We are thrilled to advise that the migration of Travelbug to BookIt is complete. As of 3.15pm on 1st June, the BookIt system is processing all bookings on Travelbug.

Congratulations to Pinewood Lodge who was the first operator to receive a Travelbug booking through BookIt - a Travelbug t-shirt is on its way to you!

There are a few things we need you to know about how "new Travelbug" differs from "old Travelbug". While it is essentially working in exactly the same manner, thereare a few differences that come out of the extra flexibility that the BookIt system enables, so please see below for the answers to our most frequently asked questions.

Thank you for helping us meet our targeted date of 1st June. Please let us knowif there is anything we can do to help you get the best out of the BookIt system.

Kind regards,The Trade Me Travel team
support@bookit.co.nz

• As Travelbug bookings are processed by BookIt, you will receive booking emails and invoices from BookIt. These are formatted differently to the old Vianet emails but have all the information you need. Here's an example of how your booking confirmation/invoice email will appear:
  
  
  
• You can now amend Travelbug bookings within your BookIt account, with extra charges or refunds processed automatically back to the traveller's credit card.
• The minimum cancellation fee on BookIt is $10, rather than the 20% minimum that was applied on Vianet. Please make sure you set your cancellation policies in BookIt on the 'Product setup' page.

• We've added BookIt traveller feedback to Travelbug so there may be some new feedback on your Travelbug listing page.
• Rankings have changed slightly as a result of the switch. Bugrank still applies, however, and offering instant confirmation is still the best way to rank highly in search results. Give us a call if you need help to move to instant confirmation.
• Regions and districts have changed, please check where you appear and make sure you are happy with your region and district. We can't add every little district but we'll do our best to help you out.

• By default, payment for BookIt bookings are made to your nominated account automatically 7 days before arrival, with weekly payment runs on a Thursday evening. If you already have a BookIt listing and have changed your payment terms, your settings will not have changed. You can view payments due on the 'Billing' tab within BookIt.
• If you have lost your BookIt login details go to http://business.bookit.co.nz/pub/PwdRecover.aspx and enter the email address ich this email was sent
• BookIt does not currently offer a text message notification service for booking requests and confirmations.

• We won't switch Vianet off until around the end of September. Funds for forward bookings are secure and will be paid out as normal.
• Please keep updating Vianet for self-retail (if using Vianet within your own site) and other Vianet reseller websites. If you don't want to manage instant confirmation on both systems, please use Vianet for on-request and make BookIt instant confirmation.
• If you use Vianet in your website for direct bookings, you will need to switch to BookIt. The code is available for you to download within your BookIt account so please let us know if you need any help with that.

It's been a while since our last newsletter - since we joined Trade Me, in fact - and we thought it was about time to welcome you to the BookIt network, or welcome you back if you've been around for a while. We'd also like to tell you about some exciting changes to the system and update you on the integration of BookIt into Travelbug.

New BookIt features We've recently added some new features to the site: Inventory manager - allows you to view all products and their rates and inventory on one screen to more easily manage your business. You can use it to copy inventory and prices across and down, manage minimum stays and block out unavailable dates.   Cancellation policies - you can now assign different cancellation policies for different products. This is perfect for non-refundable and fully-flexi products.   Login removal - travellers no longer need to create a login to book. This makes things faster and easier for them, while you benefit from more bookings.

Moving from Vianet to BookIt We're well into the migration of Vianet to BookIt, with all Vianet accounts now mirrored on BookIt and either approved or ready to approve once rates have been loaded. If you haven't already, please log in to BookIt and load rate seasons, rates and inventory ready for when Travelbug switches to BookIt at the start of June. We will switch the Vianet system off for new bookings later this year.

BookIt tips and tricks If you are new to the BookIt system, here are a couple of things you might find useful: Booking notification emails are sent to the "master" user email address, or the reservations user email address if there is one. Please make sure you are happy with the email address loaded in your account. Amendments are a great feature of the BookIt system. Do you have a guest that wants to change their dates of stay or the number of nights? Simply view the booking and use the editing tools at the bottom of the page - refunds or extra charges are made automatically to the traveller's credit card.

Fraud and chargebacks There's no escaping the fact that there are dirty, rotten scoundrels out there who make bookings on other people's credit cards. We get a few chargebacks from people questioning the charges they find on their cards; unfortunately, it is up to you to match the person who checks in with the person who made the booking, and where possible obtain: a signed registration form a copy of their ID If you have this information, we'll be able to provide it to the bank if the charge is questioned by the card holder. If the information is not provided, the chargeback is likely to hit your account.

