Meet Hero at Arival San Diego 2024
Hero
Arival is the leading global conference for the In-Destination Experiences industry.
With AI, vertical video, social media and emerging consumer travel preferences, tech tools and travel trends change so swiftly it’s enough to give you whiplash. We’ll be attending Arival 2024 to share thoughts and ideas and gain global insight into what’s new and what’s next.
We look forward to meeting industry colleagues at Arival 2024!
Save the date: Adventure Tourism Awards 2024
Adventure Tourism Awards 2024 returns to the Gold Coast
Adventure Queensland has advised that the Australia & NZ Adventure Tourism Conference & Awards will return again this year to the Gold Coast. This time in a 2-day format spanning 6 & 7 November, the conference provides attendees with opportunities for professional and business development as well as networking and engagement opportunities with industry colleagues. Delegates will hear from industry-leading speakers on critical industry issues and innovative ideas.
Save the date (6 & 7 November). More info to come!
Ocean Rafting wins Gold at Australian Tourism Awards
Ocean Rafting wins Gold & Silver at 2023 Australian Tourism Awards
We’d like to congratulate our great friends at Ocean Rafting who claimed Gold & Silver at this year’s Qantas Australian Tourism Awards.
More than 180 of Australia’s quality tourism operators came from each state and territory to vie for top honours across 26 categories. Ocean Rafting claimed the gold in the Adventure Tourism category and silver in the Major Tour & Transport category.
The awards are well-deserved! As a local Whitsunday family owned and operated business, Ocean Rafting shares the wonders of the Whitsundays and Great Barrier Reef with guests from across the globe. It’s two exciting day tour adventures, the Northern Exposure and Southern Lights, offer exhilarating rides to Whitehaven Beach, the ultimate access to Hill Inlet and special snorkelling sites.
Ocean Rafting’s fleet of eight semi-rigid inflatable vessels allow guests to experience Ocean Rafting’s signature adrenalin-fuelled ride amongst the beauty of the Whitsundays, while a maximum of 32 passengers allows for a personalised experience in the pleasure of a small group.
Congratulations Jan, Pete & Nate and the Team at Ocean Rafting – you deserve it!
Meet Hero at TRENZ,Wellington 2024
Meet Hero at TRENZ,
Wellington 2024
We look forward to meeting with industry colleagues at TRENZ 2024, at Tākina Wellington Convention and Exhibition Centre, 8-10 May 2024.
TRENZ is New Zealand’s largest international tourism business event and the most important event of the year on the tourism events calendar. TRENZ brings hundreds of international travel Buyers together to meet with New Zealand’s leading tourism operators over four days to build or renew relationships and negotiate business for upcoming seasons.
Hero’s Content Manager, Bart Gelsing will be attending TRENZ as a Buyer and representing the growing network of over 1000 agents, affiliates and resellers using Hero across Australia, NZ and overseas.
If you haven’t yet scheduled an appointment with Hero, send Bart a message and he’ll track you down.
Meet Hero at the Australian Tourism Exchange 2024
Hero
We look forward to meeting with industry colleagues at the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE), at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre between Sunday 19 May and Thursday 23 May 2024.
ATE24 will bring together Australian tourism businesses with global distribution partners, to conduct scheduled business appointments and participate in key networking events. ATE24 will also provide international buyers with the opportunity to experience Australia’s tourism offerings first-hand through pre- and post-event familiarisations. Around 1,500 Australian seller delegates and 700 buyer delegates from over 30 countries are targeted to attend ATE24.
Hero’s General Manager, Evie de Groot will be at the Hero stand in the Solutions Hub, alongside other industry-leading tech, finance and service solutions providers.
If you’re a travel reseller looking for ways to sell more effectively in-store, on tour and online come and see us. If you’re a supplier looking for more agent bookings, we look forward to meeting you!
Commission Split feature now available to Hero Agents
We’re pleased to announce Hero’s latest feature – Commission Split Beneficiaries, supercharging the way agents share commission with staff, referring parties, landlords & charities.
