Perth-based leisure technology firm V3 has been awarded a state government tender to provide online booking technology for Tourism Western Australia's website.
Perth-based leisure technology firm V3 has been awarded a state government tender to provide online booking technology for Tourism Western Australia's website.
The new partnership will allow tourism operators in the state to use their own booking systems to sell their products through the government holiday website.
The partnership will allow consumers to book holidays in an easier and more streamlined way which could potentially boost operators bookings and profits.
"The technology eliminates the need for countless calls checking availability and giving credit card details over the phone or by fax," V3 chief executive Shane Crockett said.
Using V3's Open Booking Exchange technology, WA will be implementing its first truly open tourism exchange, he added.
Tourism WA chief executive Richard Muirhead said work had begun to get tourism operators, including those not yet bookable online, to market and sell their products on the website.
He said the online booking feature will be completed in the coming months, starting with accommodation and attraction providers.
The new alliance follows last month's announced of Air New Zealand acquiring a cornerstone shareholding in V3.
Announcements from V3 and Tourism WA are below:
V3
Perth-based technology provider V3 is announcing new alliances and international investment in the company during difficult times of economic crisis.
V3 this week unveiled a new partnership with State Government agency Tourism WA which will allow WA tourism operators to use their own booking systems to sell their products via the state government holiday web site www.westernaustralia.com.
The alliance comes after the announcement by Air New Zealand in November that it would take a cornerstone shareholding in the company.
V3 Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Shane Crockett said V3 had established itself as Australia's key provider of online and digital solutions for the leisure industry.
"At a time of global economic uncertainly, we're helping businesses become e-commerce enabled," said Mr Crockett.
"This is especially important in an industry such as tourism where online bookings are now a dominant part of their marketing and sales effort," he said.
The alliance with Tourism WA will allow consumers to book holidays in an easier and more streamlined way, providing the potential for operators to increase bookings and profits using their own booking capabilities.
"The technology eliminates the need for countless calls checking availability and giving credit card details over the phone or by fax," said Mr Crockett
Using Open Booking ExchangeTM (OBXTM) technology, WA will be implementing its first truly open tourism exchange.
Participating operators, including accommodation providers, tours, attractions and events, will be provided with a listing and description as well as a link to the tourism industry's commercial booking points.
V3 already has an agreement with the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (a joint initiative of the state and federal government tourism bodies) to jointly operate the Tourism Exchange Australia (TXA) which links tourism providers with distributors. The initiative with Tourism WA will complement the TXA.
The TXA provides all types of tourism distributors including travel agents and online publishers with access to the tourism companies' real-time price and availability; and importantly the opportunity to book directly with the tourism supplier online or use their own booking engine.
Mr Crockett said the success of the technology being used in the TXA was a major factor in Air New Zealand's decision to take a shareholding in the company.
"Air New Zealand will make a similar system available in a joint venture deal that operates through a separate, stand-alone company," he said.
V3 now has an impressive list of private and public sectors organisations utilising the OBX technologies including the AOT Travel Group, lastminute.com, South Australian Tourism Commission, AboutAustralia.com, Queensland Online, TotalTravel.com, Discover Australia, and some 200 online distributors and over 2,000 tourism operators.
Mr Crocket said since launching the company six years ago, V3 had achieved outstanding success and was taking WA business and online expertise to the world.
"We see ourselves as an important partner to the travel industry particularly in these difficult times by providing innovative online products and services that are proven to promote growth and efficiency."
Tourism WA
Visitors to WA will soon be able to book accommodation, tours and attractions through the State's travel and tourism website, westernaustralia.com.
Tourism Western Australia Chief Executive Officer, Richard Muirhead said work had begun to get tourism operators across the State, including those not yet bookable online, to market and sell their products on the website.
"By using the open booking exchange technology, westernaustralia.com will have the unique feature of gathering pricing and availability information from existing industry booking engines," Mr Muirhead said.
"This will be a boost for tourism in WA as consumers can now look then book direct with the industry, making it easier to plan their next journey."
Mr Muirhead said that after a public tender process, Tourism WA had contracted technology provider V3 to develop the online booking exchange and increase the number of WA tourism product bookable online.
"Research shows the proportion of WA tourism product currently bookable in real time is relatively low and this project is about providing support to operators to get them into the online environment," Mr Muirhead said.
"The open exchange will reduce the need for consumers to have to phone and check availability or pass over credit card details via phone or fax, which often proves to be inconvenient."
V3 Chief Executive Officer, Shane Crockett said they were delighted to be awarded the contract and were keen for tourism businesses to adopt this new technology.
"The technologies we will be using will allow tourism businesses such as operators or wholesalers to use their existing booking engines to let the consumer book their product," Mr Crockett said.
"By visiting westernaustalia.com, consumers will be able to search for WA product and choose from the booking engines that sell that particular product, giving them more choice in real time."
Mr Muirhead said the online booking feature on westernaustralia.com would be completed in the coming months, starting with accommodation and attraction providers.
"This will strengthen our tourism industry and increase the level of service to our customers, so they can book their next holiday in WA sooner," Mr Muirhead said.
