JackRabbit Systems, Inc., is pleased to announce a partnership with Tourism Saskatoon! Online visitors to www.TourismSaskatoon.com will now use the JackRabbit Search Engine, allowing them to compare local rates and availability and select desired lodging. JackRabbit will then seamlessly redirect the traveler directly to the lodging property to complete their transaction. "Tourism Saskatoon is very pleased to now have the Book Now Search Engine on our new website," said Amy Stewart-Nunn, Director of Leisure Marketing. "JackRabbit's product was a perfect fit for us, as it allowed us to offer a quick and easy user experience for visitors to the website, and gave our DMF hotel properties an edge over their competitors who are not being featured on the search engine." The JackRabbit team used a customized Search Engine interface to match the www.TourismSaskatoon.com website.


KEY BENEFITS
FOR DMO (DIRECT MARKETING ORGANIZATION) WEBSITE VISITORS

  • Website visitors can conduct dynamic searches by preferred location, category, and check-in and check-out date from the Book › Direct toolbar located directly on the Tourism Saskatoon homepage and other site profile pages.
  • Date-driven Book › Direct search results provide immediate information on the lowest average rate per night, hotel amenities, location, and type of accommodations available.
  • Most consumers book direct, especially from DMO websites. According to the latest American Hotel & Lodging/Smith Travel Research Study, nearly 81% of all hotel rooms are booked through direct channels, supporting the fact that consumers highly prefer (and do) book direct.
  • Allows consumers to easily utilize loyalty reward points, membership discounts, etc. based on the direct reservation and relationship with the lodgings.
FOR DMO LODGING PARTNERS
  • Book › Direct allows travelers that visit www.tourismsaskatoon.com to book accommodations directly, with no additional fees or commissions, bypassing online booking fees and travel agency commissions from standard 3rd party booking engines, completely eliminating the "middleman."
  • JackRabbit does not require any additional inventory management for lodgings into the Book › Direct system!
  • Consumers become the lodging's direct customer, allowing the lodging to service, transact the booking and remarket to their customers for repeat stays.
  • Allows lodgings better control of pricing realizing in a higher ADR compared to 3rd party booking engines.
FOR DMOS
  • State of the Art site visitor experience utilizing dynamic search efficiency and navigation.
  • 100% participation, meaning all lodging partners participate in the Book › Direct technology and search results.
  • Real-time analytics and detailed reports data.
  • Keeps 100% of the lodging and sales tax within the DMO's market. Instead of bed tax being collected on 75-78% of the rate with many major online travel agencies, it is collected on 100% of the rate via the Book › Direct Search Engine driving the highest market ROI compared to any other 3rd party solution.