Posted in Rezdy

Rezdy is a specialised online booking and distribution software designed for tour, activity, and attraction providers. It functions as a central hub for tourism operators to manage inventory in real-time, process secure online payments directly from your own website, and automate customer communications like confirmations and reminders. A key component of the platform is its channel manager, which connects operators to a vast network of online travel agencies (OTAs) and resellers like Viator, Expedia and GetYourGuide, allowing you to expand their market reach and increase bookings without the complexity of managing multiple systems. Ultimately, Rezdy helps experience-based businesses save time, streamline their operations, and grow sales.

The Rezdy booking system is a cloud-based platform designed specifically for tour, activity, and attraction operators to streamline and scale their businesses. It provides a centralised hub for managing real-time availability and resources, which prevents overbooking while maximizing sales opportunities. The system allows businesses to accept secure online payments 24/7 through your own website and automates crucial customer communications, such as booking confirmations and reminders. A key feature is its powerful Channel Manager, which connects operators to a vast network of online travel agencies (OTAs) and other resellers, broadcasting your offering to a global audience and syncing inventory across all channels instantly. By consolidating booking management, payment processing, and distribution into one place, Rezdy saves operators significant administrative time, reduces errors, and helps increase overall bookings and revenue.

At the heart of Rezdy's platform is a dynamic booking engine that transforms an operator's own website into a self-sufficient, around-the-clock sales machine, capturing bookings and payments even after business hours. Its most powerful asset is arguably the distribution gateway, a sophisticated channel manager granting operators seamless, real-time access to a global marketplace of leading online travel agencies and resellers, all while eliminating the risk of double-bookings. Beyond just taking bookings, Rezdy functions as a central command centre for daily operations, offering intelligent automated manifest creation and streamlined customer relationship tools that handle everything from bookings confirmations to follow-ups. The Rezdy ecosystem is further enhanced with handy financial tools for secure payment processing and insightful analytics.

For an Australian tour operator, especially now as the winter starts to fade and the hum of the coming peak season grows, Rezdy is a digital distribution system that stops the summer rush from becoming a summer crush. It’s the unseen crew member that operates 24/7, ensuring a family in Germany can book a spot on a Jervis Bay dolphin cruise for their January holiday without anyone in the office lifting a finger. Rather than being chained to a phone thanks to Rezdy’s new AI-powered virtual receptionist Chaty, or drowning in spreadsheets, operators from the Hunter Valley vineyards to the Gold Coast surf schools can use it as their single source of truth. Rezdy is a booking engine and channel manager, acting as the master key to unlock global marketplaces like GetYourGuide and Expedia, and automatically syncing calendars and bookings so your business is never double-booked. It gives operators the peace of mind to focus on delivering that quintessential Aussie experience, with the confidence that the complex logistics of bookings, payments, and scheduling can run on autopilot.

Rezdy offers the same benefits for Kiwi tourism operators, especially right now as the last of the ski season crowds in Queenstown give way to the frantic planning for summer's great thaw. Rezdy is a smart system that allows a tour operator to manage a final heli-ski booking for September and a reservation for a Milford Sound cruise in January from the very same dashboard, eliminating any seasonal chaos. For businesses running everything from Hobbiton tours to jet boat rides on the Shotover, Rezdy handles bookings around the clock. It automates the complex puzzle of allocating guides, gear, and transport, ensuring that even the most remote Fiordland adventure is perfectly scheduled. It’s a tool that works tirelessly in the background, so operators can focus on sharing the magic of Aotearoa with the world.

For tour operators in Australia, Rezdy’s booking fees are not a single charge but a multi-layered cost that depends on where the booking originates. Firstly, for operators to manage their operations and take direct bookings through their own website, there is a flat monthly subscription fee. On top of this, for every online payment processed, a payment gateway like Stripe or Square will charge a transaction fee, which is usually a small percentage plus a fixed amount (e.g., around 1.75% + A$0.30). The most significant cost, however, comes from third-party channels; when a booking is generated through an Online Travel Agency (OTA) like Viator, GetYourGuide or Expedia, the operator pays a substantial commission, which can range from 20% to over 30% of the ticket's retail price. Therefore, a direct booking costs the operator only the small payment gateway fee, while an OTA booking incurs both the hefty commission and the payment gateway fee, making direct bookings significantly more profitable.

For operators in Australia, who are rarely tied to a desk thanks to our wide expanse of natural wonders and outdoor activities, the Rezdy Booking App offers the convenience of carrying your business in your pocket. It’s the tool that lets you check in a group for a surf lesson right on the sand at Manly, scan a QR code for a walking tour departing from Federation Square, or update availability for tomorrow while grabbing a flat white. In a country where the office for a tourism operator is often outdoors, this app provides the on-the-ground flexibility needed to manage operations in real-time, no matter how far you are from a laptop.

