We at Taste the Barossa happily pay the appropriate commissions to travel agents that sell our tours and rightly earn that commission. We are proudly featured in wholesale, inbound and retail brochures world-wide and value those relationships we have built over the past 20+ years we have been in the tourism industry.

We have serious issues however with the relatively new practice here in Adelaide of some City hotels, who in partnership with an online agent are charging us 20% commission when a customer chooses our brochure from the brochure rack and takes it to the hotel concierge in order to book our tour.

To be clear, we’ve already paid for our brochures and we also pay a substantial monthly fee to be in the brochure racks. How can 20% commission (shared between the hotel and an online agent) possibly be justified simply for a phone call?

When this first happened we reluctantly agreed to a 20% commission rate. However, after literally no bookings from a hotel we previously had many bookings from, I called the agent to query the issue. I was told that we weren’t competitive enough. Not really understanding the answer I argued that we were ranked #1 on TripAdvisor for the previous 8 years and remained without a doubt the most popular and positively reviewed tour company in Adelaide. Knowing the company they were selling, I was confident we had the superior product. Unfortunately, when they said we weren’t competitive enough it wasn’t the quality of our product it was the level of our commission rate, the other company was paying 25% commission.

We were told if we wanted sales we’d have to increase our commission. We knew customers were picking up our brochure and being sold another product purely on the basis of a higher commission. This is a very slippery slope!

This simply isn’t sustainable in the medium to long term, positive word of mouth from customers is imperative.  We can’t be diluting the quality of our customers experience simply to add a small income to the bottom line of huge hotel chains. This is even more important in a market like Adelaide where we have to trade on the quality of the experience rather than a well-known iconic attraction.

Last year Taste the Barossa chose to stop paying any commission of any type to local hotels and instead have partnered with the Little Hero’s Foundation. We now donate 10% of all bookings made by hotel staff directly to The Little Hero’s Foundation. To date we have donated over $6,000 to this local South Australian Charity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned for our new Taste the Barossa initiative to raise much needed funds for the Little Hero’s Foundation. We are very excited.

This is our way of pushing back.

 

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These past few months have seen an unexpected, devastating crisis affect populations across the Globe. So many changes happened in the blink of an eye, and all of us are slowly adjusting to a new way of living.

At Taste the Barossa, we are saddened that currently we are unable to show people the stunning regions of the Barossa Valley. However, in times of uncertainty and change, we can make the most of it by taking action in areas of life that we can control.

Which is why we have chosen to shift our efforts towards supporting our long term charity, The Little Heroes Foundation. We have been a proud supporter of this charity for years, running competitions and fundraisers.

The story of Little Heroes Foundation

The Little Heroes Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation based in South Australia, dedicated to providing seriously ill children and their families with the tools, support and equipment to ensure that they have access to the care they deserve — no matter how rare their diagnosis is.

Over 20 years, this organisation has contributed around $20 million for lifesaving facilities and equipment at Adelaide’s Women’s and Children’s Hospital. They have also offered guidance, financial assistance and initiatives to help provide daily support to families through their Little Heroes Care program.

The work done by Little Heroes Foundation is a vital part of our community and at Taste the Barossa, we want to do our part to ensure they can keep providing.

What are we doing to help?

The current initiative at Taste the Barossa is a fundraiser through creating hampers filled with goods and products local to the Barossa region. This hamper will showcase why the Barossa is the best food and wine region in South Australia. It offers decadent produce such as wine, chocolates, pickles, meats and various other small goods. It’s a great way to have a sneak peak of the true Barossa experience.

These hampers contain approx $100 worth of produce, cost $60 to put together and will be selling for $99.

100% of the profits (around $40 per basket) will go to The Little Heroes Foundation. The delivery of these hampers in the Adelaide Metro Area will be taken care of by Taste the Barossa free of charge using our tour guides and buses.

Making the best out of challenging times

Taste the Barossa and our dedicated staff is trying our best to do what we can in these trying times. We are grateful for your support in whatever manner you can.

If you would like to find out more about our work with Little Heroes Foundation or if you have questions about how you can help, feel free to check out our web site at www.tastethebarossa.com.au or email info@tastethebarossa.com.au

 

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