Image credit: Lake Tekapo Holiday Homes, Dark Sky Tourism
Kia Ora there,
We are feeling optimistic after hearing the key Tourism New Zealand strategy over the next 4 years will be focusing on growing off-peak visitation to Aotearoa with expected marketing initiatives to include draw cards like Matariki and Dark Sky Tourism. For our New Zealand based ResBook customers, this will be music to your ears! We continue the positivity in this months newsletter, including:
ResBook Community News: Kovena Partnership & New Team Member
ResBook Resource: AI for Tourism Guide
The Value of Entering Industry Awards on Your Business
Customer Spotlight: Greenhill Lodge
ResBook Quick Quiz: Win a Month of Free ResBook!
Most Popular Knowledge Base Articles in May
Our Latest Business Intelligence Data
ResBook Community News 👀
Partnership with Kovena Payment Solution
Great news! We are partnering with Kovena to integrate with ResBook. Kovena is an Australian based payment solution and is the worlds first purpose-built payment system for accommodation providers, which means their solution aligns perfectly with your payment needs! We are planning for Kovena to be added as a ResPay option (in addition to Stripe, Windcave and Paypal).
Key benefits of Kovena include:
Competitive merchant rates
Overnight payment processing
Easier set up and onboarding
Booking IDs shown in payments
Multi-currency options including for the Pacific Islands
New ResBook Support Team Member
April Ann Hayagan
We're excited to welcome onboard our new ResBook support team member April Ann! She has embraced the new role, and is quickly getting stuck in to provide valuable services and support to you all.
Your Guide to AI for Tourism
We have a free new marketing guide for our ResBook community! If you've been curious about using AI for your business but not sure where to start, this is the guide for you. With over 35 AI tools listed there is something for everyone and will support your exciting journey in to the digital world of AI!
Winter is upon us and so is awards season, where accommodation providers have the opportunity to be recognised for their achievements. Let's have a look at the benefits of entering awards on your business and what awards to look out for.
"ResBook provided our business with a wonderful boost, allowing us to combine a new website and booking platform to increase sales. We are confident our guest numbers will now increase with travel agents enjoying using our new platform! The team are so friendly and easy to communicate with, and seem to really understand our needs, providing us with the confidence we needed."
- Charlotte & Stephen, Greenhill Lodge
Charlotte & Steve are hosts of the luxurious and historic Greenhill Lodge, located in the Hawke's Bay. With no prior website, our team worked from scratch to develop a full suite of services, including: the set up and design of their Tourism Themed Website, set up of the ResBook PMS & ResChannel to connect to AirBnB, and implementation of Gift Vouchers and The Booking Engine on their website to take direct bookings.
We are pleased to share the winner of our May ResBook quiz was Laura Dudley from Blue Ridge Studios and B&B. Laura correctly answered "True" to the statement: The ResBook Bundle Plan includes - ResBook Property Management System, ResChannel Channel Manager, and The Booking Engine.
Now it's your turn to try and win your ResBook subscription free for one month by completing the quiz below! 😊
Can't find something in the Knowledge Base? Get in touch with Client Services, we'd be happy to help 👍🏼
The market is proving to be challenging for accommodation out there! Bookings for the last 3 months were well down when compared to 2019, with a softening in the market. One positive is that the further forward the booking, the greater the chance of it being a direct, so ensuring rates are loaded in ResBook until mid to late 2025 is important. Let's look at recent performance a bit closer:
May booking volumes were down 35.7% and revenues down 57.5% compared to May 2023.
Direct bookings revenue vs OTA channels is steadily climbing and sitting at 78.6% direct YTD, compared to 70.6% for 2023 YTD.
Forward bookings revenue for June is currently sitting at over 41% of 2023's June total which is a positive start for the month.
Contacting ResBook for Support Issues
If you need support help with ResBook you'll find answers for most questions in the Knowledge Base. Helpful articles with screenshots and videos can assist with resolving the most common issues, however if you still can't find your answer please refer to the following Support Guidelines for next steps. These guidelines also cover what to do for urgent issues.😊
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