Viking Biking's online bookings have increased by 25% since they started using TrekkSoft in 2016
Since the company was founded in 2012, they continue to see an average year on year growth of 50%. Despite the additional volume of bookings, using TrekkSoft has reduced administration time by around 30-45 minutes every day.
After hiking and biking dozens of countries, the founders of Viking Biking and Oslo Active Tours had a vision of a more dynamic way to visit Oslo, one of the most active cities in the world. The inhabitants of this green city enjoy thousands of kilometers of hiking paths and ski trails in the city woods, hundreds of lakes surrounding the city and forty islands dotting the Oslo fjord.
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Challenge
Before using TrekkSoft, the booking process for Viking Biking was time consuming and looked unprofessional. They were using a simple WordPress plug-in which limited the scope of what the company could offer to it's customers, and it did not align with their brand. The back-end admin was complicated which meant that only a few members of staff could understand how to use it. They also didn't have any online integration with marketplace platforms, so additional bookings had to be manually added to their schedule by their team which was a time consuming task.
In 2016, company owner and MD Curtis Rojak felt that for the company to grow this needed to change. They had two options; Invest six-months building a bespoke website and booking system, or to find a booking system that fully suited their needs.
Solution
Viking Biking researched around five booking systems before choosing TrekkSoft as best for their business. Their initial impression of the personalized customer service convinced them that TrekkSoft was the right company to support Viking Biking each step of the way.
They were set up within a matter of weeks, and instantly found that TrekkSoft was easier to use than their previous system. When they had any questions, the TrekkSoft support team was quick to reply and today still continue to provide them with prompt customer service.
Lots of features that TrekkSoft offer allowed them to be more creative. Using the TrekkSoft app meant that they could start taking payment on the go, so their tours became more mobile and flexible.
Ongoing, they find that hosting training at the beginning of each season on an individual employee basis makes it easy to train their staff and to respond to any questions about the system.
Results
The ease of use of the POS desk has been instrumental in growth for the business. As a result, the main agent of Viking Biking, the Oslo Tourism Office, now book tours and rentals directly on their own POS desk. This has allowed Viking Biking to also start selling the activities of other outdoor and active companies to broaden their portfolio. Today, the tourism office use the Viking Biking POS desk as a one-stop-shop for all active and outdoor tours in Olso.
TrekkSoft marketplace API intergration with Viator, GYG and Expedia has streamlined the booking process for Viking Biking, freeing up their staff for an additional 30-45 minutes each day. This allows their staff to focus on other initiatives that assist with the customer experience and company growth.
Seamless integration between Trekksoft and the Viking Biking website present a professional online booking system that reassures their customers in the quality of the brand and tour. Many customers have mentioned how professional everything looks on-line, which in turn Viking Biking have said results in higher bookings.
Their most popular tour is their Oslo Highlights bike tour bookable on their TrekkSoft website.
Curtis's advice to others
1) The POS desk is a great tool, especially if you plan to use agents
2) There are lots of features that allow you to think creatively, like the TrekkSoft app that takes payment so you can make your tours mobile
3) It's easy of use, ideal for your staff, customers, agents and partners
Curtis Rojak, CEO & Managing Director, Viking Biking AS
