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!
Hero
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 and every sale is recorded in real-time.
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 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.
Senior Full Stack .NET Developer, Sydney
Careers:
Hero
Hero is a supplier of innovative B2B technology 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.
With years of C# .NET development experience, this role will push those skills and apply them to the design, development and implementation of new complex systems. Interaction with both internal and external customers to understand their needs and requirements will be part of your daily routine. This is an opportunity to build new systems based on your own skills and experience, while becoming a key influencer in business decisions regarding the future of Hero’s technology.
Role Description:
The role of Senior Full Stack .NET Developer is to drive Hero’s technical development, and act as team-lead for our offshore developers building new features of the Hero platform, including but not limited to:
- Back-end hosted infrastructure (Azure / AWS), including web apps, function apps, SQL databases and Virtual Machines
- API integrations to numerous booking and reservation systems, billing systems, payment systems and other third-party applications
- Front-end applications, including our core B2B web-based travel agent portal and B2B2C consumer portal
Experience must include:
- C# / .NET application design and development
- Cloud experience (AWS / Azure)
- Proven commercial experience with APIs
- Strong knowledge of architectural design patterns and best practices
- Git experience
- MS SQL Server experience
- Excellent written and verbal communication
- Experience with billing systems, payment processing, or booking systems would be an advantage
Working at Hero offers you:
- A mix of office and home based work
- Paid learning and certifications
- A fun and modern working environment
- Travel opportunities & discounts
Note that all applicants must hold Australian citizenship, permanent residency or other permanent work rights. Hero is unable to sponsor or support visa applications.
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.
Head of Partnerships, NZ
Careers:
Head of Partnerships, NZ
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, globally.
With big plans for expansion, we’re on the lookout for a Head of Partnerships to join the team and lead Hero’s expansion strategy within New Zealand.
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 Head of Partnerships, NZ, you will lead Hero’s business development strategy across New Zealand. With backup from Hero’s supplier onboarding team, 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 permanent, full-time position with unlimited global growth opportunities.
What’s involved:
- Identify and engage new-business opportunities in your region
- Maintain and develop relationships with new and existing partners
- Identify strategies to empower partners to enhance sales via Hero
- Meet company growth targets & KPIs
To be successful in this role:
- You will have a proven background in sales and business development
- Have industry experience in NZ’s travel sector
- Be willing to travel for work committments
We will provide:
- Guidance from Hero’s co-founders and directors
- Support from Hero’s supplier onboarding team
- Support from Hero’s agent support team
- Inclusion in regular meetings with Hero’s senior leadership team
- Invitations to regular Hero offsite team meetings
- Opportunities to expand your role into new regions, globally
You will receive:
- Attractive salary
- KPI-based bonus
- Company performance-based bonus
Apply:
Tell us why you’d be a great fit at Hero and attach your CV.
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