Hero’s Commission Split feature allows your Branch commission to be ‘split’ and automatically paid out to individual Beneficiaries, rather than paid in full to your Agency.
This is ideal if you wish to reward your team with a share of all commission they generate, or if you have a commission share arrangement with a referring partner, landlord or other third party.
You simply set the rules and Hero takes care of reporting, remittance and payments, for example:
- X% of commission is paid to your Agency
- Y% of commission is paid to the Team Member who created the quote
- Z% of commission is paid to your Landlord / Preferred Charity / Referring Partner
Reporting & Remittance
Beneficiaries can be assigned with different access levels to view reports and remittance advice. For example:
- Full access to Sales, Reports & Commissions (For your Team)
- Restricted to Reports (For third parties)
Payments
Payments can be disbursed weekly or monthly. If needed, Beneficiaries can even receive funds in a currency / country different to that of your Agency.
Want more info?
To find out more about Hero’s Commission Split Beneficiary feature, fees and availability – get in touch with us.
Meet Hero at the AUS & NZ Youth Tourism Conference
Hero
We look forward to meeting and mixing with industry colleagues at the upcoming Australia & NZ Youth Tourism Conference on Australia’s Gold Coast.
Hosted by Adventure Queensland, this years conference will focus on Culture, Country and Technology in an effort to connect us all again after the turmoil of the last few years.
Following the success of the previous conferences and awards nights, Advemture Queensland continues to focus on curating a dedicated half-day conference to address the challenges and opportunities that affect youth tourism in Australia and New Zealand.
This industry-led Youth Tourism Conference provides attendees with opportunities for professional and business development as well as networking and engagement opportunities with industry colleagues. Delegates will hear from industry-leading speakers on critical industry issues and innovative ideas.
See you there!
Evie de Groot
General Manager
[email protected]
Kenny Wynter
Head of Partnerships
[email protected]
Dan Lucas
Co-Founder
[email protected]
Senior Full Stack .NET Developer, Sydney
Careers:
Hero
Hero is a supplier of innovative B2B technology SaaS solutions to the travel industry, servicing partners across Oceania, Europe and North America in over 1,500 locations.
Working in a small yet fast-paced environment, your hard work will be highly rewarded and you’ll be given the opportunity to establish a long-term opportunity and grow your career.
We are looking for a customer-oriented .NET Developer to become a valuable addition to our vibrant team. In this role, you will be a key contributor to the creation, improvement, and upkeep of our top-performing systems and applications.
Responsibilities
- Design, develop, and maintain robust and scalable fullstack solutions using C#/.NET
- Build and maintain APIs
- Implement integrations with external systems and services
- Leverage Azure cloud services to architect, deploy, and manage scalable and reliable solutions
- Collaborate with other departments to identify opportunities for enhancing customer experience and operational efficiency
- Using best DevOps practices, including continuous integration, delivery, and deployment
Requirements:
- 3+ years experience developing and delivering commercial solutions using C#/.NET
- Experience in working with Front-end technologies such as ASP.NET MVC, Angular or React
- Proven expertise in building and maintaining APIs
- Experience in implementing integration with 3rd party systems
- Good knowledge of SQL Server
- Understanding of event-driven architecture
- Hands-on experience with cloud services: Azure or AWS
- Solid understanding of DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, Git
- Proficiency in automated testing frameworks and practices to ensure software quality
Nice to have:
- Experience in travel industry
Working at Hero offers you:
- A hybrid working environment encompasses a mix of office and home-based work
- Paid learning and certifications
- Travel opportunities & discounts
- A fun and modern working environment
Note that all applicants must hold Australian citizenship, permanent residency or any other full-time working permit. Hero is unable to sponsor or support visa applications.
Meet Hero at the 2023 BYATA Conference
Hero
Hero is one of the proud sponsors of the 12th Annual BYATA Conference, commencing on Monday the 28th & Tuesday the 29th of August 2023 at Te Pae Convention Centre in Christchurch.
