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Cobber mates in travel tech blog

Mates With Experience

Born in 1999 from a group of tour operators who were over clunky systems and endless admin, Cobber (formerly ResPax) was built to make life easier for tourism operators like you. Built by tourism people, for tourism people, Cobber’s smart tools help you streamline operations, automate the tricky bits, and grow your business so you can focus on creating amazing experiences for your guests.

With over 20 years of innovation behind us, we’re proud to deliver flexible, powerful software that connects you to millions of travellers worldwide. Proudly Aussie-owned and based in Cairns, Cobber is backed by Trinity Software Australia and partners with Microsoft and Google to keep you ahead of the game.

Because success in tourism takes good mates, and that’s exactly what we are: your mates in travel tech.

Our Story

We’ve been around a while. You might remember us as ResPax,
the booking system built by tour operators, for tour operators.
Over the years, we’ve worked closely with our clients and seen
the world of travel change, with customers expecting smoother
connections, smarter distribution, and insights in real time. So,
we continually rolled up our sleeves and evolved.

By acquiring Livn, ResBook, and Audience, we’ve expanded
ResPax’s capabilities and created a unique platform that keeps
everything working in sync, so the industry can focus on what
they do best: delivering unforgettable experiences.

In 2025 we evolved into Cobber, you may not have heard the word Cobber before, but you’ll quickly understand it.

The Cobber team in Cairns

Our Mission

At Cobber, our mission is to make tourism easier – and better.

We’re here to help operators, partners, and travellers connect through tools that feel more like a mate than a machine.

We’re not just a platform; we’re a true partner, dedicated to backing our clients every step of the way and shaping the future of the experience economy together.

Meet the Cobber Leadership Team

Ready to get in touch? Book a chat or demo with our team.

- Cam James, 100% World Wide Adventures

"I don’t feel like a client, I feel like I am a part of the team. I love our relationship. We are firm believers in the entire Cobber team."

- Roderic Rees, Director, Cairns Adventure Group

"Our relationship with Cobber has spanned more than 15 years because of superior global connectivity, constant development and exceptional customer service."

- Ian Douglas, Reef Unlimited

“There are still some features of the system that we are not using to full capacity, but as we roll these features out, we will see even greater savings for the business.”

- Scott Lahney, Experience Co

"The single biggest reason I’d recommend Cobber is I know they’re here for the long-term. They keep pace with new technology and travel booking practices, making us far more competitive."

- Cam James, 100% World Wide Adventures

"I don’t feel like a client, I feel like I am a part of the team. I love our relationship. We are firm believers in the entire Cobber team."

- Roderic Rees, Director, Cairns Adventure Group

"Our relationship with Cobber has spanned more than 15 years because of superior global connectivity, constant development and exceptional customer service."

- Ian Douglas, Reef Unlimited

“There are still some features of the system that we are not using to full capacity, but as we roll these features out, we will see even greater savings for the business.”

- Scott Lahney, Experience Co

"The single biggest reason I’d recommend Cobber is I know they’re here for the long-term. They keep pace with new technology and travel booking practices, making us far more competitive."

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Cobber Provides Exceptional Support for NSW Parks & Wildlife Services

How we helped

I just wanted to take a moment to share some feedback and say thanks. Earlier today, we ran into an issue, and I was under a really tight deadline to get it fixed. I called Justin, and he immediately escalated the problem and got back to me with a solution from the dev team in about 10 minutes. That quick turnaround honestly saved the day!

I know this is part of Justin’s role, but I really appreciate the way he goes above and beyond- not just today, but consistently since we started using Cobber. It’s easy to take these working relationships for granted, so I wanted to make sure I acknowledged the effort and ongoing support. Justin is truly a valuable member of your team, and it makes such a difference having someone in that role who is so easily approachable and happy to help with anything we need assistance with. The issue we experienced today was something small but reminded me that it’s important to recognise the fantastic work Justin consistently does.

I’d also like to extend that thanks to the broader team who were able to find a solution so quickly. The customer service from everyone at Cobber is incredible!

Grace Snowball
NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service

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Experience Co introduces direct bookings, saving 20 per cent on call-center staffing costs each year.

Who
Experience Co is an established web store with many thrilling tour activities in its range, from cruising coral reefs through to jumping out of planes. With 20+ years’ experience in the travel industry, the adventure company excels at packaging experiences in exciting new ways for sale online – the backbone of its business.

Multiple Tour Bookings
However, in the early days prior to Cobber (formerly ResPax), it was a different story according to Experience Co’s Scott Lahney. Enquiries were coming fast, and the back office needed to keep up, ensuring the entire customer experience was outstanding – not just the canyoning or white-water river rafting trip.

How we helped
Automation, Scalability and Distribution. Experience Co chose Cobber for its ability to package tours elegantly. 20 years later, it stays because Cobber helps it adapt early, from online bookings through to B2B channel manager integration.

And they can market tours globally, connecting with some of the world’s largest travel agents including Viator through the Cobber channel manager. Agents love this ability because they can access all operators on the network at the low cost of a single integration.

Scheduled Reporting
Being able to schedule reports for email delivery has also made a difference. Scrambling at the last moment is a thing of the past says Lahney. “Critical documents such as bus-pickup manifests arrive automatically, even after hours. We no longer rely on staff to send them manually.”

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Reef Unlimited improves reservations and ticketing with Cobber, saving $180,000+ each year.

Who
Reef Unlimited tours offers easy access to the Great Barrier Reef from Cairns with full and half-day tours handling more than 5000 pax a year offering activities include snorkeling, diving, swimming, glass bottom boats and submarine coral viewing tours.

Their tour management practices were ad hoc and manually intensive. Too much time was spent on administration. Not enough on customers. The Reef Unlimited team wanted a seamless solution that could take bookings online, over the phone and internationally to capitalize on agent and wholesaler networks.

How we helped
Cobber was selected because it’s a complete reservation management tool that enables operators to manage bookings by phone or website. Everything happens faster. Reservations staff can take quick, consistent, and accurate bookings by feeding preconfigured commissions, prices, discounts and payments into the booking. But perhaps the most interesting and significant saving has been Big Cat’s ability to stop people defrauding its reservation system.

Two years after implementation, Reef Unlimited can identify savings across the business as a result.

“We save five hours per month on report preparation. Before Cobber (formerly ResPax), you had people solving reporting issues for half the day. Cobber solves these problems automatically and saves us hours each day in bank reconciliations.

Cobber has created tangible savings for the business by streamlining the reservation processes and simplifying reporting so we don’t have to manipulate data to the same extent. I estimate this saves us around $180,000 each year on previous lost earnings.

There are still some features of the system that we are not using to full capacity, but as we roll these features out, we will see even greater savings for the business.”

Ian Douglas
Reef Unlimited

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