Managing participant data effectively is key to ensuring seamless operations and a personalized experience. In the platform, two primary features are available for handling such data: Participant fields and Custom fields.
To better understand when to use each, let’s explore their key differences, practical use cases and where the data resides within the system.
Definition: Participant fields are predefined systemic fields that are applied to a product and are consequently tied to the profile of individual participants. Examples of Participant Fields are Date of Birth, Passport Number, Height, Shoe Size etc.
Purpose: These fields allow the Business to collect and store participant data (in each customer profile) within the Triparound platform, building profiles about customers and participants that can be more efficiently and effectively utilized.
Use Cases:
When you need to collect, store and manage information about all the participants of a specific trip.
Important:
The Participant fields cannot be used if any of the Custom Fields included in the product have the feature "Available for each participant" activated.
Validating or identifying the customer is required for the participant fields to be used during the booking process.
Definition: Custom fields can be fully customized by the Business in terms of what data they collect (create any question necessary) and how they can collect it (free text field, drop down menu etc.). These fields allow the Business to collect and store additional data about the customers within the individual booking.
Purpose: These fields provide greater flexibility to gather unique data relevant to specific activities.
Use Cases:
When you need to collect information that isn't part of the predefined participant fields.
Examples:
T-shirt size for a workshop.
Session preferences in a multi-day program.
Key Differences
Aspect | Participant Fields | Custom Fields |
Scope | Systemic and predefined | Flexible and customizable |
Tied To | Specific customer/participant and booking | Specific booking |
Purpose | Build profiles | Collecting customer specific data for a specific product |
Customer Identification/Validation | Required (i.e., PMS integration or use of itineraries feature) | Not required |
Data Location | Stored in the customer's guest profile and within the booking | Stored within the booking |
When to use each
1. Use Participant Fields:
When the information is core to the participant and remains consistent across contexts (e.g., email, phone number).
When the information needs to update the guest profile for future use.
2. Use Custom Fields:
When the information is specific to a particular event, booking or context (e.g., meal preferences, t-shirt size).
When the information does not need to update the guest profile.