Bókun, a specialist in distribution technology for the tours and activities industry, is partnering with Finnair to make more tours available online.
The Iceland-based business offers a sales and contract management platform for T&A providers to manage their inventory and make it available to consumers online or to other businesses.
Finnair hopes Bókun might repeat some of the success in Finland that it has had in Iceland in getting tours and activities online.
The plan is for Bokun and the airline to run a series of workshops for tour operators to highlight some of the benefits.
Katri Harra-Salonen, chief digital officer for Finnair says:
"The further development of our travel-related ecosystem is an important focus area for us."
Attracting Irish eyes
In a further partnership, Bokun is also hoping to help bring more Irish tours and activities online after a tie-up with Fáilte Ireland.
The destination marketing organisation will promote the Bokun software to its tours and activities suppliers in the country.
In addition, participating hotels in Ireland will be able to earn revenue by offering local tours and activities to guests via the technology.
The partnership gives Irish companies free and unlimited access to Bokun for an entire year.
Bokun and Fáilte Ireland have already run two pilot workshops in the West of Ireland by way of introducing the platform to tours providers.
Bokun CEO Hjalti Baldursson says:
"Everyone is connecting with each other and reselling tours and activities in real-time without any hassle. The product visibility is greatly increased which means it's more likely the tourist will find what he or she likes."
He adds that research shows consumers purchase tours 48 hours prior to taking the tour.
Baldursson believes some tours and activities operators may end up learning "the hard way" if they don't take advantage of the online opportunity.
"They will not survive because there is limited demand for booking tours by email."
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