The annual BYATA conference promises an unforgettable experience and offers the opportunity to engage with and learn more about NZ’s youth and adventure sector. This year’s conference anticipates the participation of over 140 delegates representing more than 100 companies, including renowned industry leaders and Regional Tourism Offices from across the motu.
Hero’s Head of Partnerships, Kenny Wynter will be attending, representing the growing network of over 1000 agents, affiliates and resellers using Hero across NZ, Australia and overseas.
We're upgrading Hero Payments
Hero
Based on feedback from agency partners and to ensure Hero Payments stays fully compliant with the ever-changing technical and legal requirements of card payment acceptance, our payments solution is getting a makeover!
Card Acceptance & Compliance
Banks and credit card issuers consider the travel industry to be ‘high risk’, and with ever-changing compliance demands to meet it’s now almost impossible to set yourself up with in-person and online payment facilities.
Hero Payments can cater to your card processing requirements in a fully compliant manner!
Plus, payments are no longer restricted to just Visa and Mastercard. Hero Payments now supports American Express at no additional cost, along with support for the latest rules governing PCI and payment processing financial obligations.
Digital Wallet Payments
For added convenience, Hero Payments now accepts digital wallet payments including Google Pay and Apple Pay when eQuote payments are made from a compatible device.
Buy Now, Pay Later
By popular demand, we’ve added buy-now, pay-later schemes including AfterPay, ClearPay, Klana, ZipPay and Apple Pay Later. If your customers have these facilities, you’ll get paid upfront and your customers can make payments over time.
Online Security Upgrades
With Hero’s eQuote facility, you can digitally share itineraries with your customers, allowing them to pay online. Our recent upgrade means eQuote is available to resellers in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the USA and Europe. In addition, advanced fraud protection now comes as standard and at no additional cost.
Hero Terminal
New to Hero Payments is Hero Terminal, allowing you to confirm itinerary details with customers over-the-counter (as shown) and accept payment via contactless tap, dip or swipe (depending on the card type).
Processing is a breeze! Unlike a standalone EFTPOS terminal, with Hero Payments there’s no need to manually enter in amounts, perform daily settlements or even check your bank account to reconcile EFTPOS deposits, as everything is automated and recorded in Hero. It’s quick, easy, and means no mistakes!
Any refund processed in Hero where funds are due back to the customer are automatically sent back to their card – they don’t even need to be in-store for this to happen!
Case Study: Hero on the go!
In-trip activity bookings for multi-day tour operators
Hero is a popular tool for multi-day tour operators, whose Guides arrange optional activities for their customers ‘on the go’. It’s a future-proof solution that eliminates the need for Guides to handle and carry cash, alleviating security and safety issues. All payments are digital, every sale is recorded and commission payments can be split and paid out to Drivers / Guides automatically.
Here’s a quick overview of how it all works…
Hardware
Guides typically operate their trips using an iPad or tablet. It’s the perfect tool to manage customer manifests, complete status reports, collate trip photos and videos, and send and receive emails.
Accessing the Hero Portal is easy. Guides simply login to Hero on Chrome anytime, anywhere.
Experiences
Experiences from thousands of suppliers are already available on Hero, however, product content can be curated to meet the unique needs of every reseller.
Resellers (in this case Tour Operators) simply ask their preferred suppliers to sign up to Hero in order to participate. Once suppliers have completed Hero’s supplier agreement, Hero’s onboarding team load their products into the platform, connecting via API where possible.
From there, Resellers can then choose to allow their Guides full access to all products in Hero’s marketplace or restrict visibility so Guides only see products pre-approved by the reseller.
Contracting
Resellers no longer need to undergo the annual process of contracting rates with suppliers. It’s all handled by Hero.
Suppliers simply advise Hero of any unique product configuration needed for the reseller, which could include:
- Unique products
- Unique retail rates / commissions
- Allocated inventory
Bookings
Guides build itineraries of optional activities for their customers, benefiting from live rates and inventory. Bookings is processed digitally with a couple of clicks.
