Plenty of activities depend on something physical: a boat, a jet ski, a van, a set of kayaks, or a guide. TripWorks can assign those automatically as bookings come in, track what's in use, and stop you selling more than you have.
In this article
This article covers how to switch it on, and how TripWorks decides which resource a booking gets.
Set it up
- Create your resources. Every boat, vehicle, or piece of kit needs to exist in TripWorks before it can be assigned. See Resources & resource groups.
- Set the activity's capacity to run on resources. Under the activity's capacity settings, choose By Resources or By Resources - Many. Without this, resource settings have no effect. See Capacity: by resources.
- Say how much each ticket consumes. Assign resource usages so TripWorks knows what one guest, or one ticket type, takes up. See Resource requirements.
How TripWorks chooses a resource
When a booking needs a resource, TripWorks looks at the ones of the right type for that activity and time, and rules out any that are already committed or blacked out. From what's left it takes the smallest resource the party will fit into.
That last part is deliberate. Putting a couple on the small boat keeps the larger one free for the group of eight that books later in the day, so you sell more of your capacity. It also means the resource a booking gets isn't always the first one on your list.
A resource is never chosen if it is blacked out for that period. See Create a resource blackout for how to block one off and record why.
When two guests book at the same time
Two people can reach checkout for your last available boat within the same second. TripWorks holds the resource for whichever payment completes first, and the second checkout is offered what's genuinely left. This is what stops the same boat being promised twice, and stops a booking confirming with nothing assigned to it.
The practical consequence on a busy morning is that a guest can reach the payment step and then find the slot has gone. That is the system protecting you from an overbooking you would otherwise have to unpick by phone.
Rebooking and changes
When you move a booking, everyone on it is kept together on the same resource rather than being split across several. If you need a party spread across two boats, assign them by hand after the move.
FAQ
Why did a booking get the big boat when a smaller one was free?
The smaller one wasn't actually free for that whole window. Check it isn't committed to an earlier or overlapping booking, and isn't blacked out. If it looks free on the Timeline, confirm its capacity is large enough for the party — TripWorks won't assign a resource the group doesn't fit into.
A booking confirmed with no resource assigned. What now?
Assign one by hand from the booking, then check whether the activity's capacity is set to run on resources at all — if it isn't, TripWorks has nothing to assign from and will keep taking bookings past your real capacity.
Can I override what TripWorks picked?
Yes. The automatic choice is a starting point; reassign a booking to a different resource whenever you need to, and the change is respected from then on.
Does a blackout move bookings already on that resource?
No. A blackout only stops new assignments. Anything already assigned stays put until you move it. See Create a resource blackout.