About
Tropical Bikes is a leading bike tour and rental operator based in Copenhagen, welcoming international visitors and preparing for expansion into additional locations and regions. The business delivers guided tours, rentals and family-friendly cycling experiences, with ambitions to introduce greater automation, strengthen operational efficiency and increase direct customer engagement.
As the business grew, so did the complexity of its booking model, OTA (Online travel agency) mix and operational workflows.
Leadership wanted clarity on whether its reservation system and supporting processes were robust enough to support expansion and long-term commercial ambition.
The Brief
The project was initially framed as a reservation system procurement. Rising costs, growing OTA reliance and expansion ambitions led the business to question whether its existing platform could support future growth.
At the same time, the leadership team recognised they did not have the time or specialist market knowledge to confidently navigate a complex reservation supplier landscape.
Short, medium and long-term ambitions were pulling requirements in different directions, making it difficult to define what “best fit” actually meant.
ReWork brought sector expertise across the leisure sector and reservation technology, alongside hands-on operational insight. A thorough discovery process was required to determine whether the issue was the platform itself, its configuration, or broader business processes before progressing further.
The Challenge
Operational Friction
- Manual handling within certain booking and payment processes
- Limited automation between guide scheduling and tour availability
- Gaps in rental asset visibility
- Heavy reliance on OTA bookings with limited direct customer data capture
Strategic Ambition Complicating Decision-Making
- Expansion into additional cities
- Exploration of automated rental models
- Desire to increase direct bookings and customer data capture
- Difficulty aligning long-term ambition with immediate system requirements
Supplier & Capability Uncertainty
- Concern that the reservation system may be limiting flexibility
- Limited visibility of forthcoming system developments
- Underutilisation of existing functionality
- Client success misalignment
The ReWork Approach
1. Discovery & Operational Review
ReWork conducted an immersive onsite Discovery phase, embedding within live operations to understand booking journeys, rental logistics, guest flow and team workflows in practice. Discovery extended beyond the reservation platform to examine commercial ambition, OTA reliance, automation plans and expansion priorities.
The findings were consolidated into a structured Review & Recommendations document outlining operational improvements, automation considerations and supplier engagement observations.
Time was dedicated to reviewing the insight directly with the founder, testing assumptions and aligning on which issues were rooted in configuration and workflow, and which were true platform constraints.
2. Structured Procurement
With operational clarity established, the project progressed into ReWork’s structured procurement approach. A tailored RFI was developed, a refined shortlist identified and suppliers engaged against defined operational requirements.
Demonstrations were aligned to real Tropical Bikes workflows, allowing the team to assess suitability against practical day-to-day use.
3. Strategic Pivot
Following initial round of supplier evaluation, a decision was made to pause procurement and review the role of the existing platform and partnership arrangement.
ReWork supported Tropical Bikes in reviewing current system capability, supplier engagement and configuration against operational and commercial requirements.
The focus shifted towards strengthening supplier engagement and aligning configuration more closely to business priorities, including increasing use of existing functionality, staying informed of new capability and elevating engagement with the supplier’s client success support.
4. Commercial & Growth Advisory
Alongside supplier realignment, ReWork provided broader business consultancy to support growth planning and operational alignment.
This included:
- Reviewing workflow implications ahead of expansion
- Testing automation approaches against customer experience
- Strengthening direct booking strategy to reduce OTA reliance
- Supporting clarity on medium-term business priorities
- Introducing trusted specialists from the ReWork network where appropriate
The Outcome
Tropical Bikes gained stronger supplier alignment, clearer operational priorities and greater confidence in its technology strategy.
The procurement assessment confirmed that the existing platform could support the next stage of growth when properly configured and supported, leading to improved account management and fuller use of system capability.
The season ahead was approached with defined priorities for optimisation and automation testing, while expansion plans and direct booking strategy were grounded in clearer commercial direction. Targeted introductions within the ReWork network further supported key growth initiatives.
The result was a more aligned supplier partnership and a stronger foundation for sustainable expansion.
Why It Matters
This project highlights that procurement is not always about replacing systems.
It is about stepping back, interrogating the real source of friction and making decisions grounded in long-term commercial direction.
Sometimes the most strategic outcome is not switching, but seeing the full potential of what already exists and aligning it to the future of the business.
Need an independent review of your systems, and how that relates to the market?
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