Railbiking in Greece

Within their first year of working with Bókun, Railbiking in Greece doubled their sales as they turned their website into a bookable one. Their unique outdoor tours, which take travellers to disused railway lines in Greece with specially designed bicycles, frequently sell out–even after increasing prices–allowing the team to focus on curating their experiences and growth while Bókun handles the bookings. 

Key results:

• Doubled their bookings within a year. 
• Grew direct bookings – 89% of all bookings in 2023 were made online
• Successful sales allowed them to hire another guide to manage increased demand

As their tours garnered more interest from adventurous travellers, the operator needed support to keep up with the rapidly growing demands of their company. While juggling bookings across multiple channels, issues like overbooking and cancellations arose, along with legal hurdles the team needed assistance to handle. 

The complexity of organising bookings for outdoor activities became too time-consuming for the small business owners to manage on their own. Bókun provided solutions to these pain points.

Many operators without a reliable reservation technology platform, encounter similar challenges, since they begin as passion projects, which become overwhelming when the business starts to grow.

“Before implementing Bókun, we encountered several challenges. These included the complexity of organising bookings specific to outdoor activities, which could be extremely time-consuming when done manually. We also faced issues related to rapidly growing demand, overbooking incidents, managing bookings across multiple channels, dealing with legal aspects, and handling cancellations.” – Artemios F., owner and operator 

In this case study, we dive deep into Railbiking in Greece’s experience and growth following their partnership with us.

By working with Bókun, Railbiking in Greece streamlined the booking process and operations and could grow their bookings in a manageable way. With all the guesswork taken out of the equation with a reliable booking process, they could focus on growth and long-term plans–like expanding their business to surrounding countries–and explore franchise opportunities. 

“We did encounter some challenges during the implementation phase. However, Bókun’s technical support team was instrumental in resolving these issues promptly and effectively, especially when they were urgent. We were highly satisfied with the level of support provided.” – Artemios F., owner and operator 

First, Bókun assisted the team in creating a website that enabled direct online bookings, which also incorporated an availability management system that helped prevent overbookings and double bookings. The platform gave them a place where they could view all of their bookings and handle cancellations at once; reducing their manual workload. 

Railbiking in Greece got back the time they needed to focus on delivering travellers with the best experience possible, as they spent less time on operational day-to-day management. Automating the booking process also saved time, making room for product optimisation that they can tailor to customers and seasonality.

Since working with Bókun, Railbiking in Greece has seen a transformative impact. 

“Our sales have skyrocketed, and we consistently sell out our rail biking experiences,” shared the owner of Railbiking in Greece, Artemisios F. 

Bókun helped the operator manage its operations, saving the company considerable time so they could focus more on curating exceptional experiences for their customers. The Bókun platform and booking system have helped facilitate online booking and made it far easier for customers to book trips.  

“The fact that we regularly sell out, even after increasing our prices, is a testament to the positive impact of Bókun on our business.” – Artemios F., owner and operator

Other Key Operational Improvements: 

• Tours regularly sell out even after increasing prices. 
• Bókun has helped free up time to focus more on creating exceptional experiences. 
• Working with Bókun helped streamline company operations. 
• The website and booking system make it possible for customers to book online. 

Railbiking in Greece took advantage of Bókun’s free domain and bookable website builder to create an online presence for the company. This made it easier for them to get direct online bookings and integrate that with Bókun’s booking system. 

“Bókun is designed specifically for experiences, making it a tailored solution for our outdoor activity business,” said Artemisios, “It offered seamless integration with payment systems, comprehensive documentation, and video materials that facilitated our onboarding process. What truly stood out was the opportunity for a live interview with a Bókun specialist, which allowed us to explore the key features that perfectly suited our business needs.” 

Additionally, they also benefited from using other Bókun features, like the Active Gift Cards to help with promotions and conversions, close out departures so that the team can set cut-off times for bookings to allow time to prepare everything for the upcoming tour and send out automatic booking confirmations to customers. 

I highly recommend Bókun to other tour operators, primarily due to its exceptional technical support and customer-friendly features. Bókun has delivered excellent conversion rates for our business, and it has been a valuable asset in our growth journey. – Artemios F., owner and operator

Website Building

Railbiking in Greece used Bókun’s free domain and bookable website builder to get online direct bookings and integrate with Bókun.

Gift Cards

24 active gift cards to help with customer promotions and conversions. These include monetary gift cards to book a tour or for a specific experience.

Close Out Departures
Railbiking in Greece sets cut-off times for experiences so the team can have enough time to prepare everything necessary for the tour. 

Automated Booking Confirmations

The tour company has eliminated manual work with automated booking confirmations and reminder emails that keep customers informed and can reduce no-shows.

The team found that using Bókun daily was effortless. It also provided a user-friendly environment for customers and automated processes to help the team save time on administrative tasks, allowing them to now focus on delivering outstanding rail biking experiences for customers.

Railbiking in Greece knew they needed a booking software even before establishing the business. They recognised the immense value Bókun’s free domain and bookable website builder feature has brought to their operations. 

With increased demand for outdoor activities, the tour company saw an opportunity to streamline everything. Since incorporating this feature, their website has become the primary booking channel, effortlessly feeding bookings back into Bókun’s user-friendly channel management interface.

Railbiking in Greece can now focus on expansion since taking advantage of Bókun’s services. “Bókun will play a crucial role in our growth strategy,” says Artemisios, “We plan to establish additional franchises and explore new markets.” As the company continues to scale, they will find Bókun’s capabilities, like its booking and availability management features, will play a huge role in the continued scaling of its operations. 

Bókun’s mission is to help your tour and activity business generate more bookings with less work. Start your free 14-day trial today to explore our software can help you save time and grow your business.