“Managing our new tour operator arm of the business with Tourwriter has allowed us to set up a new arm of the business with a full time Reservations Manager so we can spend more time working on sail trips and growing other areas of the business.
Before Tourwriter
- Zero commission on ancillary bookings
- Guest trip planning handled by email and phone
- Supplier rates scattered across inboxes
- No system to apply margins or reconcile costs
After Tourwriter
- 1 full-time Reservations Manager funded by commission
- Bespoke supplier database for day tours and charter flights
- Branded PDF and web-link itineraries for every guest
- Supplier invoicing controlled by the reservations team
Growth
- 5.0 ★ across 448 TripAdvisor reviews
- Silver Award, Australian Tourism Awards 2024
- Guests returning 5–6 times
- Approximately 280 guests per season, all receiving ancillary planning
Efficiency gains
- Entire new arm of the business established and more time freed up to focus on sail trips
- Supplier database eliminates rate double-checking
- Invoicing control shifted to reservations
- Live reconciliation via Zoho Analytics
Overview and background
Sail Ningaloo was spending hours every week helping guests plan trips to one of Australia’s most remote coastlines, and earning nothing for it. Visitors booking a multi-day liveaboard sailing tour on Ningaloo Reef needed flights into Exmouth or Coral Bay, transfers, pre-tour accommodation, and activities to fill the days before and after boarding. They asked the Rileys for guidance because nobody knew the area better. The work kept growing, but there was no system to track it, apply a margin, or invoice for it.
Owners Luke Riley and Lannie Riley founded Sail Ningaloo in 2010 after identifying a gap: plenty of day tours and budget options existed for Ningaloo visitors, but nothing for high-end guests wanting an extended, personal experience on the reef. Luke brought a marine conservation background. Lannie had coordinated the Ningaloo Turtle monitoring programme and worked as an interpretive guide across Tasmania and the Northern Territory. They operate aboard Shore Thing, a 51-foot sailing catamaran accommodating up to ten guests in four cabins.
“We found we were spending so much time giving people recommendations on where to stay, what to do, that we just naturally evolved into just booking that for them as well.”
Lannie Riley, Co-owner, Sail Ningaloo
Those bookings added real value for guests. Without a system to manage them, there was no clean way to apply a margin, track what had been arranged, or reconcile actual costs against what guests paid. The team was doing the work of a specialist travel operator with the infrastructure of a sailing business.
The Rileys recognised early that their guests were not typical tourists. People choosing a multi-day liveaboard at this price point had done their research and arrived with high expectations. They were not looking for a shortlist of options; they wanted curated, personalised advice from operators who had first-hand knowledge of every supplier in the region. Every question the Rileys answered well built trust. Every recommendation that delivered what it promised brought guests back. Some returned five or six times.
The problem was structural. No matter how good the recommendations, there was no way to capture the commercial value of that expertise without a dedicated system. Supplier rates sat in inboxes. Bookings were confirmed by phone. Costs came in from multiple directions, and reconciling what guests had paid against what had actually been spent required digging through weeks of correspondence. Tour operators who book third-party services on behalf of guests need a platform that tracks margins, confirms bookings, and produces supplier invoices linked to their accounting system without manual re-entry.
Building a travel specialist operation inside a sailing business
Sail Ningaloo came to Tourwriter’s itinerary and booking management platform as their travel specialist role expanded beyond what spreadsheets and email could handle. They needed a single system for itinerary creation, supplier bookings, and financial tracking. Today, the platform is run primarily by Cristie, their Reservations Manager.
“Our Reservations Manager, Cristie is in Tourwriter everyday planning tours and managing that whole new arm of the business.”
Lannie Riley, Co-owner, Sail Ningaloo
Cristie builds customised itineraries for each guest, manages supplier bookings around the sailing tour, and produces polished documents using Tourwriter’s itinerary builder and template tools. Many guests prefer a printed document to take on tour, so PDF export is central to her workflow, alongside web links for guests who want digital access.
The supplier database has become foundational. Cristie maintains a bespoke catalogue of products tailored to Ningaloo: day tours, local charter flights, and specialist gear hire. These are not the kind of products that appear on mainstream booking platforms. Once loaded with accurate rates and descriptions, those products add to any itinerary without rechecking details manually.
“The supplier data base and the way Tourwriter is set up removes a lot of the double checking that you would need to do to make sure the information you’re giving is correct, so it’s sort of integral to how we work, really.”
Lannie Riley, Co-owner, Sail Ningaloo
Using a generic booking tool was never an option. Sail Ningaloo operates a product that functions simultaneously as a tour, accommodation, and dining experience over multiple days. Guests make large purchasing decisions based on detailed information and need ongoing changes managed. A platform that could hold their custom product catalogue and build bespoke multi-day itineraries around it was a requirement.
