have realized the increased exposure and as a result have improved their infrastructure to make traveling much easier and convenient. Countries within the continent are making use of 3G and even 4G data speeds for mobile devices, and companies now have the proper infrastructure to take advantage of faster data speeds.

We are starting to see more providers in Africa integrating online reservation systems in their websites and via third party services such as Hotels.com, Agoda.com and others. They also understand better the power of online reviews and the impact they have on other travelers. An example of the importance of good reviews can be see in the list of the top travel destinations in Africa constructed by Trip Advisor based on users’ reviews.

Real time updates

Africa is a major travel destination during the Summer time, especially during migration season. That means that hotels and safaris can fill up quickly, ticket availability can change rapidly, and prices can fluctuate. Thankfully, airlines, hotels, and booking agencies can get real time updates so that customers are always aware of what the current availability is.

You can get up to the minute updates. Any time someone buys a ticket or makes a hotel reservation, the company's database is updated. Most e-commerce payment processing providers can integrate their platform into the hotel or travel agency's website so everything can be handled in one interface.

As Africa's economy continues to grow, online reservations will grow as well. Africa is working towards spreading the internet connection so that more hotels and other companies can access faster data speeds and make use of all the technological advances in the travel industry.

Eran Feinstein is the founder of 3G Direct Pay Limited.