Search Icon

SUCCESS STORY

Juneau Whale Watch

juneau-whale-watch

Overview

 

In its 17th year of operation, Alaskan-owned company Juneau Tours and Whale Watch weighs in as the largest independent tour provider in Southeast Alaska. But don’t let that title mislead you, this family operation is all about the customer experience. From sales agents and dock representatives to bus drivers/ guides, naturalists/deck hands and boat captains, Juneau Tours and Whale Watch treats everyone like well-loved family.

Back in 1998, Sky Bonnell relocated from Hawaii to fish commercially and drive a cab in the off-season. Even back then—before everyone owned a cell phone—Juneau greeted a large number of visitors. The growing demand soon warranted the need for a larger vehicle so Sky bought a bus in 2002.

Flash forward to 2019, Sky’s little company that started with a cab is now in two locations (Juneau and Skagway), offers more than eight different tours and serves close to 90,000 guests every summer. Managed by his sister, Serene Hutchinson, Juneau Tours and Whale Watch employs 60+ employees (more than half call Alaska their home) and has a whopping 70% employee retention rate!

 

 

Results

 

After deciding to move forward with Rezgo, they visited our office for an in-person onboarding experience.  Within two days, they were able to answer our accounting, operations, sales, and marketing department questions.  Rezgo helped us resolve our previous pain points related to our daily operational flow and revenue channels.

The Rezgo app is also a great addition for dock sales during peak season.  Bookings can be completed with just a few clicks. We’re looking forward to working with Rezgo on future projects!

 

MORE SUCCESS STORIES

Don't Just Take Our Word For It

  • River Safari Tours

    Waiatoto River Safari

    Waiatoto River Safari began in 1997. After selling the owner a plane and  flight training him, he in turn taught us to jet boat, and we purchased the business in 2013 . We’re a passionate local husband-and-wife team with a background of commercial flying in beautiful New Zealand. Our tours are unique. You come with us and learn about our lives and our amazing area, we give you access to extremely beautiful nature in a comfortable and easy fashion. You leave with it being the best experience you have had in NZ. Having come from 13 years of business in aviation, we knew we had to find a really good booking system for activities that worked well for clients as well as for us. In NZ, the choice was very limited and the main challenge was to find one that worked as an online diary and calendar and could also let the world know we were here and ready to be booked online. Rezgo was our choice as it was cutting edge at that time because of its functionality for both front end and back end use. The cost to us was realistic, too, unlike other alternatives at that time. Results Rezgo allowed us to be seen on an international scale and also provide succinct online booking from our website that could also be booked on a mobile phone. Back then, this was a relatively new thing for activity providers, especially smaller ones due to high cost of what was on the current market here in NZ. One of the most important feature of Rezgo for us would have to be the customer service, which has always been top notch. Fast response, always ready to help. Also, Rezgo’s features are always advancing and keeping up with current technology. We especially like the payment gateway options and the ongoing commitment to teaming up with big agencies overseas like Viator.

    Read More
  • Woodland Adventures

    Bowhunter Archery

    Based near Nairn in the Scottish Highlands, Bowhunter Archery offers visitors the chance to experience exciting outdoor activities like woodland archery, axe throwing, and bushcraft in small groups, guided by experienced instructors. Being a small, family-run business, time management is one of our greatest financial challenges. Since we operate over 8 different outdoor, woodland-based activities, we aren’t always able to answer phone calls or respond promptly to emails, messages, or even texts. On top of that, our remote location means mobile phone signals are unreliable, making it difficult to handle bookings or reply to enquiries efficiently. As a result, we were missing out on potential visitors, unable to fill last-minute spots simply because we couldn’t receive those calls. To address this, we realised the need for a system that would allow guests to check real-time availability and reserve their preferred slots at their own convenience—ensuring they can choose what best suits their memorable experiences in Scotland. During our evaluation of potential booking systems, we prioritised flexibility to accommodate multiple activities for a specific number of participants. It was essential that we retained control over activity management to enable us to consistently deliver a high-quality service. Given that our activities are already competitively priced, minimising revenue loss due to fees was critical. And finally, having clear tutorials and human support that empower users to independently manage their systems was a winner for us. Results The main advantage we’ve experienced with Rezgo is significant time savings. This has translated into cost efficiency because the staff member who used to manage bookings can now spend more time in the woods leading activities, like Haggis Herding! Bookings are submitted, assigned to instructors, and all logistics—including mandatory waivers—are organised before the visitors even arrive. The system has greatly improved our efficiency and reduced administrative workload. There’s been an increase–approximately 10%–in last-minute bookings that we were previously missing out on. Our resource-based setup provides real-time availability, giving customers control over their own experience, whilst we still have control over what is on offer for that specific date. And we’ve also made it easier for guests who plan ahead by allowing them to book well in advance. Rezgo’s booking software allows us to concentrate on business growth and quality by managing notifications, payments, gift vouchers, feedback, and comprehensive reports—including data on visitor origins. This facility has really helped us track and anticipate trends within worldwide tourism. We also use the reports to establish what activities are the most popular, patterns in days and times, along with all the usual financial reporting (and the most popular session is always the Woodland Archery!). With automated capacity management and instant communication, we can focus on growing our business and creating new experiences for our visitors–without losing our voice to the booking system, since we can customize it to reflect who we are. Rezgo’s onboarding experience was handled smoothly, complete with tutorials and ongoing support. Adopting new technology can feel intimidating, especially when it’s something as complex as a booking system. Many of our staff aren’t comfortable with technology—they’re more at home in the woods with the dinosaurs, and using a phone is already pushing their comfort zone. However, thanks to excellent tutorials, a helpful support team, and a well-organized knowledge base on the booking platform’s website, our staff have received strong guidance so far. As I prepare to add staff to the process, I am confident that any potential issues will be easily addressed by Rezgo’s support team. They are invested in our success and ensure our operations run efficiently.

    Read More
  • In-person Classes and Online Learning

    Ocean Wise

    Ocean Wise is a globally focused conservation organization on a mission to protect and restore the world’s oceans. Through research, education, direct-action conservation and field projects, we empower communities to take action for ocean health. Our past booking system was very clunky. Prior to Rezgo, we were unable to customise bookings, or change many details at all! Rezgo gives a lot more in-built analytics that enable us to know more about our customers Results Rezgo is full of options to make customising bookings and making payments easy. Cool and quick – like a racing penguin! Switching has saved us an incredible amount of time throughout the booking process, especially with custom or unique bookings. It is extremely user friendly and makes visualising bookings a lot faster and easier. Rezgo makes bookings a breeze with so many customisation options. The customisations make the booking process extremely time efficient and allow for staff to focus on other things. Rezgo staff and customer service has been amazing. They find ways to go above and beyond in support with any difficulties or unique needs. Rezgo has lots of tools to make the process so much more efficient, such as ‘Rules’ to easily control when an offering can or can’t be booked. This has saved a lot of time and made for a much smoother experience. Receiving payments has become so much simpler since switching to Rezgo. The best part is it is secure and simple for our customers.

    Read More