Cat O’Nine Tails Path to Booking Software: Custom vs. DIY

Cat O’Nine Tails Cruises is a cruise tour company that provides more than scenic trips along the Brisbane waterways. These tours are designed to educate, in a way that is fun and immersive.

The tour guides on these cruises are professional actors who get the travelers into the colonial spirit, as they explore the region and visit local sites such as the St. Helena Island Prison.

Jeff, a former teacher and the current owner and operator of Cat O’Nine Tails Cruises, loves to bring the colonial period to life once again for his customers, but he was finding it hard to give it his all when he was sinking in paperwork.

This is Jeff’s story.

1. Identify areas of inefficiency

Spending most of his days giving tours made it impossible for Jeff to stay on top of his bookings, which are essential to his growing tour company.

While his heart was on his ships and with his tours, his head had to be thinking about the paperwork back at the office. He would take bookings over the phone, write down notes, and attempt to enter them in manually later. This resulted in clerical errors, and it cost him a significant amount of time.

“We were getting feedback from customers who wanted to book online but couldn’t because we didn’t have a facility.”

2. Weigh your options

He knew he needed an online booking platform in order to streamline his business and grow his company, but Jeff had a hard time choosing between a custom development platform or DIY booking software.

Initially, it seemed like a custom online booking system would be the right choice for his business, but he quickly discovered that it would be far too expensive and extremely complex. The process to create a custom online booking platform is slow and tedious, and it can be difficult to manage the system once it is in place.

“The one thing that put us off custom developing is the online merchant service … The procedure was going to take a lot of time and money.”

3. Pick one solution

When he was contacted by Rezdy, Jeff decided that it was the perfect time to try the free trial.

He loved the fact that he could set up the Rezdy online booking software program within a matter of minutes, and he appreciated that it was so user-friendly. As soon as he began his trial, he knew that Rezdy was the right choice for Cat O’Nine Tails Cruises.

“It fulfilled all my needs and the pricing felt right.”

4. Reap the benefits

Now, Jeff can customize his tour offerings, create special events and keep his doors open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without being overwhelmed with administrative work. He is thrilled that he went with the more affordable DIY booking software rather than the expensive custom system.

“Within the first week, we got back double what we paid out for the year’s fee!”

Rezdy is an ideal and affordable online booking system for all tour and activity companies. In order to see what Rezdy can do for you, begin your free trial today.