Around mid-day on Friday we noticed some inconstancies with the Agoda channel. We proactively took the decision to temporally take all Agoda listings offline until everything is fixed. This will prevent any booking issues, but also means we won't receive booking amendments, modifications or cancelations during this period. 

It is important to acknowledge any email communication from Agoda and action any changes or cancelations manually. 

As soon as Agoda has confirmed everything is 100% we will reactivate the listings. 

As of Sunday @ 3pm the listings remain offline. 

A quick note - we don't see which user posted a comment or feedback, so please include your name or property name when leaving feedback so we know who to get back too. Thanks :) 

We are thinking of subsidising a travel photographer and videographer to travel around to each property and generate content for your social and digital platforms. 

Matt (Sam's brother) & Holly have worked with some of the biggest global brands to generate content from Tourism NZ to Cunard Cruise Line. Normally a package like this would cost in excess of $2,000. 

We are proposing that each property will receive the following package; 

• Full day shoot on location
• At least 50 x high res, edited room images
• At least 15 x high res, edited resort & facilities images
• 5 staged images for social (model relaxing by the pool, checking in etc)
• 2 x videos (15 second and 45 second edits)

Flights, accommodation & rental car will be provided by Resly, as well as $150 per property towards the cost of the shoot. The total out of pocket cost for a property will be $915. 

Have a look at their instagram here - https://www.instagram.com/_farfromhome/?igshid=tpv30nahbydz

If interested please comment on this post with your property name and any questions. For this to work we will need to get some minimum numbers. Likely to be later this year July/Aug

What does this mean for tourism operators in Brisbane?

• People can continue to arrive to Greater Brisbane from outside the region to return home, stay at a residence such as a family member’s home or hotel, or for an essential purpose such as work or for essential health care. However, if they do, they are required to comply with all the requirements of the lockdown.
• If you have guests from the Brisbane area due to check in after 5:00pm AEST today and over the next three days, they will be unable to. Brisbane residents can only leave home for essential reasons and leisure travel is not one of the reasons.
• Guests who are currently on an island within the Greater Brisbane region can return home during the lockdown period. However, these guests should travel directly home and then continue to comply with the stay at home direction, only leaving home for essential reasons.

What does this mean for tourism operators outside of Brisbane?

• If you have guests already staying with you who have been in the Greater Brisbane area since 20 March 2021, these people should stay where they are and follow the lockdown restrictions as though they were in Brisbane – i.e. they should only go out for essential purposes and should wear a mask when doing so. They should also check the contact tracing alert and follow Queensland Health's advice if they have been in any of the locations listed.
• If you have guests from the Brisbane area who made a booking for today and/or arrived today before 5:00pm AEST, you can take those bookings, however those guests will also need to follow the lockdown restrictions wherever they are. You also have the right to refuse service, if you wish.
• If you have guests from the Brisbane area due to check in after 5:00pm AEST today and over the next three days, they will be unable to. Brisbane residents can only leave home for essential reasons and leisure travel is not one of the reasons.
• If you have guests who need to return home to Brisbane, they can do so. They should travel directly home and then continue to comply with the stay at home direction, only leaving home for essential reasons.
• Restrictions have also changed across Queensland outside of Brisbane – including a requirement for seated dining, mask wearing in indoor areas and lowered gathering numbers. All businesses outside of Brisbane must adhere to the restrictions outlined in the 'Restrictions for Queensland' Direction.

Advice on how tourism operators can respond and assist has been issued in this fact sheet.

You can now have your website built, hosted and managed by Resly! 

This new product provides our users with a modern, easy to navigate website that designed to convert lookers into bookers. 

All the website content is managed from within Resly, you can edit and update your website with the click of a few buttons. 

We don't charge to build the website, just a low monthly hosting and upkeep fee of $69 all inclusive. 

- Website hosting including global CDN (fast website experience globally)

- Easy website editor within Resly, change and update content without the need for external website managers and extra costs. 

- Seamless integration with our booking engine. 

- Automated updates and new features being added (just like Resly)

If you would like more information, reach out via phone or email. 

Live examples: 

https://cairnsbeachresort.com.au/ 

https://www.rainbowbayresort.com.au/

A friendly reminder about online check-in, to help with what looks to be a busy Easter period. To speed up your check-in process and provide a seamless guest experience we suggest you utilise our online check-in feature. 

Online check-in will capture the guests arrival time and drivers licence (or passport) and attach it to their booking in Resly. The guest also has to accept your terms of stay and complete a COVID declaration.  

Here is the article to walk you through the set up.

Commonwealth Bank are advising planned maintenance early on Saturday morning, 02:00 - 08:00 AEDT.

Please be aware that CBA bank feeds may fail during this period, if Netbank is unavailable.

You can read more on the CBA service updates page, here: https://www.commbank.com.au/about-us/support/commbank-incidents.html

Hi All, we are happy to announce we have partnered with Escabags, an Australian registered charity helping victims of domestic and family abuse. 

The initiative provides free 'Escape Bags' filled with the necessities that a victim may need when initially escaping an abusive or dangerous situation. 

Our partnership has been formed to help get 'Escape Bags' in as many hotels as possible across the country. 

There is no cost to be part of this initiative. The 'Escape Bags' themselves do not need to be on display; they can be kept safely in an office or cupboard. All that we ask is that you kindly display a small poster at reception or on a noticeboard to ensure those in your community are aware that you have them available should a victim require one.

The 'Escape Bags' are provided complete and will be sent via our courier partner, so there is absolutely no cost to you. 

If you are happy to become a stockist, please fill in your details here and we will send you a box of 4 bags. 

Thank you for getting behind this great cause. 

Some of you might find these stats interesting. The average cleaning and commission charges for the Sunshine Coast and TNQ. As we continue to expand we will hopefully have more data points to look at and share. 

We are in talks with some Buy Now, Pay Later providers, think AfterPay. We would like to gage our users interest in this as a potential payment offering for direct bookings. 

• Offer guests flexible payment when booking direct. Payment split over 4 - 6 weekly payments
• No risk for the hotels, You’ll get paid right away while customers spread the cost and provider takes the debt risk. 
• Improve direct booking offerings by having a flexible payment option
• Increased average booking value/length of stay due to interest free payment option. 
• Low merchant fees, will be around 1% 
• Completely integrated within Resly, so no extra or manual work for Buy now, Pay Later bookings. 

Please comment or use the smiley faces if you are interested in something like this.