What's New

Tourism Exchange Australia (TXA)

The Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW) has launched a breakthrough initiative in digital marketing for the entire Australian tourism industry, with the signing of an alliance with Vcubed Pty Ltd (V3) which delivers Australia's first truly open booking exchange.

ATDW has teamed with V3 to provide a new service, Tourism Exchange Australia (TXA), using V3's unique Open Booking Exchange technology. The Exchange will link tourism providers with distributors and is an industry-wide initiative, covering accommodation, tours, attractions and events.

TXA gives product providers the opportunity to increase their sales and offers consumers the ability to source ATDW's high quality information about the tourism industry and book it securely online in real-time.

The South Australian Tourism Commission led the way in developing online booking opportunities for consumers through its ConnectSA partnership with V3. The SATC supports the TXA initiative and will continue to encourage our tourism operators to take advantage of online booking systems.

South Australian tourism operators interested in online bookings should contact Karen Head, ConnectSA Sales & Marketing Manager on (08) 8463 4522.

Fact sheets and other information are available from the ATDW website http://www.atdw.com.au/tourism_exchange_australia.asp 

Total Travel Joins ConnectSA

The South Australian Tourism Commission is pleased to announce that leading travel website, TotalTravel.com, will be joining the list of Distribution Channels selling ConnectSA products.
 
Ranked in the top two travel related websites in Australia by Hitwise (April 07 Report), TotalTravel.com now offers significant distribution and conversion opportunities for ConnectSA products.

Consistently, TotalTravel.com has been one of Australia's most successful referral websites for tourism operators. Now those same operators, who are also using ConnectSA, can add a Book Now Button to their listing, enabling consumers to search, book and pay directly from the Total Travel site.

What is more exciting is that money for any booking made through TotalTravel will go directly to the Product's nominated bank account. This means no more waiting for payment from 3rd parties.

Karen Head (ConnectSA Sales & Marketing Manager) said the partnership with TotalTravel offered a great opportunity for ConnectSA subscribers.

“We're very excited to announce this major national distribution partner joining the websites selling our ConnectSA operators,” she said.

ConnectSA now has in excess of more than 300 local products being booked through more than 120 distribution channels, including an Australian wide Visitor Information Centre Network.
 
For more information on how to take part in the ConnectSA network, please contact Karen Head on 8463 4522


Bordertown VIC joins ConnectSA
The Bordertown Visitor Information Centre (as a gateway into SA) is perfectly positioned to attract numerous visitors throughout the year, with many visitors wanting to book properties both locally and further into South Australia.

“We welcome all operators in Australia to 'opt-in' and we look forward to sending bookings your way”.

ConnectSA secures its first interstate VIC
The Mildura Visitor Information and Booking Centre is one of Australia's finest accredited centre. It is located in the architecturally renowned, spacious interior of The Alfred Deakin Centre, one kilometre from the central business area.

Over 555,000 people a year are drawn to the centre because of its open plan facilities, easy access and convenience. It is the hub and starting point for the majority of visitors to the region.

The South Australian Tourism Commission is very pleased to have the Mildura VIC on board. This VIC was selected due its ability to capture visitors entering South Australian from Victoria and New South Wales.

http://www.statesa.com/ joins ConnectSA
www.statesa.com is a website that promotes tourism within South Australia and provides a service for visitors to peruse a range of tourism products through its FREE-TO-LIST tourism directory.

And now, ConnectSA operators listed on statesa.com can have a Check Availability/Book Now button added to their listing.

All ConnectSA operators will have their businesses marked as 'Featured'. All featured listings appear first in their respective category.

The website currently ranks exceptionally well in Google; on the first page for the following searches:
South Australian Tourism
South Australian Tourism Directory
Adelaide Tourism
Adelaide Tourism Directory

A new distributor for ConnectSA - http://www.cyberium.com.au/
www.cyberium.com.au is a website that promotes tourist accommodation within South Australia, especially small and unique accommodations.

And now, ConnectSA operators listed on www.cyberium.com.au can have a Book Now button added to their listing.

Cyberium has had a web presence since 1996 and maintains a unique position in providing a directory style listing by region. Cyberium is on the front page of Google search results for many South Australian accommodation searches, as well as individual property names, and consistently has between 3500 and 4000 unique visitors per month.

