Overview:

Web-based application that will review online travel sites for each customer hotel and show ranking and competitor information. For online providers such as Expedia, the application will search a market with a set of predefined dates and gather data about client hotel as well as competitor hotels.

Application will run at scheduled intervals and will provide weekly report results via email. Historical data will be stored in the database so that in the future more advanced reporting (including historical) can be created.

Administration:

Admins will be provided an interface that allows them to:

-Add/Edit/Delete properties and their relevant information
-Add/Edit/Delete competitor properties (up to 7 per customer site) and their relevant information
-Change search date setting (e.g. perform searches for dates 2 weeks out, 3 weeks out, specific dates, etc)
-View and export reports from data gathered

Sites to scrape:

1. Expedia.com
2. Travelocity.com
3. Hotels.com
4. Orbitz.com
5. Priceline.com (retail only)

Data to locate and report:

1. Placement of the hotel (e.g. 5 of 24)
2. Displayed price of the hotel
3. Traveler opinion / rating
3. Rank and data for 3-7 other hotels
a. Pre-defined hotels from comp set


Notes about sites:

1 (Expedia): Expedia includes a “traveler opinion” in their displayed results. We'd like to compare the hotel's ranking here against the 3 competitors. Expedia allows a search without dates. Expedia allows a search without dates. Hotels allows you to restrict searches to a range of star ratings (x and above).
2 (Travelocity): Travelocity allows a search without dates. Travelocity allows you to restrict searches to a specific star rating.
3 (Hotels): Hotels.com includes a “Guest rating” in their displayed results. We'd like to compare the hotel's ranking here against the 3 competitors. Hotels allows a search without dates. Hotels allows you to restrict searches to a range of star ratings (x and above).


Notes about data:

Each new customer site will be setup in the administration along with a set of variables for their weekly automated search.

Notes about server:

We have a linux server with PHP and MySQL support that you'll be given access to test and host this application. Should you require a Windows server, please include specific requirements of software and hardware on the PMB so that we can consider this cost along with your bid.

Notes about ongoing service:

We understand that site scraping doesn't work forever, and that a change on the host website will require programming changes to resume data gathering. The programmer selected must include a SLA plan in which you define a turnaround time and set price to repair data gathering should the host site make such a change.

Also, it is VERY likely that additional paid development will take place after the initial project is complete, so it is fair to expect some long term work after the initial contract with this application.

Please post any questions you have about the project to the PMB before you bid!

I'm attaching a Word doc with details about the 5 different sites to parse along with a sample report. The report may not be exactly like this but should demonstrate the basic idea.Attached file: sample_report.xls
File info: Sample report file in Excel formatAttached file: requirements20090112.doc
File info: Notes about the sample report and the 5 travel sitesRemoved file: requirements20090112.docAttached file: online site notes.docx
File info: Notes about the sample report and the 5 travel sites