I will soon be offering an opportunity to list your accommodation with a new online booking platform dedicated to the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail, similar to the portal for the hugely successful Blue Derby mountain biking park in Tasmania:
https://www.bookingsridebluederby.com.au/accommodation
From my recent experience of designing itineraries for people wanting to do the rail trail, they’re finding the process of booking accommodation, bike hire, shuttles etc. “baffling” (as one client put it). Unfortunately, I had to pause the service because demand was so high that I simply could not handle the volume.
Now that I understand the problem, I’ve been reconfiguring my www.brisbanevalleyrailtrail.com.au website to make the visitation planning experience a lot easier, but a one-stop accommodation booking platform integrated with the website will be a game changer. It can also be used for tour booking as well as for accommodation.
We need to look at this from the perspective of people wanting to organise their adventure on the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail.
Visitors to the BVRT generally fall into one of two categories. Either they plan to ride or hike the entire 161 km length of the rail trail, or they plan to spend a relaxing few days staying in one location whilst they explore different sections of the rail trail.
We need to make the process of booking their holiday as easy as possible for them.
This is a quote from someone on Facebook from a discussion thread about the need for such a platform:
“MK To any businesses reading this – I just booked a trip to Derby via that site using only businesses on the site because it was so easy and the businesses on there looked good enough that I didn’t bother trying to go find everything myself. I don’t know what costs are involved but I think it might really be a game changer for anyone that gets in early and establishes a presence in the market.”
And other comment by the owner of Yarraman Caravan Park:
“TP Thanks Paul – sounds like a great idea. Basically, we all need to think from the guest’s point of view – “how can we solve their problems” when it comes to visiting our town. Whether we like it or not, everyone in Yarraman is in the tourist industry – it will be tourists who help bring more people to town, who give it more visibility, so more people move here, more workers, more adding to the economy.”
The best solution I can find is the BookEasy platform used by Blue Derby (based on the Gold Coast, so a local Queensland company).
There is a significant set up cost, but since I now have enough support from local accommodation providers, I’m willing to make the investment. I’ve signed the contract and we are moving to the onboarding stage for accommodation providers.
It will be a game changer by providing a platform dedicated to BVRT tourism.
For most accommodation providers, it can integrate with your existing booking platforms and there is no significant additional cost if you’re already paying a service fee to other booking platforms such as Airbnb.
You can also use it as your sole booking platform.
The cost to providers would be a 15% service fee for every booking, which is on a par with other booking platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com. I would receive a commission which will help me to recover the significant initial set up costs over 2 years.
Please feel welcome to give me a call on 0417 342 854 or email me if you’re interested in being a part of this exciting innovation for Brisbane Valley Rail Trail tourism or if you would like more information.
Paul Heymans
BVRT Adventures.