About Australia website
ConnectSA's first national website distributor, featuring Australia wide product is now live. Check out http://www.about-australia.com/travel-guides/south-australia/accommodation/

Tour Adelaide and Tour South Australia join ConnectSA
http://www.touradelaide.com/ is ranked in the top five websites for Adelaide Information in popular search engines like Google & Yahoo, and it also attracts on average over 70,000 visits per month!

http://www.toursouthaustralia.com/ is the sister website and is being expanded to cover in detail all regions of South Australia

ConnectSA goes national!
In the biggest ConnectSA news this year…..

We are pleased to announce that ConnectSA's first national website, featuring Australia wide product is now live! The national distributor, www.about-australia.com is one of Australia's longest-established tourism information sites, attracting hundreds of thousands of users per month. It is also ranked in the top five by Google for the search term “Australia”.

To ensure exposure, about-australlia.com has chosen to place all ConnectSA listings above the standard listings. All ConnectSA enabled products feature a large orange “Check Availability” button, a colour that is also repeated within the listing for the 'Check Availability & Check Current Prices' icon.

Visit http://www.about-australia.com/travel-guides/south-australia/accommodation/ to see for yourself!

New improvements

The SMS and email notification service
Earlier this year ConnectSA introduced the mobile phone SMS notification service, allowing operators to receive an SMS (as well as an email) to notify of a new ConnectSA online booking.

The SMS will provide you with the guests name, contact phone numbers, dates booked and details of where the booking originated (e.g. Loxton VIC, southaustralia.com). It's a great service for those who don't work in the office 24/7!

ConnectSA Business Support Service
ConnectSA now has its own call centre service - ConnectSA Business Support Service.

Imagine you are away from your computer and receive a booking enquiry on your mobile phone from a customer. How do you confirm the booking without running the risk of a duplicate booking online? Simple. The new ConnectSA Business Support service allows you to be away from the computer and still receive a booking enquiry.

Once you receive your booking via the phone, all you need to do is call our Business Support Service and our support staff will enter the booking into ConnectSA on your behalf.

This new service is ideal for small tourism businesses, particularly those operators who have only one property or who are employed in other businesses.

If you would like more information on about-australia.com, SMS functionally, our new Business Support Service, please contact: Karen Head on 08 8463 4500

Consumer marketing

Tourism operators offering online bookings are identified by the distinctive Book now logo.

On the home page of southaustralia.com consumers are encouraged to look for the Book now logo to make a reservation.

Operators Quotes

"Just wanted to say thanks for adding this phone-in service, it's certainly a step in the right direction. We pride ourselves that in 16 years we have never double booked. Thanks for listening."
Brenton Newman, Saunders Gorge Sanctuary (June 2006)

"Since we have been using the system I have stopped using one of the major worldwide on-line booking channels because this system offers SMS functionality and it is backed by our State Tourism Organization. Due to the size of my business, it is very important to me to always know when I receive a booking wherever I am. With this system I can take bookings up until the last minute and I'm notified straight away via SMS if someone is checking in tonight."
Morag Zeman, Amble at Hahndorf (February 2006)

"Since going 'live' in December 05, we have had 11 bookings as a direct result of ConnectSA. As a small business, this is really significant for us and we are thrilled! We have been amazed at how easy it is to turn an enquiry into a booking and how easy it is for our clients to use the payment gateway. The whole process is easy - the technology is user friendly and we get great support from the ConnectSA team. We recommend for everyone to give it a go. Thanks ConnectSA, for the opportunity to help grow our business."
Pat Armstrong and Steve Connelly, Melrose Apartment, Glenelg SA (February 2006)

"It was very easy to put a "Book Now" button on our own website that took the potential customer directly to the package chosen. So, for example on our website we have 3 packages which are displayed on a single page side-by-side with their appropriate features listed beneath each one. If the customer chooses, say, the Romance Package the link takes them directly to the V3 booking page relating to that package only.

SMS notification is brilliant. We know that if we're out and about and a booking is made for that day, we can organise our day accordingly without having to have access to the PC all day. It has taken the worry our of being away from our base or the need to search for Hot Spots periodically when carrying the laptop. We love the Beep, Beep, even if it is at 10pm!

Multiple distribution channels - we feel like spiders sitting in the middle our our web, waiting to catch flies in a web that is growing ever larger."
Sue and Paul Elliot, Corinium Roman Villa, Inman Valley SA (February 2006)

"We are very pleased that the SATC has invested in this revolutionary technology. Through ConnectSA the SATC has created a point of difference that distinguishes South Australia from all other states."
Clive Rochford, Wine and Rose Bed and Breakfast, McLaren Vale SA (September 2005)