Author: John Johnson

ChannelRUSH is a service that allows hotel and lodging supplier management to update their room inventory and rates in a single platform that in turn communicates with multiple consumer websites like Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz and now Tripster, an online travel and reservation company that focuses on individual destinations.

Since each of these consumer websites have its own inventory management system, managing these distribution channels can be time consuming for hotel staff. Many lodging companies utilize ChannelRUSH to help them save time with inventory management by interfacing with these multiple management systems, allowing hotel management to update their inventory in a variety of channels through a single platform, saving an immense amount of time.

Since Tripster is now one of the available channels within the ChannelRUSH interface, lodging suppliers can maximize their sales by utilizing Tripster’s unique, “local expert” reservation service in a variety of expanding markets.

“With the number of our clients currently working with Tripster, in addition to the number of markets that Tripster is now in and adding, we felt this was an important channel to add to our system,” said Adam Peppler, Director of ChannelRUSH. “Plus, Tripster’s interface and web service system was easy to integrate and provides some of the fastest response times in the industry,” he continued.

“ChannelRUSH has been a great partner to work with for the initial launch of our channel management features,” said Tripster’s President, John Johnson. “By expanding their distribution channels to a variety of quality travel reservation services, they’ve certainly got their clients’ best interests in mind.”

With this working relationship in place, Tripster and ChannelRUSH can collectively provide more online sales for lodging suppliers, which is beneficial in the weakened travel economy.

Tripster has provided booking engine technology since 2001 for a number of U.S. destinations including Branson, Missouri; Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, Tennessee; and Orlando, Florida. Tripster also operates its own consumer booking engines in each of these destinations, as well as services for Silver Dollar City and Dollywood.

Universal Orlando Resort, one of the many popular attractions in the Orlando, Florida tourism market, released their February 2010 Newsletter and awarded Tripster’s own Rodney Levy as “Universal Orlando Star Performer.”

Here’s the write-up:

Rodney Levy from Tripster is Guest Services January 2010 Universal Orlando® Star Performer.

Rodney works as the Director of Destination Relations and has been employed with the company for over 3 years.

His favorite thing about his job is creative freedom. His favorite attraction at Universal Orlando is The Incredible Hulk Coaster! When he is not at work he enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter. His real passion is playing, coaching and watching soccer, especially his childhood team Tottenham Hotspur!

Rodney has been working with Tripster since 2006, and is the Destination Representative for both Orlando and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

GrandStrand Online provides website visitors with a resource directory for the entire Grand Strand region of South Carolina, including resource guides, movie schedules, community calendars and more. Beginning in 2010, the website will include a booking engine for website visitors, enabling them to secure reservations for the Myrtle Beach area. Online booking includes area beachfront resorts, hotels, and golf condos, as well as tickets to area attractions such as Freestyle Music Park and Ripley’s Aquarium. Visitors can also book theater show tickets like Dixie Stampede, Medieval Times and Legends in Concert.

Utilizing Tripster’s Affiliate Revenue Tools, GrandStrandOnline.com increases their overall value to their visitors by offering a means to book all of the lodging and tickets that Myrtle Beach area has to offer. The booking engine will compliment the resources the website already offers in addition to giving the GrandStrandOnline.com added functionality to serve the businesses listed on the website.

Tripster is a travel reservation and technology company that offers fulfillment tools to travel suppliers and other regional travel resources, making it simple for organizations to earn income with free Affiliate Revenue Tools. Tripster has provided similar solutions for lodging associations and destination marketing organizations in markets like Branson, Missouri; Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, Tennessee; and Orlando, Florida. Tripster also operates its own consumer booking engines in each of these destinations, as well as services for Silver Dollar City and Dollywood.

InformationFlorida.com is a great resource for visitors to discover the state of Florida, inside and out. The website features information on places to stay and things to do, all outlined by city and region. Every listing is complete with information, directions, hours, website, descriptions and photographs.

Beyond just information, InformationFlorida.com allows visitors to book their complete Orlando-area show and attractions tickets, as well as hotels and vacation homes, thanks to Tripster’s Affiliate Revenue Tools. Using the Branded Online Fulfillment Tool, InformationFlorida.com increases their value to their visitors by offering a means to book all that Orlando has to offer, including better-than-gate prices on Walt Disney World, Buy One Day get Second Day Free for SeaWorld, and more.

Tripster is a travel reservation and technology company that offers fulfillment tools to travel suppliers and other regional travel resources, making it simple for organizations to earn income on free Affiliate Revenue Tools.

The Vista Cay Resort by Millenium [sic] is Orlando’s newest luxury resort, offering sophisticated Mediterranean Style Luxury in an elegant tropical Orlando, Florida resort setting. Now visitors can book this stylish hotel along with many popular area attractions, thanks to a partnership with online travel reservation company, Tripster.

Located just off International Drive near Universal Studios Orlando, Vista Cay Resort is able to offer these money-saving packages, including a very popular Walt Disney World Hotel Package, as a part of Tripster’s suite of Affiliate Revenue Tools.

By utilizing Tripster’s Branded Packaging Solution, Vista Cay Resorts adds value for its customers and its marketing brand by offering great vacation packages to SeaWorld Orlando, Kennedy Space Center, Universal Studios, and of course, Disney World.

For more information on Tripster’s Affiliate Revenue Tools, please drop us a line.

Tripster is proud to announce that Ripley’s Aquarium Myrtle Beach is now available for reservations on our vacation destination site. This exciting attraction is located at Broadway at the Beach – a complex featuring shopping, dining and activities – and is one of the area’s top-rated places to explore by Myrtle Beach visitors. The 85,000 square foot aquarium attraction features eight exhibits and over 10,000 exotic sea creatures for Myrtle Beach visitors to discover. The highlight of a visit to Ripley’s Aquarium is a ride on the moving sidewalk, which travels through a glass-enclosed tunnel inside the massive 750,000 gallon shark tank.

