21/10/2009
Tourism Exchange is providing Taranaki tourism providers with a much-needed boost to their businesses with an online marketplace to promote their products and services.
“We’re advising our members that it has great potential,” says Venture Taranaki’s Paul Stancliffe. “Our smaller operators will really benefit from getting into international markets. At the moment they have to go through RTO’s and they often can’t afford to advertise or attend industry conferences like TRENZ, so an online marketplace will assist them greatly.”
“Tourism Exchange is about bringing people together and I see it working very well. I believe it will snowball – starting out small and growing exponentially, like Wotif did,” says Tony Boswell, managing director Quest New Plymouth.
“From a larger regional perspective, it will showcase Taranaki to the international market and inbound operators. Currently, if an inbound operator or wholesaler wants to go to Taranaki, they have to rely on their own knowledge through product manuals or databases, often missing out on the more interesting new-to-market products and services. With the Tourism Exchange, they can go on a live site and at the drop of a hat they can choose something suitable,” explains Stancliffe.
With uncertain times in the tourism business, Tourism Exchange has come along with a timely solution to help operators take their businesses to another level. For those with no web presence or prior online booking facilities, the service offers real value with transactions fees only on actual bookings.
“Taranaki has a lot to offer and we’re really excited to be able to showcase the region to the world and help smaller operators with an online presence and bigger operators with reduced administration costs,” explains Sam Coxhead, Tourism Exchange’s Central North Island regional development manager.
“Tourism Exchange will be fantastic for regional events,” says Tony Boswell, managing director Quest New Plymouth. “Currently, people have to go through many different agents to book their whole trip, with the ticket clipped along the way by everyone. Now they can organize everything in the one hit.”
With Fleetwood Mac choosing Taranaki as the location for their only New Zealand gig, as well as an expected 40,000 people visiting WOMAD festival in March 2010, the Tourism Exchange will be partnering with local operators to make sure accommodation and tourism services make the time spent in Taranaki “like no other”.
Quest New Plymouth
