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Two of the worlds fastest growing industries - technology and tourism. To maintain our position as market leader we are working full time on developing the IBIS system to stay on top of changing needs. Find out what our latest developments are here...
Tourism Business Magazine Editorial - Will the iPad kill the brochure?
1 March 2009, written by Erik Bradshaw
The brochure has long been a cornerstone for tourism promotion. For new entrants into the industry this is one of the first things they must organise – a simple paper based promotion of who they are and what they have to offer.
A brochure used to be enough, then along came the internet and with it the need to extend your promotional material to a web site. Now mobile devices such as iPhones are becoming commonplace and soon we will be seeing the iPad and the Google Nexus.
This raises the obvious question, will mobile devices designed specifically for easy reading eventually replace the brochure? Is your web site going to be enough?
To answer this question it helps to understand how content is managed. Devices such as the iPhone and iPad are what I call “content-controlled”, that is, you can’t just put anything onto them; iPhone Apps must be developed within a defined framework by someone signed up to the Apple iPhone Developer Program, approved by Apple and downloaded via the Apple iPhone App Store. The Google approach is much more open - basically if you want to write an application for the device you can and there are no restrictions on the user to install it.
These devices have web browsers so will surfing to your web site be adequate for travellers as they roam around New Zealand? I think not - data coverage (i.e. cell phone access) is lousy in a lot of the top tourism areas, for example Abel Tasman National Park or the road between Fox Glacier and Wanaka (which is a long way!).
My experience of users is that they get unhappy and frustrated when something doesn’t work when and where they are – they just want it to work. To get around this, the mobile device could be loaded with a travel guide as they arrive in New Zealand. Don’t think of just a few pages; think thousands of pages with colour photos, maps and up-to-date information. Our savvy tourist can then lie on a secluded beach in South Westland and plan the next few days of their travel. OK, they can’t make online bookings but at least they can get learn and plan.
For content-controlled devices such as iPads and iPhones I expect them to have a definitive New Zealand guide like a Lonely Planet equivalent, optionally linking into or pulling content from web sites such as Trip Advisor. The thing you can guarantee is that it will be paid for by advertising – so expect to add this into your marketing budget. For the Apple devices I expect this to further develop the trust/love relationship people have with these gadgets. People will say “I trust/love my iPhone/iPad and I go where it advises me to go”.
The more open devices such as the Google Nexus I expect to follow more conventional publication guides lines. Publishers will re-work their existing guides into a new file format and provide it as a free download within the ideal reader application these devices have. Whether this kind of format would be covered by existing advertising deals will be up to the publisher.
Returning to the original question – is the brochure dead? Not for a while yet, however, its relevance is certainly diminishing. Ironically, technology often does not do away with the old, it just adds more options for business owners (and consumers) to understand and pay for. I expect these mobile devices to be the same – yet another thing to consider when planning and budgeting for your marketing strategy.
Tourism software specialist announces three new appointments
29 June 2007, IBIS Technology Press Release
Following the recent announcement of their role in developing New Zealand’s first national tourism database, IBIS Technology has expanded the team again to include Alison Raye in a Sales and Support role. Alison is dedicated to assisting IBIS Technology’s customers nationwide, delivering support to a broad range of new and existing tourism clients.
The Queenstown-based software provider recently expanded its customer support network with the addition of Zoë Dines and Cath Wells to Customer Support roles. As well as maintaining relationships with existing clients, Cath and Zoe provide support for the implementation of the new database commissioned by i-SITE New Zealand.
Christine Ryan, general manager at IBIS Technology, said the three appointments mark the growth of an exciting and strong team. “We work with some of New Zealand’s most iconic tourism operators and that’s proving a strong attraction for high caliber new recruits,” said Ms Ryan. “Zoë gained five years’ expertise with our software while she worked for Shotover Jet; that insight makes her an incredible asset to the company. Cath’s got seven years’ experience in the tourism accommodation sector and her ability to translate ‘IT speak’ into plain English is highly valued by clients.”
Canadian-born Alison put down roots in Queenstown three and a half years ago. She has used IBIS software in her role as Sales and Marketing Manager at Info & Track in Queenstown. “Alison’s been an IBIS customer, so that in-depth knowledge of our software puts her in the ideal position to identify improvements and help market our products.”
“The addition of Cath, Zoë and Alison brings new depth to our team. Their combined experience of the tourism industry is absolutely essential in helping our company to grow with our clients, and exceed the needs of our rapidly expanding customer base.”
