Experience Plus engaged Rocket Jones in early 2019 with a vision to revamp their existing bicycle tour management system. This platform was essential for their operations, which involved organizing and conducting bicycle tours throughout Europe and Latin America. Rocket Jones was sought as a long-term partner capable of maintaining and enhancing the project, aligning with Experience Plus’s growth plans.
Rocket Jones commenced its partnership by conducting a comprehensive code review of Experience Plus’s existing application infrastructure. The review aimed to identify areas of improvement, including security concerns, minor feature enhancements, and bug fixes stemming from the initial development of the site. This initial step laid the foundation for the transformation that would follow.
A pivotal milestone in Experience Plus’s growth is the development of the Atlas tool. Atlas was designed by a third party to manage complex trip logistics, ensuring that every aspect of the bicycle tours that Experience Plus hosted would be meticulously planned and executed. It is the heart of their operation, covering a wide array of components, including client interest tracking, booking management, invoicing, hotel accommodations, and bicycle rental logistics. While Atlas was not developed by Rocket Jones, the Rocket team has supported the application by porting it over to the CakePHP 4 framework, and by providing ongoing maintenance and improvement to ensure it will continue as the central hub for managing all trip-related details and providing a seamless experience for both staff and clients.
In 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic heavily impacted the travel and tourism industry, causing Experience Plus’s business to slow down. However, Experience Plus and Rocket Jones remained committed to their partnership. As the company emerged from the pandemic's challenges, they took the opportunity to revisit their codebase. Rocket Jones successfully managed the migration from CakePHP 2 to CakePHP 4, ensuring that Experience Plus had an up-to-date and robust system for their operations.
Experience Plus didn't stop after launching their Atlas tool and completing code migrations; they also collaborated with Rocket Jones to develop new features and enhancements for the benefit of both their customers and their operations. Previously, the Experience Plus team invested significant effort in manually tracking crucial pre-trip client details, including passport information, travel insurance, waivers, and bike selections. They recognized that a robust client portal could manage those details centrally, and effectively eliminate the hours their team spent tracking this information down. The upside would be additional time proactively focusing on client care and customer service. Working with Rocket Jones, Experience Plus kicked off the creation of My Trip Portal, a tailored solution designed to simplify administrative interactions between Experience Plus and their clients. This digital platform empowers customers to fulfill essential pre-trip tasks, such as signing waivers and receiving information from Experience Plus, all in one user-friendly location.
Experience Plus identified the importance of direct marketing and reached out to Rocket Jones for assistance in integrating Klaviyo, a third-party email marketing platform, into the Atlas tool. With this integration, Experience Plus can effortlessly sync client contact information, ensuring a more personalized and effective marketing strategy.
