JackRabbit Systems for Louisiana Tourism

BATON ROUGE, US: JackRabbit Systems, Inc., a developer of online travel software for destination and travel portal websites, announced a partnership with Louisiana Office of Tourism at the Louisiana Tourism Industry Summit being held in Baton Rouge.

“Our partnership with JackRabbit heralds a new era in state-led tourism efforts bringing cities and other tourism arms together to provide a more streamlined approach to providing the best online consumer travel shopping experience possible,” said Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne. “We are excited to be at the forefront of this vision and a proof point for what’s still possible.”

Through this partnership, individuals planning visits to the Pelican State will be able to go directly from city or state tourism websites to book directly with lodging properties by using JackRabbit’s BookDirect search engine technology— bypassing the online booking fees, hassle and need for other travel agencies (OTAs) like Travelocity or Expedia.

JackRabbit’s BookDirect technology allows the Louisiana Office of Tourism and the convention and visitor bureaus in cities across the state to collaborate by using a technology solution that not only creates the best consumer experience, but also generates the most profit for individual lodgings, states a press release.

Unique to this partnership, JackRabbit’s leasing model gives local and regional tourism departments throughout Louisiana a way to create incremental, no-cost referrals for lodging reservations and the program is funded through lodging taxes. OTAs on the other hand, keep a percentage of each room they sell. For lodgings, those dollars are especially important during the current economic downturn when occupancy and American depositary receipts are down.