Booking your trip is about to get a whole lot easier
16th February 2007, Tourism New Zealand's i-SITE Press Release
Looking for a hotel in Queenstown, a hire car in Tauranga or a nature trip in Nelson? Well, looking and booking will soon be a breeze with an i-SITE New Zealand national database currently being developed with Ibis Technology.
Operators can be listed on the database and will automatically be exposed to the 88-strong network of i-SITE visitor centres, which have 400 frontline staff and deal with up to 10 million visits a year.
I-SITE New Zealand research shows that total visits to i-SITE centres have increased by 26% in the past year. The vast majority of users (94%) report being satisfied or highly satisfied with the network, and awareness of the centres is growing.
Tourism New Zealand supports i-SITEs because they provide quality on the ground information and are the best way to put a region’s products on offer.
“The new booking system and database will distribute information more quickly and efficiently and will help operators save time and money,” Tourism New Zealand George Hickton says.
The majority of i-SITE centres are expected to be linked to the national database and booking system by the end of the year.
The system will allow operators to maintain their own details on the database, showing information such as availability and also to do things like update prices or trip times. It will also allow i-SITEs to regularly update their region’s information.
The time visitors have to spend in centres will also be reduced, given the depth of information available and the ease with which it can be accessed and booked by staff. “It’s a huge advance in terms of using technology to deliver benefits across the industry,” Mr Hickton says.
Owners and operators are being asked to contact their local i-SITE to get linked into the database.
New Zealand’s first National Tourism Database commissioned
3 April 2007, IBIS TechnologyPress Release
New Zealand’s first comprehensive national visitor information database is to be developed, implemented and maintained by Queenstown company IBIS Technology for i-SITE New Zealand.
i-SITE New Zealand is part of Tourism New Zealand and is responsible for the country’s national network of 88 i-SITE Visitor Information Centres. The goal of the database is to provide up-to-the-minute information about the country’s entire range of accommodation, activity and travel offerings and to create a real-time direct booking tool.
"We want travellers to be able to book and pay for any New Zealand tourism product at any i-SITE Visitor Information Centre or even at an i-SITE portal, in real-time with confidence and full knowledge of the range of options available," said David Wilks, General Manager Tourism Development, Tourism New Zealand.
"About 70% of the computerised systems used by national i-SITE centres around New Zealand are supplied by IBIS, so it was logical to build on this strong foundation when creating a national database."
"IBIS will work with us towards providing a national resource that will significantly improve efficiency, front-line customer service and consistency. It will benefit visitors and everyone who is part of the database as well as front-line i-SITE staff who offer advice and make bookings," he said.
"We see the role of this technology as crucial to the development of the i-SITE network and to tourism in New Zealand."
Under the new system, individual i-SITEs will regularly upload their region-specific information to the national database and download the national updates. In a further labour–saving move, suppliers and tour operators can also feed their own updates electronically into the database. The result will mean all i-SITE staff will have full access to the national database.
Erik Bradshaw, Managing Director of IBIS Technology, said his company has developed unique software that meets the specific needs of New Zealand’s tourism industry.
"We set up IBIS Technology twelve years ago to provide a single solution to tourism booking, accounting and management needs. Our software provides real-time booking, vouchering and payment systems. It is designed for tourism operators as well as booking centres and inbound tour operators.
"When introduced to an i-SITE for example, the IBIS software replaces either manual systems or several booking and management programmes with a single platform, creating instant efficiencies in cost and time savings," said Bradshaw.
"The partnership between IBIS Technology and Tourism New Zealand’s i-SITE network is a very strong indication of confidence in our company and our unique tourism software," he said.
Sally Kemp, Development Co-ordinator of Tourism New Zealand and Ibis Technology General Manager Christine Ryan have been touring the country this month to meet i-SITE managers and demonstrate the database.
Technology makes catching freshie action easier
7 August 2007, IBIS Technology Press Release
A high-tech electronic booking system for ski and snowboard rental just made catching powder days or early morning runs easier for skiers and boarders in Queenstown. And, the system is tipped to become widely used as the gap between retailers and tourism operators narrows.
Directly on line at www.outsidesports.co.nz or via frontline tourism service staff in thirteen outlets across Queenstown, customers can respond to the weather by booking rental equipment online, in real time, up to 9pm the night before skiing.
The first of its kind, the new IBIS Technology system is tailored specifically for ski equipment rental and has been commissioned by leading Queenstown retailer Outside Sports.
A simple booking screen allows reservation of a range of products including skis, boots, poles and snowboards, in executive, performance and backpacker gear price ranges.
