Where do I find it?
CONFIGURATION > SYSTEM & SETUP > Account settings
If you have not yet changed your timezone, you will see a warning like this in the list of items that require your attention:
What does it mean?
In TourCMS, you will encounter two types of timezones:
- Account Timezone
- Tour Timezone
What Do These Mean, and How Do They Differ?
Account Timezone
The account timezone applies to the entire account. Actions that affect the account—such as booking times, audit trails, or log timestamps—are displayed according to this timezone. It is also used when scheduling reports and displaying booking creation times.
For instance, here is an example of an audit trail for a booking where the times are shown in the account timezone:
In the Legacy time, TourCMS does NOT adjust for summer time/daylight savings time. You had to adjust this setting yourself when appropriate.
With the New Style Account Timezone, your TourCMS account will automatically adjust for daylight saving time, where applicable, in your region. This ensures that all timestamps and scheduled actions remain accurate and consistent, even as time shifts during the year.
Later in this article, we’ll review how to configure this setting.
Tour Timezone: Local Time for Tour Operations
The tour timezone reflects the local time at the destination and applies to key time-based aspects of each tour, such as start and end times, departure cutoffs, and scheduling. It ensures that all tour-related times align with the local conditions and that any time-sensitive processes, such as departure creation and API integration, function accurately.
By default, the tour timezone is set to match the account timezone, but it can be customised for each tour individually within the tour setup. This customisation helps accommodate tours operating in different regions or across multiple time zones.
What should I do?
Automatic Daylight Saving Adjustments with the New Style Account Timezone
In the New Style Account Timezone, your account will automatically adjust for daylight saving time where applicable. This ensures that timestamps, scheduled reports, and other time-sensitive functions remain accurate throughout the year.
To select the correct account timezone, navigate to CONFIGURATION > SYSTEM & SETUP > Account settings and choose your region from the list provided.
Selecting the correct region will ensure that your account adjusts to local daylight saving time changes automatically, providing seamless time management across your account.
The account time zone is also returned in response to Show Tour, Show channel, and Search tours.
Ensuring Your Tour, Timezone Matches Local Requirements
After setting up the New Style Account Timezone, it’s essential to verify that your tour timezone aligns with the local time where most of your tours operate. If your tours primarily run in a different timezone from the account timezone, select the appropriate tour timezone from the list to avoid discrepancies.
For example, if your account timezone is set to Europe/Madrid but most tours operate in Europe/Lisbon, set the tour timezone to Europe/Lisbon. This adjustment ensures that all tour departure times, cutoffs, and scheduling reflect the correct local time.
Adjusting the Tour Timezone
You can modify the tour timezone at two levels:
Account Settings: Update the default tour timezone to apply to all new tours.
Tour-Specific Settings: Override the default by customising the timezone within each tour’s settings under PRODUCTS > TOURS > SETUP > TIMES / CUTOFF
If a specific tour operates in a different timezone than the default tour timezone, you can adjust it individually within the tour settings. This is especially useful for tours running in regions outside the main tour timezone.
Setting the correct timezone at the tour level ensures that departure times, cutoffs, and guest notifications align accurately with each tour's local conditions.