Founded in 1971, Itermar Tour Operator is one of the main Italian operators, targeting clients with the most diverse requirements, both for groups and individuals.
In 2003 more than two hundreds and thirty six thousands of clients travelled with the organization of Itermar.
Publication characteristics
The catalogues of a Tour Operator represent marketing tools of primary importance.
Therefore it is vital to organize the information inside an aesthetically appealing publication that is made of text, tables and freely laid out images.
The main goal is to present the catalogues at BIT (International Tourism Exchange), a fair happening every year in winter.
During the year though there are also other fairs that may be of interest to Tour Operators.
Therefore catalogue maintenance is very frequent and publication deadlines are strict.
Limitations of the traditional approach
The great variability of the page layout and the presence of many tables are the main difficulties that a traditional publishing operator has to face.
The client often intervenes to make corrections, even at the very last minute, and data includes very many prices, that have to be accurate, of course.
The operator thus requires the client to provide data in ready-to-layout tables, maybe in Excel format.
This way the nuisance goes back to the client, who needs to face the complexity of his database.
The system may not provide features for exporting tables out of the box, therefore it is necessary to manually cut and paste numbers.
This is not only a huge waste of time, but it can also compromise the reliability of the result.
Another crucial point is pictures: a Tour Operator deals directly with its clients, and the catalogue is its primary means for promoting their image.
Therefore a high level aesthetics is required and criteria for laying out the pictures are very important.
These can be placed and replaced several times during the working, but in the traditional approach it is only the publisher who can actually carry on this task, and he does it according to his own judgement.
The client can only wait to see the draft and then, if he does not like the result, request a change.
This communication model is slow, expensive and not effective.
The provided services
Itermar
The approach taken by Pragma 2000 consists of separating the processes of content management, picture layout and actual publishing.
The client handles the content through his own company database (AS400, Oracle).
With a procedure developed by Pragma 2000, the data is automatically exported with no manual intervention like cut and paste.
This way the content integrity is guaranteed.
Pragma 2000 has also developed a tool that is specifically targeted to the management of pictures: a listing of all the pictures available in the archive is generated so that the client can easily chose which one he wants on which pages of the catalogue.
He can also chose the location by referring to a simple coordinate system, thus becoming completely autonomous in his decision.
The Page On Demand service can then be used to check on the progress through a simple web interface: at any time the client can obtain a draft of one or more pages of his catalogue, and a PDF is automatically generated in few minutes.
This way he can immediately verify the impact of a change in the text or in the images.
The task of Pragma 2000 is to ensure that the automation procedure conforms to the requirements, according to the details of the aesthetics agreed with the client.
It is important to note that the system does not impose any a-priori limitations on the kind of layout that is possible to obtain, and the actual result comes out of the continuous collaboration between Pragma 2000 and the client.
The results
Itermar
The result is a publication with accurately up to date contents, that are laid out in a reliable manner, with high quality aesthetics.
Comparing to a manual process this method gains in precision, because the page elements are not laid out manually.
The client only needs to pay attention to the way his content looks, and tweak it according to his judgement, through the Page On Demand service.
The final publication is diverse, elegant, up to date and reliable.
Furthermore, the database is synchronized with it.
This way the client maintains control over the content, thus protecting the privacy of his publication.
The catalogues of a Tour Operator represent marketing tools of primary importance.
Therefore it is vital to organize the information inside an aesthetically appealing publication that is made of text, tables and freely laid out images.
The main goal is to present the catalogues at BIT (International Tourism Exchange), a fair happening every year in winter.
During the year though there are also other fairs that may be of interest to Tour Operators.
Therefore catalogue maintenance is very frequent and publication deadlines are strict.
Limitations of the traditional approach
The great variability of the page layout and the presence of many tables are the main difficulties that a traditional publishing operator has to face.
The client often intervenes to make corrections, even at the very last minute, and data includes very many prices, that have to be accurate, of course.
The operator thus requires the client to provide data in ready-to-layout tables, maybe in Excel format.
This way the nuisance goes back to the client, who needs to face the complexity of his database.
The system may not provide features for exporting tables out of the box, therefore it is necessary to manually cut and paste numbers.
This is not only a huge waste of time, but it can also compromise the reliability of the result.
Another crucial point is pictures: a Tour Operator deals directly with its clients, and the catalogue is its primary means for promoting their image.
Therefore a high level aesthetics is required and criteria for laying out the pictures are very important.
These can be placed and replaced several times during the working, but in the traditional approach it is only the publisher who can actually carry on this task, and he does it according to his own judgement.
The client can only wait to see the draft and then, if he does not like the result, request a change.
This communication model is slow, expensive and not effective.
The provided services
Itermar
The client handles the content through his own company database (AS400, Oracle).
With a procedure developed by Pragma 2000, the data is automatically exported with no manual intervention like cut and paste.
This way the content integrity is guaranteed.
Pragma 2000 has also developed a tool that is specifically targeted to the management of pictures: a listing of all the pictures available in the archive is generated so that the client can easily chose which one he wants on which pages of the catalogue.
He can also chose the location by referring to a simple coordinate system, thus becoming completely autonomous in his decision.
The Page On Demand service can then be used to check on the progress through a simple web interface: at any time the client can obtain a draft of one or more pages of his catalogue, and a PDF is automatically generated in few minutes.
This way he can immediately verify the impact of a change in the text or in the images.
The task of Pragma 2000 is to ensure that the automation procedure conforms to the requirements, according to the details of the aesthetics agreed with the client.
It is important to note that the system does not impose any a-priori limitations on the kind of layout that is possible to obtain, and the actual result comes out of the continuous collaboration between Pragma 2000 and the client.
The results
Itermar
Comparing to a manual process this method gains in precision, because the page elements are not laid out manually.
The client only needs to pay attention to the way his content looks, and tweak it according to his judgement, through the Page On Demand service.
The final publication is diverse, elegant, up to date and reliable.
Furthermore, the database is synchronized with it.
This way the client maintains control over the content, thus protecting the privacy of his publication.
Projects
Tour Operator catalogues
Itermar
- text of medium length containing several graphic elements
- complex layout with pictures freely distributed on the page
- intense usage of tables containing hotel and touring informations
- commercial data and prices subject to frequent updates
Service requirements:
- precision
- reliability
- information privacy
- high quality graphics
- considerable time reduction
- simplification of manual draft correction
Clients:
Business & Holidays (RSM) Caravantours (RN) Eden Viaggi (PS) Firma Tour Operator (RN) Itermar (RN) Podium (RSM) Viaggi Generali (RA)