Moving from Vianet to BookIt While we're part of Trade Me, we're our own little team and we're here to bring you online exposure and bookings. If you have any questions at all, make sure you contact us on 0508 BOOKIT or email support@bookit.co.nz. Thanks for reading this newsletter, we'll be in touch again soon. Regards, The Trade Me Travel team

Trade Me has reached conditional agreement to acquire the business of BookIt Limited.

Dunedin-based BookIt is a leading online software provider for New Zealand tourism operators. The company has been providing booking tools and payment processing services for a network of more than 40 reselling websites and 1700 tourism suppliers for the last five years.

BookIt co-founder, Ian Taylor, explains the sale to Trade Me would bring a level of online expertise and resource that would allow BookIt to realise its full potential.

"We have been looking for a strategic partner for some time who shared our vision in the online booking space. Trade Me was the perfect fit and feedback from our clients has been positive".

BookIt was recently included in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 for the Asia Pacific region, having experienced very strong growth over the past two years. It has three staff who will continue on in the business as Trade Me employees.

Trade Me’s Head of Travel Alex Fala said the deal would be good for existing customers of both Trade Me and BookIt.

"Users of Travelbug and our reseller network will be able to choose from a deeper selection of accommodation and a broader range of products, including activities like skiing and sightseeing tours. Suppliers to BookIt and Trade Me will benefit from a larger audience.”

Mr Fala said Kiwis are using the internet more to book their travel, and the move made sense. “Trade Me made it easy for people to buy and sell online, and we’re confident that Travelbug will continue to make booking travel in New Zealand easier too.”

The new Trade Me travel team will be working with suppliers and resellers to ensure a smooth integration.

Contact:

Alex Fala Trade Me Ph 021 896 363

About Travelbug

Travelbug, launched in September 2007, is a website offering accommodation booking services with over 2,500 bookable properties across New Zealand. Travellers can book all accommodation types with no booking fee up to 365 days in advance, and then rate their experience to help keep other travellers informed.

In this Newsletter:

• Yellow™ Maps relaunches with BookIt powered search
• e-Tourism Conference October 1-2, Wellington
• Update on real-time booking options - EZYield now live
• Some statistics from the BookIt online booking marketplace
• Help us grow NZ's favourite online booking network

Read the full Newsletter here...

In this newsletter:

• BookIt named finalist in NZ hi-tech awards
• WellingtonNZ.com take online bookings to a new level with BookIt
• Winter bookings kicking in early this year
• Enhancements to the BookIt system
• Feedback from travellers
• Welcome to over 200 new members

Read the March 2009 newsletter

We would like to say a big "thank you" to all our clients and suppliers for your support this year. It has been a great year for us and we are looking forward to working with you in 2009.

Have a very merry Christmas and fantastic New Year!

There has been a lot of excellent advice published recently in terms of what tourism operators can be doing to fight the recession. In this Newsletter we look at how you can implement some of this advice via your BookIt account. All of the tips provided are things you can do for free and BookIt are just a phone call or email away to help you.

Read the rest of the November newsletter

What a fantastic winter!

The Ministry of Tourism's most recent Regional Visitor Monitor shows that, while growth in accommodation bookings online is remaining steady, there is a sharp and marked increase in the number of visitors booking attractions and activities online. It is great to see the many activity, tour and attraction operators that we work with, taking real advantage of the online booking space using BookIt.

Talk to the team today about cross-selling complementary products via your own website and earning commissions with zero administration.

As we see out the rest of this extended ski season and look forward to summer, make sure you have your rates and product info all up to date.

Read the rest of the September newsletter

Thanks for taking some time from your busy day to read this newsletter! We are bracing for the winter season, not only in terms of the colder weather but also with the imminent flood of winter bookings through our many wonderful ski operators.

BookIt is committed to providing a great New Zealand travel service on behalf of our partners. If you have any questions please contact us toll free on 0508 BOOKIT (0508 266 548) or email to info@nzbookit.com.

Finally, all the best to those of you who are heading to Trenz next week to showcase your operations.

Read the rest of the May newsletter here

Just a quick e-mail from the team at BookIt to wish you a merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year!

Thank you for all your support this year and we look forward to working with you in 2008.

Read the rest of the December newsletter