Who We Are
The story of V3. Our essence, culture and how we got here.
Our Heritage
V3 co-founders Shane Crockett and Stephen Wells are long-time friends who both have a passion for surfing and travel.
In the early 1990s, both held senior positions in different, but related, industries. Shane was the highly regarded CEO of the West Australian Tourism Commission, and Stephen, the MD of his own successful marketing business, 303. They had collaborated before, could they do it again?
In the mid-nineties the Internet was just taking off. The duo spent most Saturday mornings driving to their secret surf break north of Perth. It was during these trips they got talking about the potential of the Internet to enable them to surf the ten best waves around the world. The idea was there, but how to make it possible when it was difficult to find somewhere to stay, pay, and book online?
They knew searching for those small, out-of-the-way, and interesting places often meant endless hours of research, followed by a plethora of telephone calls and emails, often resulting in uncertainty of the final booking outcome. They concluded that customers needed direct, real-time access to live inventory that could be booked there and then.
The pair identified the most successful online models of aggregator businesses, such as Amazon and e-Bay, in their formative stages. These companies created marketing collaborations by working together and using the Internet to organise extremely fragmented, but very large, markets. They realized if they applied this thinking to the travel industry, it could provide the catalyst for real change in small to medium (SME) tourism businesses. By organising and enabling their inventory, tourism businesses would become more easily accessible and bookable online.
Shane and Stephen’s ultimate goal was to provide SME organisations with the same opportunity to market their products using the Internet as the big hotel and resort chains. They were pretty sure that giving micro to medium sized businesses easy access to the breadth of the online travel market would also provide an invaluable tool for consumers searching for mainstream and unique travel experiences online – an area that was sure to grow.
And V3 has been on the right side of history since day one.
Our Story
Our Principles
We are committed to key business principles for the travel industry:
- Automate to save effort, time and money
- Collaborate and compete
- Access to markets with live inventory – not allocation model.
- Democratised and unlimited distribution.
- Whoever provides the service to the customer should hold the booking funds.
- Secure end-to-end online payment to protect both customer and businesses.
- Low fees, and minimum risk. Only pay for success
These insights and principles inspired the concept of the Tourism Exchange.
Who We Are
Shane Crockett
Co-Founder, Executive Director and CEO
Shane (BPE and DipEd) brings over 20 years of experience in tourism, tourism technology, and travel industry dynamics to V3. Prior to co-founding V3, Shane was CEO of the Western Australian Tourism Commission and Chair of the Australian Standing Committee on Tourism. Shane is recognised as one of the industry’s foremost experts in digital product development and management, business system analytics and development and retail travel operations
Stephen Wells
Co-Founder, Executive Director and Director of Marketing
Stephen (BA, BSc (Hons) has an extensive background in broadcasting, marketing, advertising, media and tourism.
Previously founder, chair and MD of 303, one of Australia’s largest independent agencies, Stephen also spent seven years in commercial television and radio working on broadcasting policy and technology. His strategic marketing skills have been applied to numerous projects including leisure businesses, professional sport and tourism destinations.
Jim Swaby
Technology Manager
Jim (BEng – Computer Systems) has over 24 years professional experience in the digital industry and 20 years meeting the technology needs of tourism booking systems, integrating to online Distributors, booking systems, and booking and payment solutions Jim has successfully delivered systems and website integrations to the very highest performance levels across multiple websites, PMSs and booking systems.
Jim leads a comprehensive team of system architects, database experts and developers.
Jason Fryer
Technical Support Manager
Jason has managed the customer service team for V3 for over 12 years and has extensive experience of the industry’s booking systems and technology on a global level. He heads up a dedicated team of 6 consultants who have a collective 32 years of experience in providing support to product suppliers, distributors, and marketing organisations.
Lisa Naudin
Partnerships Manager
Lisa is an experienced consultant with a history of working both in the travel industry and professional services roles. Lisa is passionate about building long-lasting client relationships, while focusing on building clients’ capabilities in website delivery, data strategy and governance. Her expertise spans website marketing, ecommerce, yield and stakeholder partnerships.
Amy Chiang
Sales Account Manager
Amy is a seasoned marketing and account management professional with a background in the Asia Pacific travel industry before joining V3. She manages supplier, distributor and CBS accounts and implements strategic digital marketing campaigns. Amy has a broad knowledge of booking systems and channel integration.
Randy Harsana
Project Manager
Randy is an experienced account and project management professional with 10+ years of experience working in the IT industry for global and local clients with a focus on web and applications development.
Reach Us
3/8 Alvan Street Subiaco
WA 6008
Telephone: +61 8 9227 3933
Fax: +61 8 9380 9888