What is RedBalloon?
RedBalloon is the leading experience marketplace in Australia and New Zealand. Trading since 2001, it pioneered experiential gifting in Australia's online retail space — the idea that the best present is not a thing but something to do — and today lists more than 14,000 experiences, from hot air ballooning and jet boating to cooking classes, day spas and winery tours.
RedBalloon is part of Big Red Group, the experience powerhouse whose brands also include Adrenaline. With deep expertise, data insight and continual investment in technology and marketing, it has the reach to run major retail campaigns around gifting seasons — the moments when millions of Australians and New Zealanders are actively shopping for experiences.
Why gifting is a different kind of demand
Most sales channels reach travellers planning a trip. RedBalloon reaches something else entirely: people buying experiences for someone else. That difference matters for operators. Gift demand peaks around Christmas, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's Day and birthdays year-round — periods that have nothing to do with your destination's tourist season. It also reaches locals, not just visitors, and locals come back, review and refer.
For many operators, a gifting channel is the most effective way to fill capacity outside peak tourist months and to build a domestic audience alongside travelling guests. And because RedBalloon has spent two decades teaching Australians and New Zealanders to give experiences instead of objects, the shelf your product sits on is one shoppers already visit with a card in hand.
How the TicketingHub integration works
TicketingHub connects RedBalloon through its channel manager, the same machinery behind our other reseller and OTA integrations:
- Shared live availability — bookings coming through the channel draw on your real-time calendar, so nothing is ever double-sold.
- One dashboard — RedBalloon bookings appear in the same Orders view and daily manifest as your direct, walk-up and other channel sales.
- Automatic guest details — bookings arrive with the information you need; no copying between systems.
- Per-channel reporting — measure exactly what the channel contributes, product by product.
Commercial terms sit between you and RedBalloon, like any reseller agreement.
What operators use RedBalloon for
Capturing gift-season peaks
In the weeks before Christmas or Mother's Day, experience marketplaces run some of the biggest retail campaigns in the country. Being listed means your product is on the shelf when that wave of buying happens — without you lifting a marketing finger.
Reaching locals, not just tourists
Experience gifts are mostly bought for people who live nearby. A RedBalloon listing steadily introduces your brand to the local audience that tourist-focused channels never touch — and locals are the guests who come back and bring friends.
Smoothing bookings across the year
Gifts are bought in peaks but redeemed gradually, as recipients pick their dates. Operators often see gift-driven bookings arrive through quieter months, adding guests to departures that direct demand leaves thin. Because the channel sells from live availability, those bookings slot into real capacity automatically.
Connecting RedBalloon to TicketingHub
The connection is enabled with our team's help — contact your account manager or support to get the channel switched on. In the dashboard, the flow follows the standard reseller pattern: add a wholesale rate, create a reseller profile for the channel, then build a channel containing the products you want listed. Once live, verify it with a test booking and check that it appears under Orders with the reseller name shown.
