The week that was sold twice
Your fleet is booked through many routes: your own website, an enquiry form, phone and email, a handful of charter agents and brokers, and one or two online booking portals. Each has its own view of which boat is free in which week.
When a booking comes in by phone, someone updates your booking system, then the portal, then emails the agents. When an agent puts an option on a boat, the office marks it, and has to remember to release it when the option expires. When a boat is taken out for repairs, every channel needs updating. On a busy day in January, when the next summer is being booked, one of those updates is missed, and the same boat is sold for the same week twice.
The other side is quieter but costs more over a season: boats shown as unavailable when they are free, because an option was never released or a maintenance block was left in place.
Why the calendars drift
Charter availability is more complicated than a hotel room. Each boat sits in a sequence of weeks, sometimes with short charters, sometimes one-way between bases, and the state of each week changes as options are placed and released.
| Calendar event | Why it causes drift |
|---|---|
| Option placed by an agent | Held on one channel, others do not know |
| Option expires | Nobody releases it everywhere |
| One-way charter | Boat ends the week at a different base |
| Maintenance or owner week | Blocked in one place, forgotten in another |
| Short or flexible charter | Breaks the standard week, leaving odd gaps |
| Boat swap | Guest moved to a sister boat, both calendars change |
Fleet management systems such as Booking Manager or NauSYS are designed to be the central record, and many agents read from them. Problems start where some channels or processes sit outside that system and are updated by hand.
Lost bookings and red faces
A double booking is expensive: offering an upgrade, a sister boat, a discount or a refund, and an unhappy guest or agent either way. Agents who are let down stop sending work.
Stale availability costs you quietly. Weeks that look taken are not offered, and boats sit in the marina when they could have been sold. And the office spends hours each week keeping calendars in step instead of answering enquiries.
One calendar that every channel follows
What we build makes one calendar the single source and connects every channel to it.
- We confirm which system is your main calendar, often your fleet management system, and fill the gaps around it rather than replacing it.
- Each channel that sits outside it, such as your website, a portal or an agent's spreadsheet, is connected through an API, a calendar feed or a scheduled file, depending on what each channel supports.
- Options are recorded with an expiry date and the agent or guest they are held for. When an option expires, it is released everywhere, and the agent is told in advance so they can confirm or let it go.
- Maintenance weeks, owner weeks and boat moves between bases are entered once and blocked on every channel.
- One-way charters update the boat's location, so the next week's availability shows at the right base.
- Any clash, such as two bookings on the same boat and week from different channels, is flagged to the office straight away, before confirmation goes to the guest where possible.
- A season view shows every boat week by week, with options, bookings and gaps, so the office can spot short gaps worth offering as short charters.
A calendar you can trust
The office stops copying changes between systems. When a boat is booked, it disappears from sale everywhere. Options expire on time, and agents are reminded before they do.
Gaps become visible early enough to act on: a free week between two charters can be offered as a late deal, or a short charter, while there is still time to sell it. Agents trust your availability and send more enquiries your way.
Is your calendar doing this?
- Availability is updated by hand on several channels.
- You have sold the same boat for the same week twice.
- Expired agent options are left in place.
- Maintenance blocks are missed on some channels.
- Gaps between charters are spotted too late to sell.