When a booking is made, the live system is updated in real time, letting the Outside Sports fitting team know a booking has arrived. They can then have a range of sizes available for the customer’s fitting when the store opens at 7:30am the next day.
Alternatively, a customer can book equipment at 12noon and pick it up at 1.00pm.
Once that fitting is recorded, the exact equipment required by the customer is stored electronically on the system, so when they return the next day, or even the next season, the booking can be easily made from anywhere with no further fitting required.
“We’re adding in a whole new level of flexibility to enjoying the winter season,” said Outside Sports General Manager Peter Newbold.
“People can make their bookings at leisure and their gear is guaranteed to be ready for pickup and fitting at 7:30am the next morning.”
The booking package integrates fully with the existing IBIS system used daily by the majority of Queenstown’s frontline staff for accommodation and adventure sport reservations.
“The beauty of IBIS is that so many frontliners and tourism operators in Queenstown are already using it, so this provides us with an existing channel to reach customers and offer a hassle free service. The information centres and booking staff are already used to the system and can easily book customers’ rental gear along with accommodation and activities,” said Mr Newbold.
Quickly earning a reputation as one of New Zealand’s most sophisticated provider of specialist tourism software, IBIS has experienced a 25 per cent growth in their client base in the past six months. Over 100 tourism businesses across New Zealand now use IBIS software to manage booking, vouchering and office systems from a reliable online platform.
IBIS Technology Managing Director Erik Bradshaw says the Outside Sports initiative is a great example of how a group of key players in the tourism field can work together.
“Tourism is New Zealand’s number one export industry and we all have a role to play in promoting our resort town and providing fantastic service to travellers. The synergies we can create as the linchpin between retailers and booking agents benefits everyone.
“Visitors can increasingly find information centres a one-stop-shop, catering for all their holiday needs and the efficiency they experience is a strong motivation to spend more tourism dollars in the town.”
Outside Sports is planning to extend their IBIS system further by adding bike rental, and camping and hiking equipment hire into the system by Spring 2006.
IBIS Technology attracts ‘very fast businessman’
4 July 2006, IBIS Technology Press Release
In record breaking decision making time, Brent Mathews, owner and manager of the independently run Havelock Infocentre had his specialist tourism software up and running in just one day.
Mathews enquired about the IBIS system in the morning, transferred the funds by noon and had his system installed and running that same afternoon.
“I knew the crunch point had come when I was still manually processing the daily vouchers at 10pm. We desperately needed to streamline the process, establish some infrastructure and free up time to grow the business,” said Mathews.
Prior to his IBIS installation, it was becoming increasingly difficult for Mathews to keep on top of paperwork, let alone turn his attention to managing Rutherford YHA, his other tourism business in Havelock.
“We’d been manually writing customer vouchers for the past seven years and double handling these transactions as we then inputted them into an accounting package each night. With business growing to the point that it was, we knew this was an inefficient way of doing things.
“IBIS Technology was recommended to me a little while back, but I had just bought into another system, so the timing wasn’t right. Then IBIS came up in conversation again, so I moved quickly to find out what it was all about.”
Since installation, Mathews has noted a number of benefits to his business.
“I was impressed straight away with how quickly I could get to grips with the system. We’ve all but eradicated errors in data input, we provide a more efficient and professional service to customers and because nearly every operator or accommodation provider is featured on IBIS, we can book trips all round the country in real-time, with a simple mouseclick.”
Boosting business integration further, last week Mathews installed the software at Rutherford YHA in Havelock to streamline vouchering.
IBIS Technology Managing Director Erik Bradshaw noted that in addition to Mathews coming on board, in the past six weeks six more i-Sites have signed up for the company’s tailored tourism software.
This has considerably swelled the number of tourism frontliners using the system and reflects a growing demand for a secure, reliable online booking and vouchering system.
Timaru, Geraldine, Kaikoura, Blenheim, Picton and Hamilton i-Sites are all set to experience transaction efficiencies from the new software and Queenstown’s newly opened iMarket has also signed up for IBIS.
“We’ve been providing tourism software and support to quite a number of the national i-Sites for a few years, but what we’re now seeing is a marked acceleration in sites coming on board,” said Bradshaw.
“The synergies and communication benefits between i-Sites are obviously becoming more and more appealing. In the longer term, we can foresee a time when the majority of i-Site systems will be fully integrated, meaning onward travel, accommodation and activities can be managed smoothly from any location, concentrating frontliners efforts and, of course, boosting their revenue,” said Bradshaw.