Once booked, customers receive tickets digitally on their own device.
Payments
Customers pay via credit card via a payment link sent to their device. Customers can then choose to store card details for future purchases, enabling the Guide to arrange activities and process payments with the customer’s consent.
Reporting
Guides, and other members of the team, can see a real-time record of all sales activity on their Hero Dashboard. At any time, Guides know exactly how much commission they have generated and how much of this they are due to receive.
Remittance
At the end of each payment cycle, Hero automatically generates and sends Remittance Advice to all recipient parties:
- the Guide for their share of commission earned
- the Reseller (Employer of the Guide) for its share of the commission earned
- the Supplier of the service sold for its net payment due
4 days later on Friday, Hero deposits funds into the bank account of each party.
Customer Self-serve
Hero’s solutions can be extended to enable your customers to ‘self-serve’ and purchase add-ons online, without the need for a Guide to assist. Hero can supply each Guide with a company-branded webpage and QR code to share with their customers. Customers can browse and book experiences and sales are attributed to the Guide within Hero.
Additionally, tour operators with their own customer app can incorporate Hero to facilitate bookings of experiences throughout the tour. This enables product visibility to be tailored to the customer’s itinerary and personal info and payment details to be tokenised.
Journey Makr's branded Travel Guides, powered by Hero
Hero
At Hero, we’re big fans of travel, tech and design and we’re very happy to have partners who innovate in this space. One company worth a shout-out is Australian-based, B2B2C travel tech supplier, Journey Makr.
Journey Makr provides its clients with beautifully designed and branded digital guides of local tips for what to see and do and where to go – perfect for hotels, event organisers and tourism bodies.
Every local tip is a bite-sized summary of a place or business and showcases stunning photography, enticing copy, video and a map to get there.
The Guides contain beautifully edited content, tailored to their client’s location – from the best beaches to the unmissable spas and wineries, they are designed to entice visitors to discover more of the region.
The Guides also feature a wide range of Experiences, bookable via the site and powered by Hero.
If you’re a travel-related business and would like to enquire how you can obtain your own branded Guide, contact Journey Makr here.
Meet Hero at ATE Gold Coast, April 2023
Catch us at ATE 2023, Gold Coast
We look forward to catching up with industry colleagues at the Australian Tourism Exchange at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre between 30 April and 4 May 2023.
Hero’s head of success, Evie de Groot and co-founder Dan Lucas will be at the Hero stand in the Solutions Hub, alongside other industry-leading tech, finance and service solutions providers.
If you’re a travel reseller looking for ways to sell more effectively in-store, on tour and online come and see us. If you’re a supplier looking for more agent bookings, we look forward to meeting you!
Evie de Groot
Head of Success
Dan Lucas
Co-founder
Meet Hero at TRENZ Christchurch, May 2023
Hero
We look forward to meeting with industry colleagues at TRENZ 2023, at the Te Pae, Christchurch from 9–11 May 2023.
Hero’s Head of Partnerships, Kenny Wynter will be attending TRENZ as a Buyer and representing the growing network of over 1000 agents, affiliates and resellers using Hero across Australia and overseas.
We’re looking forward to meeting existing partners and making contact with new suppliers across New Zealand.
If you haven’t yet scheduled an appointment with Hero, send Kenny a message and he’ll track you down.
Internship at Hero's Sydney office
Careers:
Hero
At Hero, we’re reinventing the future of travel agent technology. It’s our mission to ‘supercharge sales’ between travel agents and their suppliers and customers.
We’re a fun, young tech company in a vibrant segment of the travel industry and we’re located in one of the best cities in the world, Sydney, Australia.
Hero is growing fast and we scale, we’re in a unique position to provide internship opportunities that encompass all facets of business activity, including: marketing, finance, operations, customer success and business development.
If you’re planning your career options and seeking a challenge (with a lot of fun) then an internship at Hero may be for you…
The role
Located in our office in Sydney, Australia, you will play a key role in coordinating a varied range of tasks and projects. Primarily, you will support Hero’s Support and Success Teams, helping to manage product content on the Hero platform and assist clients with questions and queries.
