How to Design a Travel Website Database

The Internet is being used for just about everything these days. There are websites for many purposes, including shopping, reading the news, watching videos, gaming, and a number of other activities, including planning travel and vacations. Travel sites, such as Expedia.com and Travelocity, have made a great business for themselves selling airplane tickets and hotel lodgings. These companies operate mainly online, and their travel sites are a core part of their business and among their major assets. At the core of the travel website is the database, the holding space for the various data used on the website.

Instructions

Setting Up Your Travel Database

1

Asses your website's database needs. The type of database you build will depend on what exactly you are trying to do with your website. For example, if you are just displaying data, then the simplest of databases will do. However, if you plan on selling a variety of products, you will need a more sophisticated database, such as SQL or MySQL.

2

Install your chosen database software on your Web server. The particulars of how this is done will largely depend on what database software you have chosen and what operating system your server runs on, so be sure to check all of the appropriate documentation if you are not sure of the procedure.

3

Configure your database. Basically, you are going to want to denote fields, where your data goes, and set the basic parameters for the database. Again, all of this will depend on your particular needs and the type of database you are setting up; however, for a travel site, it might be a good idea to organize your entries by geographic location.

4

Enter your data or have someone do it for you. Data entry is very tedious and does not require any special skills, so feel free to hire your local teenager to do this for you.

5

Check your database for errors. There is nothing more agitating than spending hours trying to figure out why your website is not functioning properly, only to find out that a spelling error is the source of all of your consternation.