In 2025, Sail Ningaloo adopted supplier invoicing within Tourwriter’s Certified Xero Integration. They had used Xero for a long time, but the supplier invoicing feature had not previously matched their workflow. An update changed that, and the shift moved invoicing responsibility from accounts to reservations, placing financial control closer to where the bookings originate.
Lannie also uses Tourwriter’s Zoho Analytics connection to manage the financial side of the business. She runs manifest reports, inquiry summaries, and uses the data to reconcile their tour account with what has been processed through Tourwriter. For a small business where Lannie handles accounts and Cristie runs reservations, access to live data means discrepancies surface quickly rather than appearing at month end.
Tourwriter was founded in 2004. More than twenty years of development, shaped directly by boutique tour operators, has produced a platform that understands the commercial reality of a small, specialist travel business like Sail Ningaloo.
AI trip-planning tools and OTA recommendation engines are improving at the mass-market end of travel. Boutique operators using purpose-built software hold a different kind of advantage: depth, personalisation, and response speed that no generalist algorithm can replicate. Sail Ningaloo’s product — a remote, multi-day liveaboard with bespoke ancillary planning — sits at exactly the end of the market where that advantage compounds.
Approximately 90 per cent of Sail Ningaloo’s bookings arrive direct, with the remainder through travel agents. Tourwriter handles both. Agent commission structures sit alongside direct traveller invoicing in the same system, so the reservations workflow does not change based on how the booking arrived.
The results
The clearest return on investment for Sail Ningaloo is direct and measurable: the commission earned on ancillary bookings funds most of Cristie’s wage. An informal service that once cost the founders time without generating income now sustains a full-time role.
A Western Australian reservations or tourism coordinator role in the AUD $60,000–$75,000 range means “most of a wage” equates to approximately AUD $45,000 per year. At a typical ancillary commission rate of 10–15%, that implies AUD $300,000–$450,000 in ancillary bookings processed each season: flights, transfers, accommodation, and specialist activities arranged for each guest. Sail Ningaloo serves approximately 280 guests per sailing season, and Cristie builds ancillary itineraries for every one of them. The planning service that once went uncompensated now returns a measurable commercial yield on every guest relationship.
“The commission we’re making on those extra bookings has enabled us to hire our Reservations Manager and set that up as a whole new arm of the business. That means we’re employing someone full time, creating a local job and freeing ourselves up to focus on our core business.”
Lannie Riley, Co-owner, Sail Ningaloo
From a guest perspective, the value is concrete. Visitors booking a Sail Ningaloo tour typically have limited knowledge of travelling to remote Western Australia. The Rileys can now respond with a professionally built itinerary, accurate supplier bookings managed in one system, and the ability to handle changes without confusion.
Sail Ningaloo holds a 5.0 out of 5 star rating across 448 reviews on TripAdvisor, ranking second of 16 outdoor activities in Coral Bay. Some guests have returned five or six times. The business has held Advanced Ecotourism certification since 2010 and Climate Action Business certification since 2012. In 2024, they won a Silver Award at the Australian Tourism Awards in the Ecotourism category.
The business outcome extends beyond the wage calculation. Tour operators managing ancillary bookings as part of their core product cannot grow that service without a system that scales with them. Cristie now handles a volume of supplier bookings and itinerary changes that would not be manageable manually.
The Xero integration has sharpened financial control at the point where it matters most: the booking. Lannie no longer needs to cross-reference accounts at month end to find out whether supplier invoices match what was arranged. Discrepancies surface when they are still easy to correct, not weeks later.
For a small operator running a product at this level of detail and price point, the combination of itinerary management, supplier coordination, and financial integration in one platform has changed the economics of what is possible. The Rileys can offer the expertise of a specialist travel agency without hiring one.
What guests say
“The whole experience with Sail Ningaloo was terrific! The scenery was sensational and the snorkelling/diving fantastic.”
Robyn S, July 2024
“This was our second trip with Sail Ningaloo and they were both that good we plan to go again in 2024!”
Andrea B, October 2022
“We saw 7 species of sharks, were surrounded by humpback whales much of the time…Great food and great service.”
Shanna R, September 2023
Frequently asked questions
How did Sail Ningaloo manage guest trip planning before using dedicated itinerary software?
Lannie and Luke fielded travel planning questions informally, relying on personal knowledge of the Ningaloo region. Recommendations went out via email or phone, with no structured system to track what had been arranged. The work was time-consuming, impossible to reconcile, and generated no commission income, even as the volume of requests grew with the business.