This will involve:
- Participating in regular team meetings
- Liaison with Hero’s clients via Live Chat, phone and email
- Update and enhance product content in Hero’s marketplace to meet platform quality and consistency guidelines
- Coordinate involvement from internal teams
- Regular progress reporting to Hero’s leadership team
- Coordinate tasks within Hero’s project management system
- Ad-hoc tasks and projects as directed
- Intern analysis of Hero, to be produced based upon a brief supplied by Hero’s directors which you will present to our leadership team.
To be successful in this role:
- You will be motivated, enthusiastic and energetic
- Be able to work independently and also a great team player
- Have great communication skills
- Be fun (It’s not all work and no play!)
We can offer:
- Unpaid internship at Hero’s Sydney office
- Full or part-time hours to suit your availability
- Discounted travel & tours across Australia, NZ & Asia-Pacific.
- Offsite Team meetings at locations across Australia
- A Reference Letter from a company director
- Recommendation on LinkedIn
- Completion of any supporting documents that may be required by your University
Apply:
Please tell us why you’d be a great fit at Hero and attach your CV.
Business Development Associate
Careers:
Business Development Associate
At Hero, we’re reinventing the future of travel agent technology. It’s our mission to ‘supercharge sales’ between travel agents and their suppliers and customers.
With industry-leading tech backed by a growing marketplace of amazing travel products, Hero can now service travel resellers of all kinds, within Australia, NZ and beyond.
With big plans for expansion, we’re on the lookout for Business Development Associates to join the team.
If you’re a customer-focused and results-driven go-getter, with ambitions for an engaging career in the travel industry this could be the opportunity you’ve been looking for…
The role
As a Business Development Associate, you will identify, explore and develop business expansion opportunities for Hero in your region. Using your unique set of skills and experience, you will nurture relationships with new, existing and potential travel resellers, to help them achieve sales via Hero.
This is a flexible, contract role with unlimited growth opportunities. Focus on your local area, target new and untapped regions or promote Hero as you work and travel the globe. Control your own hours and earn an attractive commission.
What’s involved:
- Identify new-business opportunities in your region, i.e:
- travel agents
- travel bloggers & influencers
- hotels, motels, hostels, resorts & caravan parks
- tourist information providers
- local community groups
- Nurture relationships with your leads and encourage them to start using Hero to sell travel to their customers & guests:
- Face-to-face using the Hero Portal
- On their website using the Hero Widget
- By referring customers to book online at Tour.store
- Engage Hero’s senior team when you need backup and support
- Make regular contact with your leads and provide support as required
- Update your progress in Hero’s CMS.
To be successful in this role:
- Have a professional, customer-focused attitude
- Be self-motivated, results-driven and strive to meet company goals
- Have great communication skills
- Be well-organised
We will provide:
- Induction with a member of Hero’s leadership team
- Regular catch-ups to support you in your role – questions and answers, guidance and advice, targets and reporting
- Profile page on the Hero website, for partners to view your contact details
- Business Cards and Hero email address
- Invitations to regular Hero offsite team meetings
You will receive:
- A share of fee income generated from all new clients
- Discounted travel booked via Hero
Apply:
Please tell us why you’d be a great fit at Hero and attach your CV.
Hero expands its API network, with new connection to Ibis
Hero is now integrated with New Zealand's leading tourism software specialist, Ibis.
We’re very happy to announce Hero’s latest API partnership with New Zealand’s leading tourism reservation software specialist, Ibis Technology.
Ibis is the preferred choice of many of New Zealand and Australia’s favourite travel brands including NZone Skydive, Skydive Australia, KJet, Rotorua Canopy Tours, Time Unlimited Tours and Hanmer Springs, plus many more.
Hero’s API connection with Ibis, now enables Ibis clients to ‘connect live’ and receive bookings from Hero’s agent network, benefiting from live rates and availability and instant bookings direct into their Ibis manifest.
