Tourism was one of the industries most impacted by the global pandemic, with New Zealand’s borders shut to overseas tourists for much of the past two years.

As Chief Technology Officer for Tourism Holdings Limited, Jo Hilson and her team used this period of diminished operational activity within the organisation’s core business to focus on technical enhancements.
 
THL digital teams developed their own in-house web-based fleet management platform, consolidating three legacy systems enabling unified booking and fleet management (scheduling) systems. 

This global platform links front-of-house and back-of-house operations more efficiently driving an improved customer experience, increased profitability and reduces security risks associated with legacy platforms, according to Hilson. 

The first version of this platform was successfully launched in New Zealand and Australia in April 2021 with a mature continuous integration / continuous deployment pipeline enabling the team to deliver to both regions simultaneously. 

This platform was rolled out across 16 branch locations and approximately 1500 trade agencies who can now access THL’s  platform from anywhere in the world and book and schedule rentals across New Zealand and Australia. Increased feature capabilities include the implementation of dynamic pricing. “This allows us to respond to market conditions in a timely manner, a critical factor in the last two years with Covid-19 driving vulnerabilities and unrelenting change,” says Hilson.

Following the launch in NZ and Australia in April 2021, the team concentrated efforts on the US, launching the platform there in February 2023 for 20 US branches and 11 licensees. 

Development has now commenced for the final UK location launch for mid 2023. “Once launched this will allow us to decommission our final legacy system and have a fully consolidated global fleet management system,” says Hilson.

“Our in-house built fleet management system aligns our companies’ strategic goals in a single platform, elevates our competitive advantage through personalisation and has brought our technical and business teams closer.”

Creating THL’s own fleet management platform has enabled the organisation to personalise the journey, own the IP and expand technical capabilities. 

“We have more control over our fleet which has resulted in a 2-5% increase in utilisation which therefore increases revenue. The value created surpasses the costs of delivery and my role is to ensure our investment continues to make operational and commercial sense,” says Hilson.

“From a commercial perspective we will be able to manage our six current global campervan brands under the one platform having leveraged the synergies between our multiple brands when designing our product roadmap. Should we as an organisation scale up or down with other brands, we will be able to easily adapt our platform accordingly,” she adds.

Hilson says technology is now at the heart of our organisation and with borders around the globe now open, tourism is gaining strength and opportunities are starting to flourish even more.  

“As we embark on our goals for our new financial year that has just recently started, I am looking towards the next financial year and the needs and wants of our organisation along with current trends in tech and innovation yet to be realised. Collectively I can use this to influence our future objectives in my conversations and continue to be part of what makes THL successful.”