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...

The main reasons for this change are that we are phasing out the nzbookit.com domain name and internationalising the booking process for our overseas clients.

What you need to know:

• Any links on your website that point to the current BookIt URL will continue to work and you don't need to change anything here (these links will redirect to the bookitsecure.com domain name)
• However, any future booking links we supply you will be on the bookitsecure.com URL
• If you use any analytics tracking code you may need to update this with the new URL. For example, if you use Google Analytics tracking code and have created "goals" that refer to the nzbookit.com domain name, these will need to be updated to the bookitsecure.com domain name. Below are the pages commonly used for this purpose
• Once the changeover is complete we advise you to check your tracking code in the days following the rollover to ensure everything is working as expected

Main booking pages affected:

Configuration page:
http://bookings.nzbookit.com/pub/config.aspx changed to http://bookings.bookitsecure.com/pub/config.aspx

Quote page:
http://bookings.nzbookit.com/pub/quote.aspx changed to http://bookings.bookitsecure.com/pub/quote.aspx

Payment page:
https://bookings.nzbookit.com/sec/itin.aspx changed to https://bookings.bookitsecure.com/sec/itin.aspx

Confirmation page:
https://bookings.nzbookit.com/sec/status.aspx changed to https://bookings.bookitsecure.com/sec/status.aspx

To update "goals" in Google Analytics, log into your account then choose "Analytics Settings" in the nav bar. Then click "edit" next to the goal you want to amend and update the Goal URL and steps with the new URL's above.

UPDATE:
The new URL is now live

We all know that real-time confirmation of bookings is a "must have" feature for both customers and operators. But did you know that BookIt can provide a real-time link to the leading channel managers and Property Management Systems in New Zealand?

A real-time link via a channel manager is a great way of giving customers an instant confirmation, saves you time and prevents double booking situations.

We've been working hard to connect BookIt to as many channel managers as possible and we are pleased to say that we now work with the following:

We are also building links to the systems below and will make an announcement as soon as these are ready:

• ChannelDirect
• Availability
• SmartFX 

In a media release yesterday, the Ministry of Tourism Research have confirmed that New Zealand travellers are increasingly using the internet to book more than just accommodation. The report comes as a result of the latest Regional Visitor Monitor (RVM) survey.

“We’re seeing a real trend to domestic travel being booked online across a range of travel purchases,” said Bruce Bassett, Ministry of Tourism Research Manager.

Mr Bassett said that these findings show that tourism operators in all areas of the industry needed to get their inventory web-ready and keep their web content fresh and relevant.

“This data sends a clear message to operators that domestic travellers, who account for 56% of tourism spend in New Zealand, are expecting to be able to plan and book as much as they can online. It’s important for operators to make sure their website meets this expectation.”

If it is not done well, online bookings can be a complicated, costly & unproductive exercise. The really good news for NZ tourism operators, is that BookIt makes online bookings easy and accessible for everyone. Since 1999 we have been building online booking systems for the travel and tourism industry and for over 5 years we have packaged this knowledge into our BookIt online booking engine.

With clients that range from NZ's largest tourism organisations and RTO's, through to family run B&B's, BookIt can plug into your website for FREE to capture this growth in online booking activity.

Contact us, or register for free today!

BookIt suppliers will soon find themselves squarely on the map with the announcement by Yellow™ that it has chosen BookIt to deliver live rates and booking functionality for the recently re-launched Yellow™ Maps site.

"We are delighted to have been selected", explains Ryan Baker, Director of BookIt Ltd. "The team at Yellow evaluated the different options available to them, and we were always confident that BookIt was the right solution."

Working with Auckland based Marker Studio, BookIt will provide live feeds of product rates and bookings availability within a new dedicated accommodation search feature on Yellow™ Maps. Visitors to the new website will be able to search, locate, compare and book from a range of available options.

Campbell Brown, Senior Product Manager for Yellow’s Digital Media team, will head up the project.

“The partnership with BookIt is a great fit for us”, explains Campbell. “Yellow Maps is a key component of our digital strategy and providing accommodation search is a natural progression for this site.  Along with the fundamentals like maps, driving directions, and business listings we needed the best possible solution for accommodation search.  With the BookIt solution we are able to directly access the data that we need and present this on a map specific to the user’s requirements. 