Why do tour operators who act as local travel specialists struggle to capture value from ancillary bookings?
Without a system that stores supplier rates and tracks each booking separately, operators either give recommendations for free or spend hours manually coordinating third-party bookings they cannot invoice for cleanly. There is no way to apply a margin, confirm what was booked, or reconcile actual costs against what guests paid without dedicated software.
What makes Ningaloo particularly complex to plan for visitors travelling from outside Western Australia?
Ningaloo sits in a remote part of Western Australia, hours from major cities. Guests travelling interstate or from overseas need to coordinate flights into Exmouth or Coral Bay, regional transfers, accommodation before and after the sailing tour, and a range of activities. For operators with long-term local knowledge, those planning questions arrive constantly and require detailed, accurate answers every time.
Why do liveaboard tour operators face different software challenges from standard day tour businesses?
Liveaboard operators manage a product that functions simultaneously as a tour, accommodation, and dining experience, all over multiple days. Guests make large purchasing decisions based on detailed information and often need ongoing changes managed. Standard booking platforms built for one-night stays or single-activity bookings cannot handle that complexity.
How does Tourwriter handle itinerary creation for an operator acting as both a tour provider and a local travel specialist?
Tourwriter stores each operator's full supplier and product database, including custom products like specialist day tours or regional charter flights, and assembles personalised multi-day itineraries quickly. Templates save time on repeat itinerary types. Outputs export as branded PDFs or as web links.
Can Tourwriter integrate with Xero for both traveller invoicing and supplier purchase orders?
Yes. Tourwriter holds Certified Xero Integration status. The two-way synchronisation keeps both systems aligned in real time. Operators manage traveller invoices and supplier purchase orders from within Tourwriter, with data flowing automatically into Xero without manual re-entry.
How does a small liveaboard operator build and manage a product catalogue that standard booking platforms do not cover?
Operators like Sail Ningaloo maintain their own supplier database inside Tourwriter, loading rates and descriptions for products specific to their region: day tours, local flights, and specialised hire. Once loaded, those products add to any itinerary without rechecking details manually.
What does ongoing support look like for a small operator building out feature use over time?
Sail Ningaloo works with a dedicated Customer Success contact at Tourwriter. Their Reservations Manager is also active in Tourwriter's user community. For a small team, direct support access alongside a community of other operators using the platform helps them adopt new features at a pace that fits their seasonal workflow.
How has Sail Ningaloo changed since implementing Tourwriter?
Sail Ningaloo evolved from a tour operator into a travel specialist for Ningaloo visitors, using itinerary software to manage ancillary bookings alongside their core sailing tours. Commission from those bookings now funds most of their Reservations Manager's wage.
What financial return have tour operators achieved by managing ancillary bookings through itinerary software?
For Sail Ningaloo, the financial case is direct. Managing ancillary bookings through a system with margin tracking converted an informal service into a revenue line that covers a full-time staff role. Without that income, the business could not afford to employ a dedicated Reservations Manager.
How does commission tracking work in Tourwriter for operators who book third-party services on behalf of their guests?
Operators apply margins in the supplier database and itinerary as they build each booking. Tourwriter tracks the cost price, sell price, and commission per line. Those figures sit alongside the primary tour booking in the financial record, giving a clear picture of total revenue generated per guest.
How much manual work does a bespoke supplier database remove for operators with specialist product catalogues?
Once products load with accurate rates and descriptions, operators add them to any itinerary without verifying details with the supplier each time. For Sail Ningaloo, which books local charter flights, day tours, and gear hire on top of their own tours, that removes a repeated check from every booking cycle.
Does Tourwriter work for tour operators who sell primarily direct rather than through agents?
Yes. Sail Ningaloo generates around 90 per cent of bookings directly, with roughly ten per cent through travel agents. Tourwriter handles both. The platform manages traveller invoicing, guest itineraries, and supplier bookings for direct clients, while also accommodating commission structures for agent-referred bookings within the same system.
Sail Ningaloo
A premium liveaboard sailing operator on the Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia, offering multi-day tours aboard Shore Thing, a 51-foot catamaran for up to ten guests. Founded in 2010 by Luke and Lannie Riley. Holds Advanced Ecotourism certification since 2010, Climate Action Business certification since 2012, and won Silver at the 2024 Australian Tourism Awards in the Ecotourism category.
Lannie Riley
Lannie co-founded Sail Ningaloo with husband Luke in 2010. She previously coordinated the Ningaloo Turtle monitoring programme and worked as an interpretive tour guide across Tasmania and the Northern Territory. She oversees finance and reservations from the Coral Bay base.
