Bologna Welcome - TrekkSoft Case Study

Bologna Welcome is the destination management company (DMC) for Bologna, the capital of Emilia-Romagna in Northern Italy. As a subsidiary of BolognaFiere Group, they manage tourist welcoming services and promote Bologna nationally and internationally.

To expand tourism and enhance visitor experiences, Bologna Welcome uses TrekkSoft to connect suppliers with tourist information points, the official destination website, and strategic third-party sales channels. This integration has streamlined sales, improved accessibility for visitors, and driven growth for the destination.

As a DMC, Bologna Welcome used TrekkSoft’s core infrastructure to connect a fragmented supplier network and manage sales across all city touchpoints:

Channel Manager (Experience Bank): Leveraged to integrate with OTAs and third-party resellers, ensuring broad exposure for all aggregated tours and activities.
Partner Network & Merchant Accounts: This was the key solution for their disconnected suppliers. TrekkSoft allowed them to create Managed Merchant accounts for suppliers and use the Partner Network to enable cross-selling between operators under one unified system.
Booking Widget: Implemented on Bologna Welcome's official destination website, enabling customers to book and pay for multiple experiences from different suppliers at once.
Point-of-Sale (POS) Desks: Deployed at tourist information points, allowing staff to instantly and seamlessly sell experiences from the shared inventory to in-destination visitors.

Before using TrekkSoft, Bologna Welcome faced several obstacles in scaling their destination’s tourism services:

- Disconnected supplier network: Each supplier used different booking systems, making it difficult for the DMC to resell their services efficiently.
- Lost sales opportunities: Suppliers could not easily sell to in-destination visitors because they lacked a shared inventory system.
- Limited online presence: Bologna Welcome wanted to showcase all available experiences online to increase visibility and bookings.

With tourism growing rapidly in Bologna’s metropolitan area, they needed a seamless booking solution to meet visitor demand efficiently.

Bologna Welcome integrated TrekkSoft’s powerful booking tools to connect suppliers, resell inventory online, and enable seamless in-person sales.

Connecting Suppliers for Seamless Sales

Using TrekkSoft, Bologna Welcome:
- Created Managed Merchant accounts, allowing suppliers to list tour schedules and prices under a unified system.
- Used Partner Network to enable cross-selling between operators, increasing distribution potential.
- Leveraged Experience Bank, TrekkSoft’s Channel Manager, to integrate with OTAs and third-party resellers, ensuring broader exposure for tours and activities.
Enhancing Online and In-Destination Sales

To expand reach and improve customer experience, Bologna Welcome implemented:
- TrekkSoft’s Booking Widget on its official website, enables customers to book and pay for multiple experiences at once.
- Point-of-Sale (POS) desks and mobile apps at tourist information points, allow staff to sell experiences instantly and seamlessly.