Computer system crashes as second round of SA’s discount tourism vouchers go online

The stampede for the second round of the Great State discount vouchers has caused a computer meltdown – just as it did the first time. And within 40 minutes they were sold out.

The SA Tourism Commission’s discount holiday vouchers scheme crashed at the first hurdle this morning when the computer system had a meltdown.

The 11am start was an epic fail as people flooded to register for the vouchers – then flooded the SATC’s Facebook site with complaints.

Would-be holidaymakers who filled in the form were unable to submit, were stuck in limbo with a message “your details are being verified”, were told they had not filled in fields when they had, and repeatedly had the robot verification expire.

Among disappointed applicants, Kim Trinne wrote: “Too bad it’s refusing the verify. Been sitting like this for 5 minutes”, with a photo of the verification message.

Calliope Zac wrote: “Not working on my iPhone. Can get all the way through and the verification but won’t allow to press the final button.”

Shannyn Pine posted: “Mine crashed when it was verifying my details. Went to do it again and said I have already registered. Hope I don’t miss out.”

Sarah Whalen posted: “South Australian Tourism Commission I’ve tried to submit over 20 times on 3 different devices and it either freezes on ‘your details are being verified’ or doesn’t let me submit or states the service is unavailable. Will keep trying.”

Kerri Mitchell said she tried 20 times without success, while Heidi Natasha said: “My page has been circling for 16 minutes. I submitted straight away and nothing has verified. It was 1100am when submitted.”

Renee van Hout simply said: “Not working” while Karsha Armstrong commented: “It doesn’t work!”

But lucky Melissa Med wrote: “I got one!”

A similar problem occurred in the first round but was swiftly rectified.

The SATC posted on their Facebook site: For those seeking help, please try refreshing the page. Be sure you’re not using Internet Explorer. There is high demand, so please be patient – there are vouchers going through.

Another message to mobile phone users said: “Wow! We are popular right now! Please try refreshing this page or visiting https://register.southasustralia.com/ We anticipate our website to be very popular while people try and register for a voucher, so keep refreshing. Good luck!”

One of the messages on the SATAC website after the stampede for the second round of the Great State discount vouchers crashed the system. Picture: Brad Crouch

At 11.39am the SATC posted this on its website: “Great State Voucher - Campaign Closed

Wow, that was popular! There are no more Great State Vouchers available; we’re sorry you missed out. For other deals for holidays in South Australia, visit www.southaustralia.com”.

The Great State voucher offer ended up seeing almost 75,000 vouchers snapped up in 40 minutes — 47,883 of the $100 vouchers were issued for CBD stays, and 26,536 of the $50 vouchers were for regional and suburban accommodation.

Despite the avalanche of complaints from people unable to register at the website, SA Tourism Commission chief executive Rodney Harrex insisted there was no computer crash, and that it was simply a case of the system being overwhelmed by demand.

“15,000 vouchers were issued in the first 10 minutes,” he said.

“We had twice the traffic of the first round and at its peak were getting 1900 people per second.

“It is like a concert or a sports event, we had 75,000 tickets and many people wanted them – I am sorry for the people who missed out and do appreciate their interest and support.”

Mr Harrex said the first round provided a $10m boost to the state economy with 23,000 room nights booked and a ripple spending in other businesses as voucher holders took holidays.

He indicated there would be a third round and said SATC is now talking to the tourism sector on how things could work, including extending it beyond accommodation venues to businesses such as tour operators and attractions.

Today’s second round of Great State tourism discount vouchers offered a larger range of accommodation providers and more time to travel than the first round.

Those fortunate enough to bypass the computer issues either secured a $100 voucher for a CBD hotel or a $50 one for a suburban or regional stay.

There was one allocation for interstate visitors, to entice travellers into SA, and some vouchers reserved exclusively for South Australians to holiday locally.

The discounts, for more than 300 providers, were available online at southaustralia.com/voucher and bookings run from January 7–31, for travel from January 7 to March 31, excluding Saturday nights.

The first round of 50,000 vouchers in October was snapped up in 90 minutes but only about half the people who secured one then used it, paving the way for the new round.

There has been criticism the discount is only for accommodation and not for other tourism services – Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas wants the program extended to
include attractions and tour operators.

Jasmine Belford and Kevin Mendoza of Marion and their dog Korra, enjoying a staycation at CABN in Kuitpo, one of the unique places available for people lucky enough to score a travel voucher. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Launching the scheme on Monday at the soon-to-be-opened Majestic M Suites on the site of the former Channel 9 studios in Tynte St in North Adelaide, Premier Steven Marshall urged the public to take advantage of the plan.

“With over 300 places to stay across the state, offering some of the best deals at the best time of year to travel, South Australians and interstaters have never had a better reason to book a stay in SA,” he said.

The latest stimulus comes as events like the Santos Festival of Cycling and WOMADelaide attract interstate travellers. It has been welcomed by Majestic Hotels & Apartments chief executive Eoin Loftus.

Currently on a staycation at CABN in Kuitpo, Kevin Mendoza said he was eager to apply for a voucher.

“I did apply for the first round, but we had to postpone our stay because of the lockdown,” he said.

CABN is one of the unique locations covered under the second round of the Great State travel vouchers.

“So far it has been great, just being out here in the wine region and totally secluded,” he said.