“BookIt’s software also gives us a full, out of the box, online booking engine that we can plug directly into the Yellow Maps website.“

If you are a tourism operator and have not yet signed up for a free BookIt account, we have a simple piece of advice for you, do it now! Any operator, large or small, whether accommodation, transport or activity, can register with BookIt and have their products advertised on a range of leading travel websites, soon to include Yellow™ Maps.

The new look Yellow™ Maps site launched on April 10th 2009 with another release that will include the BookIt function set for mid June 2009.

What do you do when a customer wants to cancel their booking? This short guide explains the different options available for every party involved.

For Suppliers:
If a customer contacts you to cancel a BookIt booking, you do not need to send them back to BookIt, or back to the Reseller website owner.

Simply log in to your BookIt account (http://business.bookit.co.nz), search for the booking in the “Bookings” section and select the “Cancel” option at the bottom of the page. If you have forgotten your password click the “Forgotten password” link and your password will be emailed to you.

The BookIt system will apply your applicable cancellation policy. You also have the option of waiving your cancellation fees if you need to, or even if you’re just feeling generous that day!

And of course, make sure to cancel the booking in your own system if it is not directly integrated with BookIt.

If you need to check or update your cancellation policies, go to:
Product Details -> Edit Business -> Cancellation policies and special terms

For Resellers:
If a customer contacts you to cancel a BookIt booking made through your website, you do not need to send them back to BookIt.

You can log in to your BookIt account as per the Suppliers section above and cancel the booking. The BookIt system will apply the appropriate supplier’s cancellation policy and then notify the supplier of the cancellation.

You can also advise the customer that they can cancel the booking themselves, read on…

For Customers:
When a customer wishes to cancel their booking, they can log in to their BookIt account at http://bookings.bookit.co.nz. A login password will have been emailed to them when they made the booking. Customers can also login with the 10 digit itinerary code printed on their voucher.

The BookIt system will apply the appropriate supplier’s cancellation policy and then notify the supplier of the cancellation.

Amendments:
Please note, amendments are also no problem with the BookIt system. You can amend a booking in a very similar manner to the above, simply select the "Amend booking" option and follow the wizard to make the necessary changes. Any refunds or additional payments required with the customer and adjustments in payments and commissions are all calculated and generated instantly!

Support:
If you get stuck, BookIt’s support team can help:

During business hours:   Toll free 0508 BOOKIT (0508 266548) or email to support@bookit.co.nz
After hours & public holidays:  Email to support@bookit.co.nz

The fourth annual Fraud Awareness Week was kicked off earlier this month with a speech by Hon Heather Roy, Minister Of Consumer Affairs at the Trade Me offices in Wellington.

Fraud Awareness Week is run in New Zealand by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and the Commerce Commission as part of the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce - a group of 19 Australian and New Zealand government agencies. The Taskforce works together to reduce the incidence and impact of frauds and scams and, each year, co-ordinates an information campaign for consumers timed to coincide with other global consumer fraud prevention activities.

In the world of online bookings, attempted fraud is an unfortunate inevitability. But don't worry, we've got your back. The team at BookIt have intercepted a number of fraud attempts over the past few years successfully preventing any losses on behalf of our customers.

The most common scam is for a fraudster to make a large booking using a stolen credit card. Shortly after making the booking, they will ask for a full refund to be made, either to another credit card, or via an international transfer service such as Western Union. It is very important to never process a refund to another credit card or via Western Union. All refunds should go through the BookIt system and will automatically be processed back to the original credit card.

If you receive a booking that looks suspicious, don't hesitate to contact us immediately. We have a number of measures in place to detect and avoid internet fraud and are here to help.

For more information visit http://www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz/scamwatch. SCAMwatch is an information service provided by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.

We've just rolled out a new version of the inventory manager. Its now even easier to manage your inventory online and allow customers to make real-time bookings with your property.

Here is what the new inventory manager calendar looks like:

The main changes include:

• Ability to set a minimum stay period on individual days for accommodation operators
• Simplified interface
• Easier to make changes to multiple days without tabbing between cells