Vox City, a part of Vox Group, has been leveraging Palisis’s TourCMS for API connections since early 2023 to resell its tours and other products effectively. In an interview with Andrew Lawrence, Vox City’s Managing Director, the company discussed its insights into its experience with Palisis, highlighting the software’s strengths, challenges faced, and overall impact on its business operations. Andrew shared that they have seen an 83% increase in sales with the implementation of Palisis/ TourCMS—read on to understand their journey.
Vox City: A Dynamic and Immersive Tour Experience
At Palisis, we are proud to support Vox City, an innovative city experiences and tours provider, offering captivating itineraries throughout major global destinations and around sought-after attractions. Each tour is led by knowledgeable local guides who bring a city or attraction to life with compelling stories and unique insights, making every stroll or visit an engaging and memorable experience. For those who prefer to hear the tour in their native language, the Vox City app provides private multilingual audio experiences, allowing travellers to set their own pace.
Vox City, a UK-based company, originally launched reselling self-guided audio tours and guided walking tours. Over time, it has evolved into a more robust tour and activities operator, incorporating ticket entry and interior audio guide products and escorted tours using technology (custom app) to enhance the user experience.
In the conversation with Andrew, he mentioned that a major contributor to their success has been their ability to refine their offerings. They take the best parts of what is working and create a value-add, all whilst offering a clever human element for a new refined product. They’ve created offerings that allow travellers to experience a museum or city on their own but with a high-touch guide.
The Transition to Palisis
Vox City initially chose Experience Bank for its distribution needs due to its extensive partnership list. However, 18 months ago, they started transitioning products to Palisis, recognising its strengths in partnerships, connectivity, POS devices and overall scalability, which were crucial for expanding its portfolio. Vox rolled out the YesMilano City Pass, which brought about additional needs for a travel tech provider, leading them to conversations with Palisis again. According to Andrew, here are the benefits we offered.
Strengths of Palisis
- Partnerships and Connectivity: Palisis offered extensive partnerships that were not available with the past tech provider. For instance, integrating with HotelBeds and a few other distributors through API was seamless, with Palisis removing all manual processes, simplifying operations, and expanding the reach.
- Strategic Growth: As Vox City grows, Palisis provides a robust platform for development. Their ability to connect directly with partners allowed for strategic product distribution, enhancing their market presence. They also valued our deep relationships within the sector, which opened doors to new possibilities, and we happily made the appropriate introductions, facilitating new opportunities.
- Two-Way Connectivity: Palisis enabled Vox City to create a two-way connectivity system with franchise partners, allowing direct connections to their system for selling tickets and integrating point-of-sale machines, which was not possible with their previous travel tech solution. These franchise partners were also already using TourCMS, which made things very easy.
- Support and Reliability: One of the key aspects highlighted by Andrew was the reliability and support from Palisis. The team, including Edward, demonstrated persistent and dedicated support, ensuring issues were resolved promptly and efficiently.
“The partnerships we gained through Palisis have been crucial in expanding our market reach,” said Andrew Lawrence. “Plus, Palisis has enabled us to create a two-way connectivity system with our franchise partners, which improved our efficiency and sales.”
Andrew Lawrence, Vox City’s Managing Director
Challenges, solutions, and efficiencies with a channel manager
Vox City faced an initial challenge during the transition: a product went off sale, affecting its ranking and revenue. However, the collaborative effort between Vox City and Palisis ensured these issues were addressed quickly and rectified. For instance, a coding mismatch causing a product to fall off availability was swiftly resolved through continuous monitoring and support from the Palisis team.
The gradual buildup of moving products to Palisis’s platform has led to notable improvements in efficiency and consistency for Vox City. Andrew shared that minimising downtime and ensuring product availability to avoid revenue losses is a key priority. He gave an example of our team and their team monitoring a product’s success throughout the weekend, knowing they had our full support to prevent any losses, which helped build enormous confidence. Next, a stable API reducing instances of products going offline was vital in choosing a channel manager.
Andrew shared, “The support from the Palisis team, particularly Edward and Violeta, has been outstanding. They are always quick to resolve any issues and have a hands-on approach, ensuring our operations run smoothly.”
Heightened Customer Experience
The transition to Palisis has positively impacted Vox City’s customer experience. By offering a blend of self-guided and escorted tours, they have created value-added products that cater to diverse customer preferences. The ability to provide a seamless experience from booking to tour completion, backed by reliable technology and partnership support, has been an obvious advantage.
With a solid foundation and continuous support from our team, Vox City is well-positioned to explore new opportunities and further enhance its market presence. One particular concern for their team is the reliability of the development. They trust that when a channel manager or tech provider says they will build and produce, it’s actually going to be achieved.
Andrew expressed the following final thoughts, “Despite an initial challenge, the reliability and hands-on approach of the Palisis team have built a strong, trustworthy relationship. We are confident in our choice and the continuous support we receive. Palisis is the right people, right place, and right technology.”
Next, discover how Belvedere Museum, one of Vienna’s top attractions, achieves exceptional support and seamless connectivity with Palisis.