A control activity based hierarchical metadata model travel and tourism mar01_2020

Eric K. Gaba, CMA®
The ROI Advisory for Specialized Technological Advancement
Enterprise Transformation Experts 2020 ©
The Finance Enterprise Transformation Illustrated™
Value Proposition
Integrated and Portable ERP Solutions
Automated, Best-In-Class, End-to-End,
Integrated, Lean, Simple,
Standardized
A Control Activity Based Hierarchical Metadata Design Model
Travel Management and Tour Operator Company ERP Applications
Dedicated to my friends at G Adventures Inc.
“…To the people who didn’t fit in because they think differently. To the people who know that freedom lies in being bold and
that the secret to happiness is freedom…” #Bruce Poon Tip
Special Thanks To:
Les Liddel, VP, Software Engineering
Gurmehar Randhawa, CPA, CMA, Director Global Finance
Edison Bethel, Manager, Finance

Value Proposition for Integrated and Portable ERP Solutions
Travel and Tour Management Company ERP Applications
Table of Contents
▪ Excerpt from the World Economic Forum – “Living Travel Experience” 3
▪ Key Strategic Management Objectives for ERP Implementation
Solutions 4
▪ A Control Activity Based Metadata Design Model - 1 :
• Basic Generic Modelling of the Travel Product Life-Cycle 5
▪ A Control Activity Based Hierarchical Metadata Design Model – 2:
• Blueprinting the Entity Structure and related Metadata 6
▪ A Control Activity Based Hierarchical Metadata Design Model – 3:
• Blueprinting the Entity Structure and related Metadata
(continued) 7
▪ Travel & Tours Workflow Areas and Key ERP Integration Points 8
▪ Metadata Structure, Definitions and Standardization Methods:
• Attribution of Key Business Drivers 9
▪ Excerpt from the World Economic Forum – “Travel Industry Value
Creation Drivers” 10
2

3

Travel and Tour Management Company Applications
Key Strategic Management Objectives for ERP Implementation Solutions
▪ Rapid and Agile Customization of travel packages without profit margin errors, with accurate and
competitive prices.
▪ Flexible configuration to accommodate price changes on the fly for customized and specialized
group tours.
▪ Perform What-If Analysis on product/margin mixes and accurately measure outcomes.
▪ Focus on acquisitive alliances with the confidence that data integration is adaptable, seamless,
reliable, accurate and timely.
▪ Use costing integration tools to quickly and accurately revise product offerings & pricing as
needed.
Value Proposition
Strategic
Management
Compliance
/Regulatory
Financial/Risk
Management
Management Access and Visibility to
Reliable, Accurate and Timely Operational
Dashboard Metrics.
Ease of ERP Integration with Source
Systems and 3rd Party applications
without significant technical consultancy
involvement.
Agile and Rapid Product and Services
Customization with minimal technical and
administrative burden and duration.
Uniform Employee/User Experiences with
Data Access and System Functionality.
Seamless and Undisruptive Upgrades
throughout the Integrated Ecosystem.
Fast Tracked and Quickly Configured
Robust Reporting with minimal changes
to the underlying data and Source
Systems.
4

A Control Activity Based Metadata Design Model – 1
Basic Generic Modelling of the Travel Product Life-Cycle
The core efficiency of the Travel ERP Technology is highly dependent on a structured and standardized metadata
design. With common data structures, metadata can be designed for a single purpose, and then simply replicated
and updated for customized requirements. Using standard processes, structured data can flow in a smooth
automated workflow from one application to another. Reporting is fast and flexible and business intelligence (BI)
tools rely on a unified set of underlying data, a competitive advantage.
Services Level/Types Granularity of Data
Elements
Revenue Cost of
Sales
Gross
Margin
Pax, Hotels, Villas,
Apartments, Lodges,
Camps, Rooms, Vendors,
etc.
Air, Land, Sea, Bus, Boat,
Helicopter, Minivan, Pax,
Ticket, Vendors, etc.
Tours, Cruises, Ecotours,
Sightseeing, Sailing,
Ticket, Pax, Operators,
etc.
Meals, Bars, Buffets,
Restaurant, Cruises, Pax,
Ecotours, Sightseeing,
Wine Tasting, etc.
Hotels, Villas,
Apartments, Lodges,
Camps, etc. Air, Land,
Sea, Bus, Boat, Pax,
Helicopter, Minivan, etc.
Transportation
Accommodation
Transfer Services
Ancillary Services
Tours/Packaged
Services
Operational Profitability ReportingStandardized Metadata Element Structure
Standardized Data
Model
Standard Processes
Minimize Manual
Entries and End
User Errors
Other Services
Metadata
Dictionary Defines
All Data Flows
Structured Data is
easily replicated
and modified as
needed
Service IDs
Booking IDs
Trip Codes
Reservation IDs
Payment IDs
Refund IDs
Discount IDs Agent IDs
Billing Group IDs Customer IDs
Vendor Codes
Currency Codes
Purchase Order ID
PO Item Key
Unit Costs
Unit Prices
Flexible and
Customizable Field
Data Elements
5