Live integration also enables expanded distribution, via Hero’s B2B booking widget and B2B2C affiliate-powered solution, Tour.store.
If you’re an Ibis client wanting to take advantage of this new connection, or a travel reseller wishing to promote and sell these travel products to your customer-bases, please get in touch.
Hero introduces Tour.store for travel affiliates
Hero introduces Tour.store for travel industry affiliates
We’re pleased to introduce Hero’s newest feature, tour.store – a consumer-facing, B2B2C, affiliate-powered travel site enabling tourism businesses to easily promote and sell local experiences online.
Accommodation providers, tour operators, agents and content creators can now generate ancillary revenue by referring their guests, followers, fans & customers to a branded landing page on tour.store.
Affiliates can easily promote their page with a QR code, email marketing or posts on Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok.
Customers can browse and book a wide range of tours, activities and experiences via Hero’s PCI-compliant payment technology with tickets generated instantly.
Affiliates receive referral revenue and operators receive net payments direct into their bank account every week via Hero’s trusted payment flow.
Check it our at Tour.store or via the QR code below…
Hero integrates with BookWorld - DormProject
Hero integrates with BookWorld - DormProject
Hero is excited to announce its recent partnership with BookWorld / DormProject. BookWorld is a cloud based booking management system for accommodation providers. By improving and adding new features regularly, their goal is to make it as easy and efficient as possible for their clients to run their hostels.
This integration will give Hero agents the ability to access a whole new range of products with live rates and availability from different hostels/hotels. In turn, these accommodation providers can now benefit from automated management of their products in Hero and receive live bookings directly into their BookWorld manifest.
Get in touch with us or the team at BookWorld to find out more.
Meet us at The Australian Tourism Exchange 2021
We look forward to meeting industry partners at this year's Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) held in Sydney next month.
Hosted by Tourism Australia, ATE is the leading Australia-focused tourism industry event. This year, tourism buyers and sellers can meet, exchange knowledge, and make business connections amid ongoing uncertainty around international travel and border openings.
ATE will be held from 6 to 9 June at the International Convention Centre Sydney. This will be for international buyers who are based in Australia or located in countries permitted to travel to Australia, domestic buyers and frontline travel sellers. ATE Online will immediately follow, from 10 to 17 June, for all other international buyers who are unable to travel due to border restrictions.
If we're unable to meet with you during an allocated timeslot, send us a message and we'll be sure to catch up during breaks and social events.
Hero a SiteMinder Top-Revenue Maker of 2020
Hero becomes one of SiteMinder's top revenue makers of 2020
12 February 2021
SiteMinder, the global hotel industry’s leading guest acquisition platform, has unveiled it’s list of distribution channels that brought the greatest booking revenue to hotels in 2020 since the COVID pandemic – and Hero has made the list!
SiteMinder’s senior director of global demand partnerships, James Bishop says: “The travel disruptions of 2020 levelled the playing field for many distribution channel providers to demonstrate the unique value they provided to consumers and therefore to hotels. With international travel restrictions in place and rising cases of coronavirus around the world, many consumers were drawn to local hotel accommodations where the direct hotel website has always performed well, or through local booking channels, which, after an initial slump, saw an uptick from pent-up travel demand. SiteMinder’s lists of the top 12 hotel booking revenue makers are testament to real changes in people’s travel behaviour and preferences during this time.”
SiteMinder powers bookings with 35,000 hotels, across 160 countries, to generate bookings in excess of $47 billion annually.
Ranked at Number-12 since the hotel booking reset (Apr-Dec 2020) we’re honoured to be considered alongside industry players such as Booking.com, Expedia, Agoda and Airbnb.
Hero is a fully-accredited integration and distribution partner of SiteMinder. If you’re a hotelier looking to expand your distribution network or a travel reseller seeking API integration with hotels – get in touch.
To read more about SiteMinder 2020 Top-12, visit: siteminder.com/news
