Overview

Spotinga is designed to be a flexible, “plug-and-play” distribution and management platform for tour operators, event organizers, and activity providers. Whether you are a single boutique tour guide or a large agency managing multiple brands across several cities, this guide will help you understand how your data is organized.

Understanding the Data Structure

To manage your operations effectively, it is important to distinguish between your internal team and your external customers.

The Organizational Hierarchy

1. Organization (The Company): The top-level entity representing your legal business. It holds global settings and master profiles.
2. Members (Your Internal Team): These are the core users of your organization.
   • Access: Members have login access to the Host Admin Application to manage your business.
   • Distinction: They are your staff, employees, or managers. They are not your external customers, partners, or affiliates.
   • Example: Your office manager who processes bookings is a Member.
3. Product Stores: Business units or brands under your organization.
   • Example: A company called “Adventure Co” might have a “Rafting Store” and a “Climbing Store” to keep branding and accounting separate.
4. Products (Experiences & Events): These are the specific activities you offer.
   • Example: A “2-Hour Guided Bike Tour” is a Product.

Operational Entities: From Bookings to CRM

While the hierarchy above is what you set up, the entities below are what the system generates during daily operations.

1. Orders: Created every time a booking is made. An order acts as the master record for a transaction.
2. Payments: The specific financial transactions attached to an Order.
3. Contacts (Your External Database): This list contains your customers, guest leads, and partners.
   • Automatic Building: Contacts are built automatically based on Orders. When a guest completes a booking, the system creates or updates a Contact record for them.
   • No Admin Access: Unlike Members, people in your Contacts list do not have access to your admin applications.

Distribution & Publishing

Once your products are set up, they enter the Distribution phase:

• Publishing: Making your product “Live” within the Spotinga ecosystem.
• Channels: Connecting your live products to external platforms, most notably Google Things To Do (GTTD).
• Affiliate Program: Creating a private network where partners can sign up to promote your products in exchange for a commission.

Features & General Navigation

The Spotinga dashboard is organized logically to follow your workflow—from setup to promotion.

Key Navigation Areas

• Dashboard: Your “at-a-glance” view of performance, recent bookings, and affiliate activity.
• Company & Stores: Where you manage your business profiles, branding, and store-specific settings.
• Products: The heart of the platform. This is where you create new experiences, set up complex pricing (adult/child/group), and manage your real-time calendar.
• Distribution / Channels: This area handles your connection to the outside world. Here you can link your account to Google and manage how your products appear in search results.
• Affiliate Administration: A dedicated suite for managing your partner ecosystem, including onboarding, commission rates, and payout tracking.

[Image Placeholder: Screenshot of the main sidebar navigation with key areas highlighted]

Important: Always ensure your Store Profile is complete before attempting to connect to Google Things To Do, as Google requires specific business metadata for verification.

Who is Spotinga for?

Spotinga is built for growth-minded “Hosts” who want to reduce the technical friction of online distribution.

Ideal Users

• Local Tour Operators: Who want their products to appear on Google Maps and Search without a massive marketing budget.
• Event Organizers: Managing seasonal workshops, festivals, or classes.
• Activity Providers: Like surf schools, cooking classes, or city walks.
• Agencies: Who manage digital distribution for multiple independent tour brands.

Getting the Best Value

To maximize your success on the platform, we recommend focusing on these three pillars:

1. High-Quality Content: Google and Affiliates prioritize products with high-resolution images and clear, descriptive titles.
   • Instead of “City Tour,” use “Historical 3-Hour Walking Tour of Old Prague with Tasting.”
2. Accuracy is King: Keep your inventory and pricing perfectly synced. Inconsistent pricing between your booking page and Google can lead to lower search rankings.
3. Leverage the “Free 5”: Spotinga allows you to publish up to 5 products for free on Google Things To Do. Start with your 5 best-sellers to build momentum and see immediate ROI before scaling.

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Next Steps

Ready to get started? Follow the path below:

1. Complete your Company Profile
2. Add your first Product
3. Configure Pricing & Availability
4. Connect to Google