“The changing face of tourism booking is a win-win scenario, where everyone will benefit from being able to access and book other region’s products. The customer is happy, they get great service and the potential for cross-selling between agents is huge.”
Over 100 tourism businesses now use IBIS software across New Zealand. The company has experienced a growth in their client base of 25 per cent in the past six months.
Innovative real-time vouchering system puts end to booking headaches
18 May 2006, IBIS Technology Press Release
Answering the demand for a flexible, secure and cost-effective online booking system, New Zealand tourism software specialist IBIS Technology has developed ‘Easy Ticket’.
Easy Ticket is a web based vouchering system that gives real-time access to online operators’ reservation systems 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and connects to hundreds of frontline sales representatives.
“Working with a selection of over ninety operators, ticketing agents and inbound operators of all sizes, we kept hearing about the same problems impacting business,” says IBIS Technology Managing Director Erik Bradshaw.
“Inflexible booking systems were top of the list of concerns and operators were increasingly worried about over-reliance on dated, unreliable booking processes which didn’t support booking agents as well as they could. In many cases, inefficiency was leading to noticeable revenue loss too.”
Easy Ticket features online operators’ departure times on screen, providing the agent with up-to-the-minute information at their fingertips so the customer can confidently be given all the details needed to make an informed purchase.
When an agent sees departure or availability information on the Easy Ticket secure website, they are looking directly at the operator’s live system. Easy Ticket also generates professional looking vouchers for all tickets sold, both online and offline.
The method of payment, including a ‘charge to room’ option can be recorded and so too can the name of the agent making the sale.
Frequent phone calls to operators to check availability are no longer necessary. Neither is the time consuming negotiation with customers to find a slot which suits them, or the wait while operators tally up bookings and decide if an additional trip might be added.
All options can be presented easily, allowing purchase to be made efficiently. The customer can get on with their trip, while the agent can move quickly onto the next booking.
Contributing to effective operational management, a handy ticket sales report also lists all tickets sold online and offline on that day, or during a specified date range, with a summary of operator reference numbers and the users who made the sales.
“We’ve developed this system with business efficiency front of mind. Accurate and 100 per cent reliable reporting makes reconciliation a breeze. Sales trends and individual performance can also be assessed at a glance, keeping operations on the ball and responsive to market changes.
“Easy Ticket allows agents to work more effectively, they can make more bookings because each one takes less time and sales are ultimately increased,” says Bradshaw.
Searching is also very simple. Should a customer lose their ticket or forget to bring it, any ticket in the system can be located according to date or ticket number.
Another useful feature is the many web links embedded in the Easy Ticket website, which connects users directly to useful travel information and up-to-the-minute weather forecasts.
Shotover Canyon Swing, Queenstown, was one of the first companies to adopt the new Easy Ticket system.
“Establishing reliable booking channels was essential to our business growth. We’ve gone from a booking system involving a clipboard being passed around sales people in a booking agent when we first started operating, to a sophisticated and reliable online service that works in real-time,” says Matt Hollyer, General Manager.
“With Easy Ticket, manual processes and phone calls to check availability are reduced to a bare minimum, the room for errors like overbooking has been slashed and cancellations can now be filled with new customers in minutes. Our team is also more motivated because they don’t have to deal with unhappy customers and customer satisfaction is higher too.
“The reporting aspect of Easy Ticket is also really useful. Being able to see how many Shotover Canyon Swings have been sold, and by whom, at the end of each week feeds into our marketing and sales plans on an ongoing basis,” adds Hollyer.
Easy Ticket is a web-based system, so no installation is required.
New online system helps i-Sites
18 June 2004, Nigel Coventry - Inside Tourism
IBIS Technology's tourism-specific software is proving popular with i-Sites. In the last three months some six have started experiencing the timesaving and other operational benefits a reservation system brings. "With just a click of a button, you can see all the operators' product details - book visitors on - and effortlessly reap the commission reward!" says the company's Natascha Nooij.
Latest to experience the online accommodation vacancy system are Wanaka i-Site and local accommodation providers. "Within hours, they were adding their room availability on the easy-to-use web page, especially designed for them" she adds.
Says the i-Site's Tess Hellebrekers: "We are very impressed with the time the IBIS online accommodation system is saving us. It has only been a few days and already we can see the updated availability of over 50 hotels and motels at a glance. We've also had very positive feedback from different motels and lodges - saying that it is extremely easy to use and it is saving them time too!" *It is free for all accommodation providers to use the system. All they need is an internet connection to update their availability for different room types. The i-Sites can then see, at a glance, when a hotel last accessed the system - and what their latest availability is.