OSTT breaks its all-time revenue record by 30% with Sailia

How a not-for-profit experience provider beat its covid-era peak by a third, with a booking flow that converts, marketing built into the platform, and bookings that come in while the team sleeps.

At a glance

• Best month ever - beating the covid-era peak by over 30%

• Bookings arriving around the clock, with record overnight sales

• Extra availability added and selling in seconds

• Thousands saved in accounting costs through automatic finance reconciliation

• Incredibly simple to manage discounts and pricing rules 

• Marketing, automated emails, and Google Tag Manager built into one platform

• Staffing, refunds, and booking changes handled in a couple of clicks

About OSTT

Oxford Sail Training Trust (OSTT) is a not-for-profit experience provider based at Farmoor Reservoir, just outside Oxford. For over ten years, thousands of people a year have come to OSTT for experiences of every kind: kids' holiday camps and weekend courses, adult classes, family sessions, birthday parties, corporate team-building days, school groups, Duke of Edinburgh programmes, and professional instructor qualifications.

That breadth is what makes OSTT special. It's also what makes it operationally demanding. Dozens of course and session types, instructors with different qualifications, customers ranging from a seven-year-old's first taster session to a company away-day, and a small team wearing a lot of hats.

The Challenge

Running a busy experience business means every booking has knock-on effects. A course needs the right instructor at the right ratio. A cancelled session means refunds and rebookings. Every participant needs the right information before they arrive.

Before Sailia, that meant Booking Live for bookings, Mailchimp for customer communications, Waiver Forever for waivers, Planday for staffing and a lot of manual work stitching it all together. And OSTT's previous best month came during the covid staycation boom, when demand was doing the work for them. Beating it would take a system that actively grows the business.

They needed a single system that could:

• Run every programme, from kids' holiday camps to corporate days to professional qualifications, in one place.

• Turn interest into bookings, with a customer flow that actually converts.

• Make it effortless to open up extra availability when demand spikes.

• Drive demand with marketing tools built into the platform, not bolted on.

• Staff every session automatically, matching instructors by qualification and availability.

• Keep every participant informed automatically, without anyone writing emails.

The Solution

OSTT runs its whole operation through Sailia, and it shows up in two ways: the admin runs itself, and the revenue engine never switches off.

Key advantages included:

• A booking flow that converts: Customers book, pay, and sign waivers in one clean flow, on any device, at any hour. The system takes bookings around the clock, and with Sailia's throughput the volume just keeps coming. "I wake up and we've taken more overnight than we ever used to take during the day."
  
  
  

• Availability that sells in seconds: When a course fills or a holiday week is booming, adding extra sessions takes seconds, and they're instantly live and selling across every channel. No demand left on the table.

• Finances that reconcile themselves: Every payment, refund, and payout is reconciled automatically, saving OSTT thousands in accounting costs every year. What used to be a paid, manual accounting job is now just something the system does.

  
  

• Marketing built in: Email and SMS campaigns run from the same platform, targeted using real booking data, with Google Tag Manager linked in so OSTT can see exactly what's driving sales. "No way I'd go back to Mailchimp."
  
  
  

• Communications on autopilot: Confirmations, reminders, what-to-bring info, and follow-ups all send themselves at the right moment. "The automatic emailing is like magic."
  
  
  

• Changes without the headache: Weather, illness, life. Bookings change constantly at an experience business. With Sailia, "moving bookings is a dream," refunds take a couple of clicks, and staffing is matched by qualification and availability automatically. "It's so much easier. Click some buttons and it just does it."
  
  

The Results

Last month was OSTT's best ever, beating their previous record by nearly a third, with over £120k taken through Sailia and it’s looking low compared to what they’re on track for this month. 

The context makes it more impressive. The old record came during covid, when the staycation boom meant demand was at an artificial all-time high. The new one came from the platform itself: a booking flow that converts, availability opened up in seconds, marketing running on real booking data, and a system taking bookings at full throughput while the team sleeps.

And because staffing, communications, and admin run themselves, the record month didn't come with a record workload. A small not-for-profit team spends its time where it matters: delivering experiences and opening them up to more people across Oxfordshire and beyond.

Testimonials

"I wake up in the morning and we've taken more overnight than we ever used to take during the day. It's mad. We've just had our best month ever, and it's down to how well Sailia converts and how easy it is to open up extra availability."

- Paul, Operations, Oxford Sail Training Trust

"Moving bookings is a dream and refunds are so easy. You click some buttons and it just does it. The automatic emailing is like magic, and there's no way I'd go back to Mailchimp. Everything runs from one place now."

- Patrick, Site Manager, Oxford Sail Training Trust

Why OSTT uses Sailia

• Record-breaking revenue - their best month ever, beating a covid-era peak by over 30%.

• A flow that converts - customers book, pay, and sign waivers in one clean journey, 24/7.

• Marketing built in - campaigns, booking data, and Google Tag Manager in one platform.

• Automation everywhere - staffing, emails, reminders, and comms handled by the system.

• Effortless changes - extra availability, moved bookings, and refunds in seconds.

Want your best month ever?

Join OSTT and hundreds of experience businesses using Sailia to deliver seamless, professional experiences, every day.