Tripster is currently offering a money-saving Ripley’s Aquarium Myrtle Beach Vacation Package for guests that wish to dive into the fun available at this South Carolina attraction.

See more images here.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is regarded as a premier coastal travel destination. As a result of the launch of a new Myrtle Beach travel website, customers now have single point-of-purchase access to beachfront hotels and resorts, as well tickets to area attractions like Freestyle Music Park, and shows such as Dixie Stampede. Launched by Internet travel technology company, Tripster, customers can access a variety of popular hotels, shows, and attractions in the Myrtle Beach area.

Tripster utilizes direct product availability from the management companies of area travel products, which means real-time booking for customers. This a la carte packaging functionality allows customers to book individual products to build their own vacation packages, or utilize the many money-saving pre-constructed packages. Customers make all their purchases in one place, then simply print their E-tickets straight from their own printer. Once they arrive, customers take those E-tickets to the box offices, attraction main gates, or hotel front desks.

“Even though Myrtle Beach is visited by 14.6 million visitors a year, there are proportionately few points of sale where the traveler can make a complete vacation package that includes lodging and tickets,” said John Johnson, President of Tripster. “We utilize a proprietary booking engine that has been a proven tool in other markets, making people’s vacation planning more fun and less stressful since 2001. We anticipate our model will have an impact here in Myrtle Beach as well.”

Tripster, based on the strategies and more than eight-year internet-travel experience, will place equal emphasis on the activities and entertainment that lure consumers to a destination, unlike the nationally-branded travel websites that focus more on simply the transportation to the destination via air and rental cars. “Other travel websites aren’t equipped to offer travelers the ability to book ticketed attractions in conjunction with their lodging. We provide the whole gamut— hotels, show tickets, local news and information, all specific to Myrtle Beach.”

Tripster has provided similar solutions for lodging associations and destination marketing organizations in markets like Branson, Missouri; Eureka Springs, Arkansas; Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, Tennessee; and Orlando, Florida. Tripster also operates its own consumer booking engines in each of these destinations, as well as services for Polk County, Florida, the Cocoa Beach Chamber of Commerce in Florida & Table Rock Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, Silver Dollar City and Dollywood.

Tripster, a travel reservation company, announced today that they have served their one millionth customer at the close of 2008, a year that captured two hundred and thirty thousand customer bookings. This milestone coincides with the celebration of their seventh year in the online travel industry after launching their first destination in 2001.

“We are excited about our progress, but mostly we enjoy hearing from our customers who had a great vacation experience that started by using one of our destination websites,” said John Johnson, President and founder of Reserve America LLC, the parent company of Tripster.

The original model for Tripster’s online system centered on building an administrative tool that allowed travel suppliers of lodging, theater shows, attractions, recreation activities and other ticketed events to place their product inventory into a reliable and consumer-friendly travel website. The end results provide vacation-bound consumers with real time availability, competitive pricing, one-stop shopping and instant reservations.

According to the PhoCusWright Consumer Travel Trends Survey, 60% of U.S. travel will be booked on-line versus off-line in 2009 as the Internet continues to provide consumers with easy access to the necessary resources for planning their vacations. Tripster, with its direct relationship with travel suppliers and its comprehensive travel websites, helps to turn “travel shoppers” into “travel buyers” by offering improved service and experience gathered from servicing over one million customers.

“By offering complete itineraries with real availability, families can take the guesswork out of planning their vacations. We have the functionality, ease-of-use, and reliability of the national travel websites but with the charm and in-depth knowledge of the local products,” Johnson added.

Since its founding in 2001, Tripster has launched five destination sites including Branson, Missouri; Eureka Springs, Arkansas; Pigeon Forge & Gatlinburg, Tennessee; & Orlando, Florida. Tripster’s destination websites offer a range of travel services, including up-to-date travel information, destination blogs, city guides and product reviews to aid in consumers’ travel decisions.

The Vacation Channel has made it their business to aid Branson visitors in their vacation needs for 20 years through their cable-based television programming. With a concentration on giving visitors interesting facts, tips, directions & suggestions regarding the Branson area, The Vacation Channel has become a leader in Branson vacation information.

In an effort to expand the reach of their various Branson-related travel information, The Vacation Channel has launched ViewBranson.com, a web-based portal into all things Branson. As a major component of this new web venture, The Vacation Channel is utilizing Tripster, an online travel fulfillment service, to be the backbone of the ViewBranson.com’s Branson-related travel reservations.

This new website will allow The Vacation Channel to offer Branson visitors the ability to purchase travel products while maintaining The Vacation Channel brand, building their overall value to their customers. The ViewBranson.com website will help visitors plan their next Branson vacation, reserve hotel rooms, make ticket purchases and schedule events online, all made possible by Tripster’s travel technology, which allows for seamless and secure reservations for travelers.

“ViewBranson.com’s booking engine is based on Tripster’s technology, which has been a proven tool in making vacation planning more fun and less stressful for almost 10 years,” said John Johnson, president of Tripster. “And that experience will make the difference for users of ViewBranson.com.”

A St. Louis based company, Tripster has provided similar solutions for lodging associations and destination marketing organizations in markets like Branson, Missouri; Eureka Springs, Arkansas; Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, Tennessee; and Orlando, Florida. Tripster also operates its own consumer booking engines in each of these destinations, as well as services for Polk County, Florida, the Cocoa Beach Chamber of Commerce in Florida, Table Rock Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, and Springfield, Missouri Convention and Visitors Bureau.