A brand that epitomises luxury experiences
VOMO Island Fiji is a privately owned island paradise in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Located within the Mamanuca Islands, Vomo island is home to crystal clear waters brimming with sea life and some of the world’s best snorkelling conditions. There’s even a small island nearby (coined Little Vomo) which guests can exclusively reserve for the most perfect day out, enjoying pristine beaches and soul-feeding relaxation.
With 25 years of history under current ownership, the luxury resort includes 28 villas and six two-bedroom accommodations which are perfect for travelling families and groups seeking connection and restoration.
Karen Marvell, Director of Sales and Marketing, says this is one of the key selling points.
“More and more families want to get away and take their children and as soon as you mention luxury everybody thinks it’s adults only. But this is a resort that welcomes families,” she explains.
“Whether it’s immediate family, extended family, or groups of friends, everybody wants to connect and have a good time.”
With stunning white sandy beaches, tennis courts, a nine-hole golf course, mountain hiking trails, restaurants, and pools alongside the beautiful villas, it’s no surprise that VOMO has earned its stellar reputation. Offering these premium services is one of the greatest pleasures of the job for Karen, who has a 35-year career in Fiji’s hospitality industry.
“To meet guests that you have talked to in the lead up to their stay and to see them enjoying the fruits of that in real-time and just having a wonderful time at the resort is the lovely part of working at a place like VOMO,” she says.
Driving operational success with seamless technology
For close to 10 years, VOMO has been using SiteMinder’s platform to support the distribution and booking process – a journey that started with the need for smooth PMS integration.
“Back then we needed something that was going to work with our property management system and we liked what we saw from the functionality of SiteMinder,” Karen mentions.
“At the time we were still unsure about what the technology was going to bring so the fact that it was based on a monthly subscription where we weren’t locked in was a winning feature for us. But it was a non-issue anyway since the build and setup of SiteMinder was so simple from the beginning.”
Fast-forward to today, and SiteMinder is helping VOMO welcome more guests than ever before, both from OTA connections and direct reservations via its award-winning channel manager and booking engine. As a result of travellers becoming more and more proactive with booking stays online, technology like SiteMinder is increasingly crucial for accommodation businesses to achieve success.
“More of our partners – not just OTAs but also travel partners – want that connectivity where at any time of day or night they can check in on our inventory and secure a stay. We’re a property with very high occupancy and a long lead time so for people to be able to jump on and grab accommodation, whether it’s a consumer or travel partner, is very useful and SiteMinder’s real-time automation ensures our inventory is always up-to-date,” Karen says.
“Provided you have enough information and detail in your booking engine, people are getting a lot more comfortable with the safety and security of online booking, and love the convenience of booking in their own time and carefully selecting what they want. SiteMinder supports us perfectly with that.”
Optimising efficiency and simplicity
With an increase in demand from guests preferring to book directly, VOMO has a lot more customer touchpoints to manage, which Karen says can be time consuming. Luckily, SiteMinder has been able to address these challenges directly through real-time automation and a user-friendly interface. With the highest quality of service to uphold and repeat visits exceedingly common, VOMO needs a system that enables speed and seamless guest service.
“Particularly with a luxury property – you don’t just accept a reservation and take a credit card. We want to know about their travel plans. We want to be able to personally meet them at the airport. We want to personally drive them to the marina and bring them on the boat to the island. Before they’ve arrived, we want to know what their dietary requirements are. We want to know whether they’d like to pre-book any babysitting spa or any excursions and activities. To have part of that process automated in the way that it is with SiteMinder’s booking engine does really streamline the process,” she explains.
“The overall efficiency that the platform brings has a big impact. It’s the fact that the team can come in the morning and there are a whole lot of bookings sitting there that are in a format that’s easy to action. You can quickly lock them in, add a few things into the reservation and it’s all done. It has definitely sped up the reservation management process.”
With up to eight staff members using the platform, this ease of use has been crucial – along with SiteMinder’s data-packed reports and analysis helping the property to make smarter distribution and revenue management decisions.
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VOMO sees extended growth in revenue and reach, supported by SiteMinder
VOMO is going from strength to strength, surging on momentum from direct bookings, returning guests, and new channel connections.
The business now has a channel mix that includes 60% direct bookings, which has prompted an amazing 64% guest returnee rate thanks to exceptional customer service and undeniably stunning resort experiences.
Aided by SiteMinder’s channel manager and booking engine, VOMO has seen strong revenue growth in the past two years, with the booking engine delivering a 79% uplift and newly adopted channels such as Expedia, Flight Centre, Webbeds, and Tourplan showing strong, triple-digit gains on average.
With SiteMinder’s platform making it easy for VOMO to connect, configure, and manage multiple revenue streams from a single dashboard, the future continues to look bright.
Overall, there are good reasons VOMO invested in SiteMinder and never looked back. With superior infrastructure and powerful capabilities, it’s the perfect solution to support a brand with an equally strong reputation for excellence.
“Easy connection, strong integration, a generous monthly subscription model, and data that is always accurate combines perfectly with functionality that is intuitive,” says Karen.
Thank you, Karen, for all your valued feedback and we wish VOMO Island Fiji the most success in the future!