Blueprinting entity structures, consolidation of multiple entities, individual financial modules, sub-
consolidation processes, cost centres, profit centres, investment centres, and the design of the chart of
account structure to capture financial and management accounting , statutory and regulatory
reporting requirements.
2. Financial/Controlling
1. Operational/Admin
Pricing/Costs
Reporting
Balance Sheet
3. Sales & Marketing
Data Sources and Consumption
Bookings
Service Types
Revenue
Recognition
Activity Dates
Trips
TerritoriesRegions
Functional/Reporting
Areas/Offices/Human
Capital
Travel & Tours
Management Activity
Master Chart of Accounts
Countries + Cities
Cost Centres
Profit
Centres
Investment
Centres
Ownership Structure Companies
Intercompany Transactions
Profit & Loss
Cost of Sales
Other Expenses
Promotions
Cash Flow
Products
Company A Company B Company C
Assets Liabilities
A Control Activity Based Hierarchical Metadata Design Model - 2
6

A Control Activity Based Hierarchical Metadata Design Model - 3
Regions Territories
Countries
Cities Other
Localities
Functional
Areas
Offices
Human Capital
Cost Centres
(CC)
CC 3 CC 4 CC 5 CC 6 CC 7 CC 8CC 2CC 1
1-1 1-2 3-1 3-2
3-1-1 3-2-1
LE 2
Legal Entities
(LE)
LE 3
LE 4
LE 5
LE6
1-1
1-2
2-1
2-2
3-1
3-2
4-1
5-1 5-2
6-1
6-2
Driven by the local
regulatory and
compliance
requirements, the
country hierarchy is
comprised of
multiple legal
entities representing
the ownership
structure of the
organization. This
metadata carve out
enables the
allocation and
distribution of
financial transactions
to support entity
consolidations,
intercompany
transactions and tax
adjusting entries,
while maintaining
the integrity of the
underlying data for
enterprise
performance
management (EPM).
▪ Travel company management activities and their related transactions
can be grouped into their respective locations or places of origin.
▪ The location/origin of each travel activity and the related transactions
are then distributable into regions or territories.
▪ The respective regions and territories are constructed using countries,
cities, and other forms of localities as desired by the level of
granularity.
Locations
LE 1
6-3
7-1 7-2 7-3
▪ Functional areas, offices and human capital are organized into management responsibility business units, also referred
to as cost, profit and investment centres.
▪ The underlying financial transactions for each management responsibility business unit is directly linked to other
metadata as part the overall hierarchical conduit.
▪ Other metadata hierarchies can then be constructed to include Bookings, Booking Companies, Operating Companies,
Suppliers, Vendors, Agents, Customers, etc. Data integrity is then ensured between source and consuming systems.
7-1-1 7-2-1 7-3-1
7

Travel & Tours Workflow Areas and Key ERP Integration Points
Customer Facing Operations and Administrative Management
Pricing
Combos
Bookings
Discounts
Vouchers
Itineraries
Travel Plans
Credit Notes
Cancellations
Confirmations
Account Management
Promotional Offerings
Payments and Refunds
Billings
Invoicing
Settlements
Procurement
Billing Groups
Plan Payments
Agent Commissions
Employee Accountability
Product Packaging and Marketing
Product Costing and Cost Allocations
Customer Issue Escalation & Resolution
Contribution Margin Analysis (Profit & Loss)
Enterprise Performance Management (EPM)
Travel & Tours Workflow Risk Management Considerations
Risk Considerations
Customer
Facing
Operations &
Administrative
Management
Travel Services/Products are sold with outdated prices. Price
Margins are not verifiable. Personalized customer/client
information is not current and readily available. Losses are
incurred.
Capability to offer real-time tour and travel information driven by
current and updated transactional data is limited and
uncompetitive.
Supplier pricing and agency mark-ups are not easily disseminated
across multiple platforms. Important information is not easily
shared across the organization.
Multiple payment types by customers are difficult to reconcile and
manage, which is further complicated by multiple currencies and
exchange rates.
Manual processes are used to check travel services pricing and
details making deadlines hard to meet. Late and/or inaccurate
information makes employee accountability & performance
measurement challenging. Inaccurate pricing & cost information
makes decisions around profitability imprecise. Manual steps in
the reporting process, particularly for KPIs such as operating profit
and sales increases over prior periods, result in lagging month-end
management decisions.
8

Metadata Structure, Definitions and Standardization Methods
For the Travel and Tour Management Companies with
Local Country Sensitivities
Transactional data is integrated across multiple operational and administrative
platforms (e.g., customer, product, geography, employee, etc.) to provide a
streamlined flow of business transactions for fully integrated management decision
making.
Attribution of Key Business Activity Drivers
▪ Each operational/administrative activity is attributable to a country/city of origin
▪ Each country/city of origin can be grouped into:
▪ Regions
▪ Territories and
▪ Other geographical dimensions
▪ This facilitates source transaction tracking for local, regional and global
reporting requirements to support multi-jurisdictional compliance and
regulatory frameworks.
▪ Functional areas, offices and human capital are assigned to the hierarchical
structure in conformity with countries of origin.
▪ Real-time business agility - Continuous and seamless flow of information across
transactional, operational, and analytical platforms to support real-time business
agility.
▪ Incremental business value - The solution is component-based to accommodate
dynamic business decisions driven by data definitions and data services. This is a
modularized solution to enable flexibility and adaptability to frequently changing
business requirements.
▪ Data governance can be instituted to move, cleanse, profile, transform, access,
and enrich management information systems.
▪ Metadata management provides business value on an incremental basis which
then results in reduced time to discover, analyze, use, and act on information due
to a more structured data flow and semantic reconciliation to ensure consistency,
encapsulation, transparency, and integrity of data assets.
9

10

A control activity based hierarchical metadata model travel and tourism mar01_2020

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