Tourism Talk – Industry Newsletter

Issue 264 - 23 March 2009

Tas E-Connect - Taking Tasmania To The World

Tas e-Connect is an initiative of Tourism Tasmania that will create more opportunities for consumers to purchase Tasmanian tourism product online, in real time, all the time.

Increasingly, consumers are using the Internet to plan and book their travel arrangements. New technologies are playing an important role in helping the tourism industry meet the demands of our consumers.

The Tas e-Connect initiative aims to encourage Tasmanian operators to get involved and gain access to a wide range of online distributors while significantly reducing the time spent on managing multiple distribution channels.

Most importantly, it means that customers, having found your product and availability details, will be able to make a booking immediately, clinching the sale then and there, no matter which distribution channel they’re using to find you.

The technology used to connect Tasmanian tourism suppliers’ booking engines to a wide range of online distributors is called the Open Booking Exchange (OBX). The technology was developed by V3, an Australian company that provides innovative online products and services to the tourism and leisure industry.

Using the OBX technology gives you the ability to select which distributors you want to book your product, the ability to stop participating with distributors at any time, and the capacity to customise prices for different distributors, while still remaining in control of your own inventory.

The OBX also allows you to view a distributor’s Terms and Conditions and commercial terms online before agreeing to the contract so you can simply opt in (or out) of the distribution channels that suit you at the time.

To gain the benefits of connecting to the Open Booking Exchange your business must be 'e-commerce enabled'. You need to be able to commit real-time availability of your products and allow a consumer to make a booking and instantly transact funds online. If you’re not e-commerce enabled, then this may be a good time to take the plunge and get connected.

Tourism Tasmania is providing a range of ways that operators can find more information on Tas e-Connect including a telephone help desk, ring 1300 303 259 or email taseconnect@tourismtasmania.com.au

Operators can also find an extensive list of FAQs and full contact details on the Tas e-Connect web pages on our Tourism Tasmania corporate website at www.tourismtasmania.com.au/taseconnect

To find out more about the world of online marketing and distribution see the Tourism e-Kit.

Tourism Tasmania’s New Corporate Website

Tourism Tasmania has redesigned its corporate website to improve the quality of its communications with industry. The new website is aimed specifically at the needs of industry and provides information on a range of programs and services available to Tasmanian Tourism operators.

The new easy-to-use website features an engaging design, an expanded news service on the home page, improved navigation to more easily find the information your interested in and quick links to specific areas of the website such as Industry grants and funding support.

New pages on the website include information on international marketing and Team Tasmania, partnership development and climate change for tourism operators.

The new website demonstrates Tourism Tasmania’s commitment to providing high quality online services, recognising that the future of tourism lies very much in the world of the Internet.

Feedback on the new design is invited, so let us know what you think.

In keeping with the new design Tourism Tasmania’s dedicated Marketing Together website has also been revamped. 

The Marketing Together website can be found at http://industry.tourismtasmania.com.au/mtg/

Autumn Marketing Campaign Up And Running

Tourism Tasmania’s Colours of Autumn marketing campaign, launched last month, continues to produce results with the Launceston call centre receiving over 120 calls requesting zone planners on the first Saturday of the campaign alone. Over the first weekend nearly 100 voice messages requesting further information were received as well as over 50 calls from Travel agents. Meanwhile our Colours of Autumn campaign website received over 1000 visits.

The Autumn campaign runs from February to June 2009 and, with a media value of more than $2.9 million, is one of the biggest seasonal tourism marketing campaigns run by Tourism Tasmania in the past 10 years. Partnership arrangements with Fairfax media enable operators to share in a range of print and online marketing opportunities to promote their product to our key domestic markets. Operators interested in participating can find out more by visiting the Marketing Together pages on the Tourism Tasmania Corporate website.

Tax Break For Asset Investment

Now is a good time for tourism operators to consider purchasing or updating their software management tools or expanding their online capability.

To support jobs and Australian business, the Australian Government will fund an investment tax break (for eligible assets, including computer hardware and software) for all Australian businesses. 

Small business can claim an additional 30% tax deduction for eligible assets costing $1,000 or more acquired before 30 June 2009, and installed before 30 June 2010.

Note that once this tax break offer expires on 30 June 2009, a lesser tax deduction of 10% will continue for assets acquired between 1 July 2009 and 31 December 2009, where they are installed ready for use before 31 December 2010.

The tax break will also be available for new expenditure on existing assets, as well as for new assets, so upgrades to existing computer equipment will also be eligible, as well as purchase of new equipment.

For more information see Small Business and General Business Tax Break on the website of the Treasurer.

Need a Good Web Professional?

Do you want a website to promote your product online but don’t know how to go about? Do you want to know what the different job roles are in the web industry and what skills and expertise you should look for in a web developer? You can find the answer to these questions in the tutorial Finding a Good Web Professional in the new Tourism e-kit.

The Tourism e-kit contains everything you need to know about websites and includes information on e-marketing, search engine optimisation, website strategy and much more. It can be downloaded free of charge as separate tutorials or as an entire document. Hardcopies of the complete kit are also available.

For more information contact:

TigerTour Update

There are no new additions to the Tiger Tour database.

Tourism Tasmania’s Product Consultants can assist you to update your business details, email: TigerTOUR@tourism.tas.gov.au or phone: (03) 6230 8229.


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