News
Tourism Industry Welcomes Tas e-Connect
Posted on Monday, 16 March 2009 | Permalink
The Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania has urged all tourism operators to get on board Tourism Tasmania’s new Tas e-Connect initiative.
TICT chief executive Daniel Hanna said the move was the right response to new demands of tourism consumers and potential visitors to Tasmania.
“Tas e-Connect gives tourism operators the means to connect their businesses with consumers everywhere,” Mr Hanna said.
“Consumers aren’t just researching their holiday online anymore; they now increasingly want to book and pay for it that way as well.
“When people think about the last holiday they took, how many would have used the internet to search and then book pay for their hotel, travel and tickets to events?
“All tourism operators no matter how big or small will benefit from being involved with the new technology. This is a great way for tourism businesses to have their product seen and booked by visitors from around the world,” Mr Hanna said.
Mr Hanna said that the online and digital environment provided great opportunities for tourism operators to connect with customers.
“It doesn’t mean that traditional methods of product distribution are dead, but this is a new and efficient way for tourism businesses to connect with customers and gives tourism operators more choices.
“It is great that Tasmania is leading the way as one of the first states to move to an Open Booking Exchange system. It means that we can get the jump on our competitors, something that is very important in these challenging times.
“Tourism is an innovative industry and despite being dominated by small and micro businesses, demand for this technology has been very strong. This initiative will be taken up by operators and the TICT strongly encourages all tourism businesses to get on board with Tas e-Connect,” Mr Hanna said.
