Tourism Exchange launched in New Zealand

www.tourismexchange.co.nz

Air New Zealand is engaged in a joint venture, which will make it easier for tourists to travel around New Zealand that has unfortunately been launched as the first cases of swine flu have hit the headlines.

Tourism Exchange is hoping to stimulate demand through its online site, bringing more visitors to New Zealand.

The online exchange is a third party booking system, which has accommodation providers and operators providing other tourism products and services on one side and distributors on the other. Distributors are the travel companies that sell New Zealand holidays to prospective tourists.

What is different about the Tourism Exchange in comparison with other online marketplaces is that it is a business-to-business (B2B) exchange. Potential visitors are not able to book directly through the website.

According to Air New Zealand, maintaining a B2B model helps keep the exchange intact. The distributor and the Tourism Exchange both clip the ticket when making a booking with a participating supplier.

The definition of a distributor on the Tourism Exchange includes online retailers, such as hotel booking websites.

A trial of the exchange is currently offered on airnewzealand.com.

www.tourismexchange.co.nz