How to Use Resources and Resource Groups
While the purpose of resources is to manage transportation, guides or accommodation, resources can be also used to manage product capacity/availability.
Learn more about availability in our article on Availability Management.
Grouping resources together enables you to share resources across multiple different products or assign multiple resources to the same product.
In the Ventrata dashboard, go to Products > Resources.
Press the + New Resource button.
Enter resource name.
You may include type, reference code, location of the resource or number of available seats to easily differentiate your resources, especially if you are managing a large amount of resources.
Tick the 'Multi-destination' checkbox if the resource is shared across multiple destinations.
Tick the 'Seating' checkbox if the resource offers seating arrangement.
Tick the 'Open' checkbox to keep the resource open for booking.
If the resource is closed, products with the assigned resource group of the resource will not be bookable.
Enter the capacity or keep infinity if you have no capacity restrictions for the resource.
If you plan to use resources with your products/options, we recommend setting the capacity on the resource (if applicable) rather than on the products/options.
Enter the cost of the resource and select the currency (optional).
Cost is provided for the tour. For example, a bus with 10 seats costs 200 EUR for a tour. The price of each seat will be then included in the booking, so the price of a booking for 4 persons will be higher by 40 EUR (10 EUR for each of the 4 seats). You may opt to leave the field empty and include the cost of the resource in the price of the product.
Press the Create Resource button.
To assign a resource to a product, you need to create a resource group.
In the Ventrata dashboard, go to Products > Resources.
Press the Resource Groups button.
In the new window, press the New Resource Group button.
Enter name of the resource group.
Tick the checkboxes that apply to your resource group:
Exclusive - enable to allow only one booking at a time
When ticked, if a booking is made using a resource in the resource group, that resource will not be available for the duration of the booked tour.
Shared - enable to book different products with shared resources
Overlaps - enable to allow bookings with different departure times
This is useful when you have a product that makes several stops at different tour times, where some people get on and some get off.
Split booking - enable to split a booking across multiple resources
Under ideal circumstances bookings are assigned to one resource. However, if the capacity of resources that allow split booking is lower than the number of tickets in the booking, the booking will be split across the assigned resources. For example, Resource A is at 15/20 capacity, Resource B is at 21/25 capacity and a booking of 6 is made, the booking will be split between the two resources.
Prefer together - enable placing bookings into the same resource(s) if possible
Enter a time interval if your resources require, for example, cleaning (buses, taxis) or rest (horses) after a tour.
If an interval is set, Ventrata will not assign a booking to that resource immediately after the tour ends, but adds that extra time as set here.
Assign products to your resource group.
You can also assign resource groups to products from the product detail. Either method will automatically update both the product and resource group record.
Assign resources to your resource group.
Press the Update Resource Group button.
The configuration set on the resource group determines how the resource behaves on the product. For instance, there are multiple resources assigned to a tour time or date with a capacity of 10, 15 and 20, and the Split Booking option IS NOT checked. The capacity for that tour time or date takes the largest capacity of all the resources assigned, which is 20.
If the Split Booking option IS checked, the capacity will be the sum of the 3 resources assigned to that day/tour, which is 45.
You cannot have greater capacity than the resource assigned to a particular date or tour time, but you can assign a lower capacity on the product level. This can be done by selecting the date or tour time, and setting the capacity.
Learn more about availability in our article on Availability Management.
Grouping resources together enables you to share resources across multiple different products or assign multiple resources to the same product.
Create a Resource
In the Ventrata dashboard, go to Products > Resources.
Press the + New Resource button.
Enter resource name.
You may include type, reference code, location of the resource or number of available seats to easily differentiate your resources, especially if you are managing a large amount of resources.
Tick the 'Multi-destination' checkbox if the resource is shared across multiple destinations.
Tick the 'Seating' checkbox if the resource offers seating arrangement.
Tick the 'Open' checkbox to keep the resource open for booking.
If the resource is closed, products with the assigned resource group of the resource will not be bookable.
Enter the capacity or keep infinity if you have no capacity restrictions for the resource.
If you plan to use resources with your products/options, we recommend setting the capacity on the resource (if applicable) rather than on the products/options.
Enter the cost of the resource and select the currency (optional).
Cost is provided for the tour. For example, a bus with 10 seats costs 200 EUR for a tour. The price of each seat will be then included in the booking, so the price of a booking for 4 persons will be higher by 40 EUR (10 EUR for each of the 4 seats). You may opt to leave the field empty and include the cost of the resource in the price of the product.
Press the Create Resource button.
To assign a resource to a product, you need to create a resource group.
Create a Resource Group
In the Ventrata dashboard, go to Products > Resources.
Press the Resource Groups button.
In the new window, press the New Resource Group button.
Enter name of the resource group.
Tick the checkboxes that apply to your resource group:
Exclusive - enable to allow only one booking at a time
When ticked, if a booking is made using a resource in the resource group, that resource will not be available for the duration of the booked tour.
Shared - enable to book different products with shared resources
Overlaps - enable to allow bookings with different departure times
This is useful when you have a product that makes several stops at different tour times, where some people get on and some get off.
Split booking - enable to split a booking across multiple resources
Under ideal circumstances bookings are assigned to one resource. However, if the capacity of resources that allow split booking is lower than the number of tickets in the booking, the booking will be split across the assigned resources. For example, Resource A is at 15/20 capacity, Resource B is at 21/25 capacity and a booking of 6 is made, the booking will be split between the two resources.
Prefer together - enable placing bookings into the same resource(s) if possible
Enter a time interval if your resources require, for example, cleaning (buses, taxis) or rest (horses) after a tour.
If an interval is set, Ventrata will not assign a booking to that resource immediately after the tour ends, but adds that extra time as set here.
Assign products to your resource group.
You can also assign resource groups to products from the product detail. Either method will automatically update both the product and resource group record.
Assign resources to your resource group.
Press the Update Resource Group button.
The configuration set on the resource group determines how the resource behaves on the product. For instance, there are multiple resources assigned to a tour time or date with a capacity of 10, 15 and 20, and the Split Booking option IS NOT checked. The capacity for that tour time or date takes the largest capacity of all the resources assigned, which is 20.
If the Split Booking option IS checked, the capacity will be the sum of the 3 resources assigned to that day/tour, which is 45.
You cannot have greater capacity than the resource assigned to a particular date or tour time, but you can assign a lower capacity on the product level. This can be done by selecting the date or tour time, and setting the capacity.
NEXT: Managing Seated Resources
Updated on: 26/01/2024
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