The Rezdy Booking Software is the engine room, the command centre that handles the complexities of operations, from managing guides and vehicles for Blue Mountains tours to applying GST correctly on invoices. It’s designed to automate the admin that comes with seasonal peaks, allowing operators to spend less time wrestling with spreadsheets and more time perfecting experiences that attract travellers from across the globe ... and around the corner.

From a customer's point of view, a ‘Rezdy booking’ is a seamless and secure transaction. When a tourist in the UK books a reef tour for their trip to Cairns six months from now, they receive an instant and automated booking confirmation on a professional-looking ticket, all processed in local currency. This smooth, 24/7 online booking experience, integrated directly into an operator's own website, is crucial for converting international interest into confirmed, pre-paid customers long before they even commence their journey.

For an Australian operator, the choice of Rezdy vs Bokun often comes down to the desire for independence versus a single-ecosystem approach. Bokun, owned by TripAdvisor, offers deep and seamless integration with its parent company, Viator, which can be a powerful channel. However, Rezdy positions itself as an independent platform with a broader, more neutral channel manager, giving operators equal footing across all major OTAs. It's a strategic decision: prioritising the world's biggest OTA with Bokun, or maintaining flexibility and diverse distribution with Rezdy.

The choice between Rezdy and FareHarbor for an Aussie business often boils down to your preferred pricing model. FareHarbor is well-known for shifting the booking fee to the customer, which can mean lower direct costs for the operator. Rezdy, in contrast, uses a more traditional SaaS model with a predictable monthly subscription fee. Operators must decide which is a better fit: Rezdy’s clear, fixed software cost that you budget for as a cost of doing business, or FareHarbor's model which can impact the final price a customer pays.

When Australian operators compare Rezdy and Checkfront, the decision often hinges on specialisation. Checkfront is a versatile and powerful system that caters to a wide range of booking needs, including rentals and accommodation. Rezdy, however, is laser-focused on the tours, activities, and attractions sector. This specialisation is evident in its deeply integrated Marketplace and channel management features, which are specifically built to help experience-based businesses in Australia tap into the complex global tourism distribution network.

The Rezdy Documentation is the comprehensive online support library that serves as an operator's first port of call. For a business owner training a new staff member or trying to set up a new integration late on a summer evening, this searchable knowledge base is often invaluable. It provides step-by-step guides and clear answers, allowing you to solve issues instantly without being constrained by timezone differences for phone support.

The Rezdy Marketplace is a powerful B2B network, allowing a hotel concierge in Sydney to instantly check live availability and book a guest onto a Hunter Valley wine tour, with commissions handled automatically. This feature is all about fostering local partnerships, making it simple for operators to act as resellers for each other and create packaged experiences that are more attractive to tourists.

Rezdy's integrations allow it to become the central hub that connects all the other software an Australian business relies on. It integrates with essential tools like Xero for accounting, ensuring that sales data flows seamlessly for easy reconciliation and BAS statements. By connecting with email marketing platforms like Mailchimp and analytics tools, operators can build a sophisticated and automated tech stack without needing a custom IT department.

On the topic of integrations, Rezdy's Zapier integration is a useful automation toolkit for non-tech experts. It acts as a bridge, allowing you to connect Rezdy to thousands of other apps without writing a single line of code. For example, an operator could create a Zap to automatically send a custom welcome text message to a customer a day before their tour, add their email to a specific marketing list, or even create a new row in a Google Sheet for analysis, saving hours of manual data entry.

The Rezdy API provides the ultimate flexibility for tech-savvy tourism companies. It’s a set of developer tools that allows users to pull Rezdy’s core functionality - like live availability, booking creation, and pricing - into your own custom-built website, mobile app or internal enterprise systems. This is for the operator who wants complete control over the user experience or needs to integrate booking data into proprietary backend platforms.

Rezdy's pricing is structured as a straightforward, tiered monthly subscription, which Australian operators appreciate for its predictability. The costs are in Australian dollars, so there are no surprises from currency fluctuations, and businesses can choose a plan that matches your size and feature requirements. This SaaS model presents a clear, budgetable operating expense, contrasting with other platforms that may have more variable costs based on commissions or per-booking fees..

The Rezdy website (rezdy.com) is the primary information portal and "shop front" for any operator considering the platform. It’s where you’ll go to watch demonstration videos, compare the features of different pricing plans, and read case studies about how other local businesses - from a small walking tour in Melbourne to a large Queensland attraction - have used the software to grow. It’s a great starting point for operators to get a feel for Rezdy and its vast set of capabilities.

