PAC Web
Fiji's 'BedBank' Sets Global Pace
Wholesalers’ Delighted with New On-Line Service
Fiji’s hotel industry is the beneficiary of a new business-to-business Web site, FijiBedBank.com , that gives tourism wholesalers immediate and accurate room availability and allows them to make on-line bookings with immediate confirmation. The brainchild of local professionals with extensive experience and background in the tourism and information technology industries, FijiBedBank.com was launched at the Bula Fiji Tourism Exchange last May.
Head of Interactive Marketing for FijiBedBank.com, Eroni Puamau, said FijiBedBank.com was possibly the first of its kind in the world, with a number of overseas Internet companies such as HotelBank.com and E-Bookers.com keen to acquire the technology for their own clients. Puamau said the locally-owned and operated company was born out of the growing frustration of wholesalers not being able to determine accurate room availability of key hotels and resorts in Fiji during peak periods and receiving booking confirmations in a timely manner. "This greatly affected their selling ability and resulted in Fiji losing out on tourism numbers and revenue as a result of these travelers being re-directed to other destinations because they could not secure rooms in Fiji."
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FijiBedBank.com operates a “live” database on the Internet. As a B2B exchange, it is a closed site and only accessible to the 40 or so member hotels/resorts in Fiji and the wholesalers selling them. Hotels and resorts input their room availability. Whole-salers access this information and can book rooms with immediate confirmation; the resorts receive the bookings and process them. The inventory is automatically updated on each booking. Hotels and resorts pay a minimal booking fee to FijiBedBank.com on every confirmed booking received via the site.
Puamau said the response has been very good particularly from the wholesalers who "have welcomed FijibedBank.com with enthusiasm and relief." Wholesalers provide 80 percent of the tourism travel business to Fiji.
"You can imagine the huge improvement in customer service this has within the wholesale/retail operation where a holiday room can be confirmed on the spot simply by just logging into FijiBedBank.com," Puamau said.
"FijiBedBank.com was launched in Australia and New Zealand three months ago and we have seen a very high adoption rate amongst the key wholesalers in these two markets," Puamau said. "In New Zealand, it’s a 100 percent adoption rate, with all the wholesalers using FijiBed-Bank.com and opening it up to their front end reservation staff. That’s a massive number of users as one wholesaler would normally have around 50 reservations staff.
"For the long-haul wholesalers in North America and Europe, Fiji-Bed-Bank.com has developed strategic partnerships with local inbound operators such as Rosies, UTC, Travel Arrangements Fiji, Southern World Fiji, Adventure & Endless Holidays to get their wholesale clients in these markets to use FijiBedBank.com."
