It's now February and 2011 is in full swing. We've been busy and have a number of exciting new features to tell you about and a cool new activities reseller on the network. Check them out and as always, let us know if you need anything! 

Cheers - Daniel

In this issue:
  • Using BookIt in your own website or for the new-look newzealand.com
  • New BookIt features
  • New Travelbug features
  • Trade Me auctions reminder
  • New resellers in the network
  • Reseller feature - activate-me.co.nz
BookIt, low cost self-retail and the new newzealand.com
You may know that you can use BookIt to sell your own product on your own website, but you may not know that it only costs 4.5% commission for accommodation bookings and 6% for non-accommodation - including credit card fees and commission.

With the new newzealand.com providing you the opportunity to link to your own website, make sure you are maximising all your traffic by offering quick and easy bookings for all visitors to your site. Adding BookIt to your site is quick and easy and is available for no upfront cost.

You can add BookIt to your website for no upfront cost or you can choose to add your own website's look and feel for a small additional cost. Contact us for more information. You may know that you can use BookIt to sell your own product on your own website, but you may not know that it only costs 4.5% commission for accommodation bookings and 6% for non-accommodation - including credit card processing fees. With the new newzealand.com providing you the opportunity to have a 'Book Now' link to your own website, make sure you are maximising all your traffic by offering realtime (and secure) booking services to visitors to your site. Adding BookIt to your site is quick and easy and is available for no upfront cost. You can choose to add your own website's look and feel for a small additional cost. Another reason for adding BookIt services to your own website is to be able to measure the effectiveness of your website, and cut down on the steps potential guests/visitors need to make to confirm a booking. Recent feedback from Flying Kiwi Parasail in the Bay of Islands was very positive, they have had over $5000 in direct bookings since adding the BookIt calendar to their website in December - prior to that it was difficult to differentiate where the booking closed i.e. web, email, phone or walk up. Contact us for more information, and for assistance in adding BookIt services and tools to your own website.
New BookIt features
The dev team have recently released a few cool new features on BookIt including:
  1. Manage products outside your channel manager - if you've ever wanted to run a short-term promotion on Travelbug but have been unable to because it takes too long linking it with your channel manager, good news! You can now choose to load a product and manage it manually by entering rates and inventory directly in your Inventory Manager.

  2. Product descriptions on accommodation bookings - travellers and operators now get the full product description on confirmation emails. This makes it easier for both parties to see what has been booked. Please make sure you are happy with your product descriptions today.

Login to BookIt and check out these new features.

New Travelbug features
Trevor the Travelbug continues to sharpen up his act. There will be more cool new features coming out soon (so watch this space) but for now here are the recent improvements:
  1. Travelbug enquiry feature - we now allow back-and-forth enquiry threads between travellers and Travelbug properties to enable easier enquiry and reply. These enquiries are free for operators and so we'd ask that wherever possible you direct travellers back to your Travelbug listing to make their booking.

  2. Travelbug deals of the week email makeover - one property per week will be featured at the top of the email and in the subject line. If you have a deal that you would like featured, email deals@travelbug.co.nz and send us the details.
Trade Me auctions reminder
Have you tried auctions on Trade Me yet? You can load accommodation auctions in BookIt for no upfront cost (just a 10% commission on confirmed bookings) and there is no post-auction hassle.

Auctions are great for selling distressed inventory but even more useful for getting free exposure for your business. To maximise the opportunity you should make your auction name interesting, make your description stand out and try $1 reserve auctions - they attract more bids, more pageviews and therefore more buzz.

Login to BookIt and load some auctions today!

New resellers in the network
We've got more new resellers selling product around the world every month, here are the latest additions:

Reseller name Reseller type Website target region
Automatic inclusion
Stay in New Zealand Accommodation directory National
Contact reseller to register
Destination Marlborough RTO Marlborough
Tourism Coromandel RTO Coromandel
Venture Taranaki RTO Taranaki
The Coromandel Roadtrip Regional travel directory Coromandel
Activate-Me Specialist activity directory National
New Plymouth Accommodation Specialist accommodation directory New Plymouth
HanmerNZ.com Regional travel directory Hanmer Springs
Whakatane District Council Regional travel directory Whakatane
Opotiki District Council Regional travel directory Opotiki
Holidays Queenstown Specialist travel directory Queenstown
Reseller feature - Activate Me
Activate-Me.co.nz is a website devoted to promoting activities throughout New Zealand. Like Accommodate-Me, every listing can display pictures, video, description text and BookIt calendars and secure booking service.

All Activate Me listings will display on Accommodate-Me accommodation listings enabling you to be viewed by over 50,000 visitors every year. We invite all BookIt customers to list on Activate-Me for a yearly fee of $59.95 + GST.

To view the site go to Activate-Me.co.nz or for more information, contact steve@accommodateme.co.nz

Activate-Me
BookIt billing address change
Please make sure you have the correct billing address for BookIt - it is:

BookIt
C/- Trade Me Limited
PO Box 11042
Wellington
New Zealand
Thanks for reading. If you need any help, please contact us on 0508 BOOKIT or email support@bookit.co.nz.

Kind Regards,

The BookIt team