Alternatively, if videos are your preferred learning style, the Rezdy YouTube channel serves as a vital visual learning resource for busy operators. Instead of reading long documents, you can watch everything, from a quick two-minute tutorial on how to set up a new promo code through to a detailed webinar on upcoming tourism trends. It's an accessible way to get the most out of the software and stay informed, whether you’re watching on a laptop during a quiet moment or on your phone between tours.

For Australian operators wanting to capture the lucrative European and North American tourist markets, the Rezdy and GetYourGuide integration is a non-negotiable. It provides a seamless, real-time connection to one of the world's leading OTAs, pushing an operator's live availability directly onto the platform. This means a traveller in Berlin can book a Phillip Island penguin tour for their upcoming trip, with the booking dropping directly into the operator's Rezdy calendar, all automated.

For users, the Rezdy Login page is the simple, secure gateway to your entire business. It's the digital front door you’ll access every single day, whether it's first thing in the morning on a desktop with a coffee to check the day's manifest, or on a tablet from the couch at night to see how sales are tracking for the upcoming school holidays. It’s the starting point for managing every aspect of your operation.

Chaty is Rezdy’s first and foremost AI-powered call handling solution. When you are unable to answer the phone, whether it be after hours or during busy periods, Chaty is available to answer your call, respond to customer queries and process bookings and payments. Embrace this innovative solution, get the edge on your competitors and ensure that no potential customer slips through the cracks.

Running a JetSki tour company in Sydney might sound like the ultimate lifestyle gig, but for this owner-operator, the reality involved more time fielding phone calls than flying across the harbour. And as the Australian economy tightened and weather impacted bookings, tough choices had to be made.

“We had someone who used to handle the calls, but it wasn’t a full-time job. When sales dropped, we couldn’t justify keeping them on. The problem was, we didn’t have a better solution until Chaty came along.”

The team quickly realised that without someone dedicated to the phone, they were missing more than just calls; they were missing revenue. While the owner was out on the water with clients, the phone kept ringing.

And after-hours? The silence was costly.

“We kind of knew we were missing some calls in the evenings, but when we looked into it, we were getting an average of 10 calls per week after hours. That was shocking. How many bookings had we lost without even knowing it?”

They aren’t alone. In Australia:

• Between 22% and 62% of small business calls go unanswered. Chaty blog dumper
• 85% of those callers never try again
• The average missed call is worth anywhere from $100 to $1,200, depending on the service

For a business where each JetSki tour could be a $200 to $400 experience, those missed opportunities added up fast.

Facing rising costs, a shrinking team, and unpredictable call patterns, the owner gave Chaty’s AI receptionist a try, and everything changed.

“We were honestly blown away. It didn’t just answer questions, it took bookings, it handled after-hours calls, and what really impressed us was how it could reschedule clients too, even changing dates within Rezdy. That was a game-changer.”

Chaty was quickly trained in the most common enquiries:

• Tour options and availability
• Safety questions and weather policies
• Booking changes, cancellations, and rescheduling via Rezdy
• Last-minute availability
• Directions, parking, and preparation tips

And unlike a human, Chaty never clocked off.
Whether it was 3 calls or 30, it handled them all, simultaneously and without missing a beat.

“We also love that we can log in and instantly see summaries of every call. It gives us visibility we never had before - no more guesswork.”

Replacing a part-time admin role with Chaty didn’t just solve the call-answering problem, it freed up budget that was redirected straight into advertising.

“We used the money we would have spent on wages to invest in paid ads. And because Chaty was there to catch every enquiry, we weren’t wasting a cent of that ad spend.”

The results were almost immediate.

• More leads were converting into bookings
• Fewer calls were missed, even during tours
• After-hours callers were now getting answers, and locking in sessions
• Clients could reschedule without the runaround

While it’s still early days, the combined impact of advertising and Chaty’s AI receptionist has already been measurable.

“Our booking ratio has grown by 30%. And we’re just getting started.”

That figure reflects both:

• More calls answered = More conversions
• More money for marketing = More people reached

It’s a flywheel effect. With Chaty handling the admin load, the business can scale more confidently and without the typical growing pains of hiring and training new staff.

JetSki tours are naturally seasonal, heavily impacted by weather, school holidays, and travel trends. For businesses like this, flexibility is key. And Chaty delivers.

“It’s perfect for our kind of business. We don’t need to guess when to staff up or cut back. Chaty is just there, working away, whether we’ve got 3 calls or 30.”

With Chaty:

• You pay a fraction of the cost of a human admin
• You capture every enquiry, even at night or on a public holiday
• You get call summaries, sentiment insights, and booking data at your fingertips
• You get peace of mind that no booking is slipping through the cracks, 

If your business lives and dies by bookings, missed calls aren’t just a nuisance; they’re a revenue leak. Whether you’re running tours, classes, treatments, or tastings, you can’t afford to let enquiries go unanswered.

