Launched in 2010 as a simple website to help tour agents search and compare package tours, ItTour has evolved into the country’s premier comprehensive travel aggregator. It now provides access to tours from 67 operators across 78 countries.

The Itera Research team has partnered with ItTour for 15 years, continually enhancing the platform with new databases and features to meet growing demands.

Business Challenge

As ItTour scaled, the platform faced several significant challenges associated with the growing number of tour operators being connected. 

• Diverse APIs formats and protocols: Each tour operator utilized unique APIs and data exchange protocols, making integration into a cohesive platform complex. Managing various API formats, authentication methods, and data structures while ensuring compatibility and consistency was a significant challenge.
• Lack of integration options: Some tour operators lacked APIs or any integration options, posing a challenge in transferring tour information into a unified database. Without built-in mechanisms, enabling a real-time search engine across different providers became difficult.
• Managing scalability and real-time data: The growing number of travel agents, now reaching up to 7,500, led to a significant surge in simultaneous database queries. This spike highlighted the need for optimized query processing and real-time data synchronization to ensure accurate and timely responses. Maintaining high availability and scalability was essential to support the growing user base without compromising performance.

Solution

API Integration

To address the complex API integration challenge, Itera Research developed a robust solution to unify data from numerous tour operators. Given the diverse APIs and data exchange protocols used by each operator, our team adopted SOAP APIs as the standard for retrieving data from all the operators’ databases. 

Additionally, we introduced a RESTful API for external interactions, creating a versatile and scalable B2B platform. 

This approach simplified the process for travel agents to search, compare, and book tours efficiently while accommodating the platform’s expanding user base. As a result, the platform provided real-time access to 1.5 billion tours for travel agents.

Real-Time Search Engine

One of the challenges in developing the real-time search engine was that some tour operators did not offer APIs or other integration options. 

Itera Research created bots to navigate the operators’ websites, mimicking user interactions to gather tour information. This data was then stored in a central database, where it was processed and made available for users to search and access in real time.

This approach ensured that even without direct API access, the platform could provide comprehensive and up-to-date information on available tours, enabling travel agents to efficiently search and compare options across multiple operators.

Scalable Infrastructure

As ItTour grew, its initial single-database architecture became insufficient to handle the increasing number of simultaneous inquiries. To maintain high performance, our team employed the following strategies:

1. Reducing database load: Implemented Redis for additional caching to alleviate the strain on the primary database.
2. Data sharding: Introduced sharding to distribute queries across multiple tables, reducing the load on each and enhancing performance.
3. Specialized servers: Deployed multiple servers, each optimized for specific functions, to prevent overload and ensure smooth operation.
4. Custom API parsing: Developed tailored parsing rules for each tour operator’s API to manage data efficiently according to specific requirements.
5. Backup and cloud storage: Implemented backup servers and migrated to cloud storage with Hetzner to ensure data redundancy and maintain operations during major disruptions.

These measures effectively prevented bottlenecks and ensured smooth operation for the 7,500 agents and 10,675 users who rely on ItTour daily.

Connecting Payment Processing Systems

Beyond integrating tour operator APIs, we also incorporated connections to five payment processing systems, including Privat24, an online payment and banking service used by over 9 million users. This integration allowed travel agents to complete transactions securely within the ItTour platform, streamlining the booking and payment processes and enhancing functionality for end users.

Extended Capabilities with External Widgets

The addition of external widgets, such as search tools and hot price indicators, expanded ItTour’s capabilities and increased its reach. 

These widgets are designed to be embedded in travel agencies’ websites, enabling agents to offer ItTour’s features directly on their own sites. This integration extends ItTour’s services to a broader audience without requiring users to leave the travel agency’s website.

Key Features

• B2B Software-as-a-Service: A comprehensive platform designed for business-to-business interactions.
• RESTful API: Provides a flexible and scalable interface for external interactions and integrations.
• Booking module: Enables efficient search, comparison, and booking of tours.
• Advanced search engine: Facilitates robust and real-time search in an inventory of 1.5 billion tours.
• Online payments and eWallet: Integrates secure payment processing systems to handle transactions directly within the platform.
• Distributed servers: Utilizes multiple servers to handle diverse functions and ensure reliability.

Load balancing and sharding: Implements strategies to manage load effectively and enhance performance.

Tools & Technologies

• PHP
• MySQL
• Redis
• Memcached
• SOAP
• Nagios
• Sharding
• REST
• JavaScript
• jQuery
• Node.js
• JSON
• Orca
• Replication
• AJAX
• Bootstrap
• Apache
• Nginx
• FPM (FastCGI Process Manager)
• Big Data

Results

Since its launch, ItTour has evolved from a niche tool into a comprehensive platform for travel agents. Originally serving a limited number of operators, it now provides access to 1.5 billion tours from over 67 operators in 78 countries. The platform’s advanced search capabilities and integration with multiple payment systems have streamlined operations, making it easier for agents to manage bookings and transactions. The use of SOAP and RestFull APIs ensures that the data is consistently accurate and up-to-date, which enhances the reliability of the platform and reduces administrative overhead for agents.

ItTour’s sophisticated infrastructure, including distributed servers and advanced load balancing, has ensured that the platform can handle a large and growing user base. By supporting 7,500 agents and 10,675 users with high performance and stability, ItTour has become a critical asset for travel agencies, driving business growth and improving operational efficiency.