Tourplan marks 40 years with global brand campaign

Tourplan is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a worldwide brand campaign and a bigger push into AI-powered travel technology. The Christchurch-founded company now serves more than 450 inbound tourism clients across 75 countries, underscoring how far the sector has shifted since 1986.

Why it matters: - Tourplan has become core infrastructure for inbound tourism operators that need booking, itinerary and distribution systems to run day-to-day business. - The company’s 40-year run shows how travel technology has moved from basic reservation tools to cloud-based software built for global operations. - Tourplan is now pushing into AI-powered productivity and streamlined distribution as competition in travel tech intensifies.

What happened: - Tourplan launched a global brand campaign to mark its 40th anniversary. - The company was founded in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1986. - Tourplan started with one client and 29 users. - The platform now supports more than 450 tour operators, destination management companies and inbound travel specialists in 75 countries. - Tourplan now has more than 10,000 users and five regional offices worldwide. - CEO Craig Gray said the anniversary celebrates clients, the global team and the industry the company has grown alongside.

The details: - Tourplan says its founding ethos centers on partnership over transactions and innovation guided by client needs. - The company built one of the travel industry’s earliest web-based booking systems in the mid-1990s. - Tourplan rewrote its platform for Windows in the early 2000s. - The current product is a modular, cloud-based SaaS ERP. - Tourplan grew from 19 clients in the early internet era to more than 450 today. - The company expanded continent by continent and established regional offices to provide proximity-led support. - Tourplan serves boutique operators and multinational travel brands across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Pacific. - The company employs more than 130 specialists globally.

Between the lines: - Tourplan’s anniversary campaign is also a signal to the market that the company wants to be seen as a long-term platform, not just a legacy vendor. - The focus on AI and global footprint suggests the next phase is about retaining existing clients while broadening the platform’s role in the travel workflow. - Tourplan’s emphasis on local support reflects a business where implementation and service can matter as much as software features.

What's next: - Tourplan plans to expand its worldwide footprint in its fifth decade. - The company is evolving its flagship software into a broader global travel technology ecosystem. - Tourplan is targeting more AI-powered productivity and more streamlined distribution for clients. - The company expects to remain a backbone for inbound tourism businesses in major travel destinations worldwide.