This Sydney JetSki operator has shown what’s possible when you combine smart AI with smart marketing.

“We wouldn’t go back. Chaty is now a core part of how we run, and grow our business.”

Experience the power of an AI receptionist that works when you can’t. Chaty connects with your booking software, handles complex client conversations, and never misses a beat.

 Try Chaty free for 14 days:  Start here

Whether you’re on the water, in a workshop, or enjoying your weekend, Chaty has your business covered.

Running a boutique distillery sounds like a dream, but for the team behind Wildflower Gin Distillery on the Gold Coast, the reality involved far more ringing phones than relaxing G&Ts.

As a small, hands-on business, Wildflower’s core team was frequently away from the phone. Whether they were distilling gin, bottling product, hosting weekend bar sessions, or enjoying their well-earned days off, one thing was constant: calls were going unanswered.

“On Mondays and Tuesdays, we have no staff. During the week, we’re flat out with production. And after hours? That’s just me, with my phone glued to my side, hoping I don’t miss a booking.”
— Owner, Wildflower Gin Distillery

The nature of their business meant that every missed call could be:

• A bar booking was lost to another venue
• A gin class that didn’t get filled
• A wholesale enquiry that never came back

And while voicemail existed, very few callers left one. Sound familiar?

Wildflower’s situation isn’t unique. In fact, according to recent data:

• Between 22% and 62% of calls to Australian small businesses go unanswered.
• 85% of people don’t try again if their call is missed.
• The average small business loses over $126,000 per year from missed calls aloneChaty blog dumper.

For hospitality venues like Wildflower, where weekend bookings are critical and bar seats are limited, every call matters. But without a full-time receptionist, answering everyone simply wasn’t feasible.

Initially, the team at Wildflower was hesitant about using AI to handle such an important and personal part of the business. Could an AI assistant really manage customer conversations with care and competence?

“We were a little nervous at first. But it didn’t take long to train Chaty in the kinds of questions people asked and the results were incredible.”

In just days, Chaty was up and running. The AI receptionist:

• Answered every call day or night
• Answered FAQs about bookings, classes, private events and hours
• Took bookings directly into our Rezdy system
• Captured wholesale leads and instantly notified the team
• Delivered conversation summaries so they could follow up promptly

Once Chaty was in place, something remarkable happened: Wildflower started seeing more bookings, not fewer.

“We were blown away when we saw the numbers. We didn’t just stop missing calls... we grew. We’ve seen a 22% revenue increase since adding Chaty.”

Here’s how:

• Recovered missed calls: The 15% of calls they used to miss are now answered instantly
• Captured after-hours enquiries: Many bar and class bookings now come in during the evening, even when the team is off the clock
• Created freedom for the owner: No more phone anxiety while out or on holidays
• Call insights & summaries: Every call is logged and summarised for easy action

For small business owners, true time off is a luxury. But with Chaty in place, the owner of Wildflower has finally been able to step back without stepping away.

“Now I can actually take a holiday. I don’t need to sleep with my phone anymore. Chaty takes care of things even if I’m on a plane or at the beach.”

And during the week, when the distillery is busy crafting and bottling their award-winning gin, the phone no longer pulls focus. Instead, it becomes a source of opportunity, not interruption.

Wildflower’s success with Chaty came down to a few key factors:

• High-value, time-sensitive calls: Bookings and sales needed real-time handling.
• No full-time admin staff: Like many small businesses, they had to juggle roles.
• Integration with existing systems: Chaty synced seamlessly with Rezdy, with no manual effort.
• Customised voices and hours: The AI had a friendly, branded voice and knew when to speak differently after-hours
• Low cost, high ROI: Chaty paid for itself in just weeks
• Failover safety: If something couldn’t be handled, the call was redirected to a real person

Chaty didn’t replace the team’s personal touch; it simply filled the gaps, reclaimed revenue, and gave the owner their life back.

If your business is missing calls, even just a few a day, you could be losing tens of thousands each year. And if you’re constantly “on call,” Chaty may be the invisible teammate you didn’t know you needed.

With:

• 24/7 call answering (weekends and holidays included)
• Instant booking integration with platforms like Rezdy
• Custom voices, branded greetings, and adjustable call handling rules
• Missed call alerts, call summaries, and customer sentiment insights
• Built-in failover system to ensure no call goes unmanaged

...Chaty ensures you’re never out of touch, even when you’re off the clock.

Wildflower’s verdict? “We’d never go without it now.”

Ready to stop losing business to missed calls?

Try Chaty for yourself:  Free for 14 days. No contracts, no setup fees, no hassle, just better business.

 Start your free trial at chaty.com.au

Whether you're distilling gin, running a café, managing a clinic, or just trying to take a weekend off — Chaty has your back.