Rezgo Connections – July 2010

In this Rezgo Connections Newsletter:

1. Important XML API Changes
2. Widgets and Tag
3. Making your brochures more effective
4. Using promotion codes to drive bookings

Important XML API Changes

Please note that there have been two important changes to the XML API.  These changes affect the category/tag request and response messages and the booking search request and response messages.  For more details please read the following related posts on the Rezgo site:

• XML API Changes – Tag Support
• XML API Changes – Search Bookings Query

Widgets & Tags

We’ve added some new features to Rezgo in response to your requests.  In case you’re wondering, not all requests make it into Rezgo.  The ones that do make it tend to be ones that we hear over and over again.  So if you feel really strongly about a feature let us know by posting it on the Rezgo Getsatisfaction forum.

This latest release of Rezgo includes these new features:

• Improved support for tags – After much internal debate and research, we have completely rebuilt the classification and category system and replaced it with tags.  You may have noticed that we had already begun to migrate towards tags with the “Tag Cloud” on the front-end.  The new tag system allows you to tag each tour/activity/event with up to 10 tags.  You can choose from existing tags or add your own custom tags.  This gives you much more control over how you sort your tours/activities/events and allows you to group tours together based on multiple tags as opposed to a single category.
• Javascript Widget – You now have the abilityto  display a list of your tours/activities/events on any website using a single line of javascript.  The javascript widget gives you the ability to format and display the list using CSS styles.  For more details, read this article on the Rezgo website.  If you have a creative way to implement the widget, please let us know and we’d be happy to feature what you’re doing.

Measuring Marketing ROI for Your Rackcards

Every in-destination tourism company (whether it is an attraction, tour operator, or activity provider) prints brochures and rack cards for distribution to tourists.  It doesn’t matter what market you are in, you will find these brochures in the lobbies of hotels, store fronts, and tourist offices.  Hundreds of thousands (perhaps even millions) of dollars are spent on the printing and distribution of these brochures.  But how do you actually track the effectiveness of these brochures?How many companies actually track their referrals from these printed tidbits?  Surprisingly, none of the companies I have talked to over the years has actually tracked (effectively) these brochures.  READ MORE..

Using Promotional Codes to Drive On-line Bookings

Coupons and promotions have been around for a long time and are commonly used to drive business by providing price incentives.  As a tour or activity operator, there are a lot of ways you can use a promotional coupon to drive new or repeat business to your website.  In the traditional model, a customer would find a coupon in a newspaper or in a coupon book, cut it out, bring it with them, and redeem it when they take the tour or activity.  Now, however, there are much more efficient ways to use coupons with online bookings.  READ MORE…

Refer a Friend to Rezgo

Now is a great time to update your website or get online bookings set-up for your next season. Our goal at Rezgo is to take care of all the technical stuff so you can focus on what you love to do. The more tour & activity companies that use Rezgo, the stronger Rezgo becomes for you and all the members. If you know a company that could benefit from using Rezgo, let us know and when your referral reaches $1000 in front-end bookings using Rezgo, we’ll add a $25 USD credit to your Rezgo account. So go ahead and refer a friend now!