It’s been quite an unusual June and July, with chatter continuing to build as businesses are gradually reopening phase by phase.

We’ve teamed up with a medical professional and frontliner, Dr. Adam Lund of Odyssey Medical, to gain richer insights on COVID-19 and how businesses can restart safely.

In this 45-minute interactive webinar, our health expert touched on everything from his ER experiences and working with the film and events industries, hotspots and reopening of the international borders,  social contracts and the pandemic promise, doubling down on how we can do our due diligence to keep our communities, teams and guests safe with PPE and proper guidelines in place.

Without giving away the entirety of the conversation (you’ll just have to tune in!), here are some useful nuggets and considerations as you plan towards restarting safely:

• Medical insights on transmission, spikes, resurgences and how this impacts the future of travel
• How PPE fits into your reopening strategy
• Best tips and strategies for reopening safely (Spoiler Alert: This part may require you to put your artist’s hat on 🧑‍🎨)

Have we piqued your interest? Grab a cup of tea, and view the webinar recording below☕

Watch the Webinar on Demand 

Restarting Safely: In Conversation with Kory Fawcett and Dr. Adam Lund

See what’s Cooking in the ZAUI LAB: New Features to Add to your COVID-19 Arsenal 🧰

When we’re not busily doomscrolling or facilitating virtual conversations, we’ve been hard at work making changes to our product roadmap and injecting some features that are sure to help pave a smoother road to recovery.

Take a look at some of our new & upcoming features, designed to work in conjunction with one another:

1. Self Editable Bookings: In times of uncertainty, the more flexibility there is, the better! Available in the NEW Online Booking Engine, the self editable feature helps operators function with a lean team to minimize the manual workload and phone support. 

For guests—they now have the ability to retrieve and revise their bookings should plans change, enabling them to book with confidence! More on this in our upcoming announcement.  

2. Private Tours: Ah, one of our favourite new features! ✨

During these times, it’s imperative to exercise extra caution when it comes to who we surround ourselves with. Operators are able to offer a Private group option displayed in Zaui’s NEW online booking engine at a flat fee, in addition to their original public offerings. It’s an option that operators can easily implement to ensure guests can travel confidently and feel comfortable knowing they can safely enjoy the experience with their trusted bubble.

And in the far-off Non-COVID future, the private option opens your offerings up to family vacations, stag parties, work outings and more so people can experience something new and celebrate together. Stay tuned for more information!

3. Disruptions Manager: Before the pandemic took the world by storm and upended our plans, our product team had been hard at work, brainstorming ways in which technology could be used by operators to manage trip disruptions more efficiently.

While COVID takes the cake for being the ultimate disruptor, other unplanned instances such as road closures, car accidents, bridge or border closures, natural disasters can be causes for trips to be delayed or even cancelled.

Currently available for P2P transportation operators, the new Disruptions Manager enables your operations team to be agile and apply a disruption to a trip in a few clicks. Operators’ changes to bookings can be enforced, triggering a cancellation notification email, with options for guests to self edit their booking online or claim as customer credit to rebook at a more convenient time. 

4. Reserve with Google: We’re pulling out all the bells and whistles. One integration we’re incredibly excited for and operators should get on board with is Reserve with Google!

Handling over 90 percent of all search queries worldwide, Google undoubtedly dominates the global search engine market share.  The new integration (coming soon to your Zaui system!) allows operators to leverage this important channel, opening up travel to not only domestic travellers looking for a fun day trip activity using Google Maps, but also for the traveller planning their regional trip or next big trip planned across the pond.

5. Online Booking Engine: In case you missed it, we unveiled a brand, spanking new Online Booking Engine designed to help you drive more online conversions and bring your operations and payments 100% online. Say goodbye to risky cash payments 💸

Another notable feature? The Online Booking Engine makes it easy for agents to book directly on behalf of guests without going through the trouble of phone calls!

6. Customer Credit Balance: We’ve released this feature at the onset of the pandemic to help operators better manage booking changes and offer credit. The feature has and will continue to be a game-changer in how your operations teams can handle postponements as well as offer bonus credit to entice guests to return and rebook.

7. Promo Code: With local and regional tourism returning, ensure your business is set up to attract adventure seekers looking for an experience outside their homes. Incentivize locals to explore their own backyards with a special promotional offer they can’t refuse. 

One of our favourite examples? Prince of Whales has done an incredible job with showcasing an offer exclusively for BC locals, pairing with messaging on how they’re prioritizing guests’ health and safety with safe social distancing.