Online Booking Solutions

for NZ Activity & Tour Operators

Interact

• View this presentation now on www.slideshare.net

• Make any comments or contributions on slideshare or by email to

awells@tourismexchange.co.nz

• I will post an updated version after receiving your feedback

My experiences with selling activities

online

• HikingGuys.co.nz – From email bookings &

manual credit card transactions to online

bookings, credit card payments & instant

confirmation

• From a few thousand dollars a year to the

biggest single source of bookings in 2 seasons

• Biggest day online was $4K sales for a day tour

• Cashflow

• Saved time, the most precious commodity!

What is online booking?

• Customers can search availability, make a

booking, pay with credit card and receive

instant confirmation on your website

• Online booking is not an enquiry form which

customers use to send you a request

regarding a date and you make the booking

manually

Why do I need online booking for my activity

business?

• Booking habits have changed, move with the tide.

• Be ready when your customer is ready to pay.

• New opportunities we can’t even imagine now will

come, being online means you will be part of this

• Are the best activity operators in your region

online?

• A good online booking system will help you sell

more, save time, keep better records, open up

new opportunities & offer better service to your customers

Why do I need online booking for my activity

business?

This is what it’s all about, the end goal of all

our marketing efforts

Best practice for online bookings

-Credit card payments

-Integration with Reservations system

-Live distribution opportunities

-Reporting

-Data Backup

-Support

-Works with existing technology

-Future Proof

Credit Card

Payments Best Practice:

1. Secure storage and transmission of

credit card numbers

2. Money deposited straight into

your bank automatically

3. Competitive Fees

4. Flexibility / Ease of use

Not So Good:

1. Card numbers written down or

sent unencrypted by email

2. You having to manually process

and paperwork

Integration with

Reservations System Best Practice:

1. Manage all your bookings, content,

rates & availability in one place

2. Offline bookings entered, online

availability automatically updated

3. Online bookings automatically

populated into res system

4. Flexibility with pricing, specials,

closeouts

5. One application for res management

and online bookings

Could be Better:

1. Update online availability manually

after an offline booking

2. Manually enter online bookings in

your res system

Live Distribution

Opportunities

Best Practice:

1. Live integration with res system

2. You control distribution opt in

3. Automated payment model

4. Online, visitor centre & trade opportunities

5. RTO Compatible

Could be better:

1. Allocations or Free Sell Arrangements

2. Having to reduce online allocations manually when you get an offline booking

Reporting

Best Practice:

1. Sales / Agent Reports

2. Trip / Pick up / Check in sheets

3. Customer accounts

4. Invoicing

5. Historical Data Comparison

6. Customer Databases

7. Financial Software Integration

Could be Better:

1. Having to produce any of these

manually

2. Using spreadsheets

Data Backup

Best Practice:

1. Continuous, automatic backup to a secure server

2. Bookings available offline

Risky Practice:

1. All data on one single PC

2. Keeping everything in a notebook

Support

Best Practice:

1. No extra charge

2. Toll free

3. 24 Hour

Technology Integration Best Practice:

1. Integrates easily & cheaply with your current website or new

website

2. One solution for reservations, online bookings, payments &

distribution

3. Flexible to your needs

Future Proof Best Practice

1. Mobile Capability for users

2. Mobile booking function

3. Live distribution

4. Supports multiple Operating Systems

What about for the customer?

Best Practice:

1. Availability search

2. Adult / Child / Group rates available

3. Matches theme of website, booking page sits inside website (iFrame)

4. Easy to book & pay with credit card, instant confirmation

Could be Better:

1. Takes you to an external

booking site

2. Credit card numbers entered in non secure forms

3. On request bookings

Some options in New Zealand:

1. RTBS Live

www.familyadventures.co.nz

2. Ibis

www.canyonswing.co.nz

3. Frontdesk (Tourism Exchange)

www.akaroadolphins.co.nz

Case Studies Imagine you are sitting in Sydney, LA, Frankfurt or Hong Kong looking to

book an activity for your family in NZ.

“Book” a trip on the sites the previous slide and record your experience:

1. What was good?

2. What was bad?

3. Could you find availability & book easily?

4. Was the credit card payment secure?

5. Any other comments?

This is what your clients are doing every time they want to book. Think

about it from their perspective and help them get to the end goal, a

trip booked & paid.

Quick Summary: RTBS Live

Point of Difference: Strong agent uptake in Queenstown

First on the market

Costs: Central Res Module from $500 per year

Online Module from $500 per year

Agent Module from $500 per year

Management Module from $500 per year

Booking Fees 5.6% per transaction

Quick Summary: Ibis

Point of Difference: National I-Site integration

Costs: Core reservations Module $2500 + gst per computer

Additional modules from $1000 + gst per computer

Online module $1500 + gst one off setup

Transaction Fee 2% (1% for agent bookings)

Annual Service fee 20% of module cost

Quick Summary: Frontdesk

Point of Difference: No fixed monthly or annual fees

Preferential credit card rate available or off & online facilities

Costs: $195 + gst setup fee, $60 for online merchant facilty

6%+$1 per booking (+gst)

Frontdesk RTBS Ibis

Secure storage & transmission of card numbers y y y

Money deposited straight to bank account 48 hours 7 days Instant

Card Fees % 1.8 Included As per DPS arrangement

Offline transactions possible through merchant y n y

Credit card user Interface? webpage n webpage

Manage all content, bookings, availability in one place y y y

Offline / online availability integrated y y y

Full control of pricing, closeouts, specials y y y

Live Distribution Integrations y y n

Full control over opting in of channels y y n

Automated distributor payments some y n

Online Distributors y y n

Visitor Centre coming y y

Travel Trade coming y n

Sales / Agent Reports y y y

Day / Pick up / Check in sheets y y y

Individual Customer Accounts y y y

Invoicing y n y

Historical Comparisons y y y

Financial Software Integration y .csv export Customized export

Data Backup y y y

Availability Offline y coming partially but support available

Free Support y y With yearly fee

24 Hour Support n y With yearly fee

Mobile Access for users coming y y

Multiple Operating Systems With app y With app

Easy availabilty search y y y

Adult / Child / Group Pricing y y y

Booking Pages match website, iFrame y y y

Pay with credit card, instant confirmation y y y

Point by Point Comparison

Contribute

View this presentation and comment on

www.slideshare.net/

Send your feedback to

awells@tourismexchange.co.nz

For more information contact:

Andrew Wells

0800 55 22 00 or mobile 021 339 119

awells@tourismexchange.co.nz

www.eviivo.co.nz

www.tourismexchange.co.nz