Technology is to play a crucial role in Si Holidays’ future, as the company looks forward after its official relaunch last week.
Managing director Tui Eruera told KarryOn that although the travel industry understands the importance of technology, it continues to be perplexed by it.
“If you ask anyone in travel at the moment, we all talk about how we need to use technology in our business, however I think we struggle to understand it and how to best utilise within our businesses,” he said.
“At Si, our technology philosophy is simple – that is ‘Keep it Simple’. So we engage with technology in the aim of simplifying our business and as our margins continue to tighten we need to use it to streamline our operation both internally and externally and engage with our partners on different levels.”
He highlighted an example of the company’s commitment to innovation as its recent launch of Slipstream, a company that will select start-ups to support.
“By carefully selecting start-ups; nurturing and mentoring emerging travel technology companies will allows us to incorporate these new innovations into our business for both us and our partners,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Eruera said the travel industry has been “really receptive” to the rebranding of Freestyle Holidays under its new Si ownership.
A busy six-month period has also seen the company develop and distribute 10 new brochures, launch its new online booking platform Pronto and launch its new website siholidays.com.au.
“Our rebrands have allowed us to showcase the brands in the space and demographic in which they actually belong,” Eruera said.
The official launch last month was a “major milestone” for Si, but the team is already looking forward.
“We plan to grow our product offering,” Eruera revealed.
The Freestyle brand will expand its European range including brochures for Scandinavia and the Mediterranean to be released the second half of this year.
But Eruera acknowledged it’s not an easy road ahead.
“We are still a young company so we need to prove ourselves to the market in what we can do for our partners,” he said.
“We have market and competitive challenges like everyone else, however competition is good for us and the industry as it pushes us to be and do better.”