Distinctive Systems Inc

05/23/2025

🇺🇸 In honor of Memorial Day, Distinctive Systems will be closed on Monday, May 26th as we take time to remember and pay tribute to the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

We will resume normal business hours on Tuesday, May 27th.

Wishing you a safe and meaningful Memorial Day. 🇺🇸

02/24/2025

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Mike Whitehead, founder and Managing Director of Distinctive Systems Ltd, aged 74.

Here are a few words describing Mike's career in the industry...

Mike graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business in 1974, which included a strong computing element. When the very earliest personal computers started to emerge in the late 1970s Mike took an immediate interest in them. His job at the time allowed him to spend a great deal of time exploring this exciting new technology and how it could be used to build genuinely useful real-world applications.

In 1980 Mike joined his family’s long established coach business. He hadn’t been there long when he decided there were major efficiencies to be had from computerising the management of both private hire and regular contract bookings. So he went out and bought a computer. For over a year he spent his evenings and weekends sitting at the dining room table writing software. Initially Mike had no thoughts of turning this into a separate business, but chatting to other operators at local association meetings, many were interested in what he was doing.

As the development of the software started to get close to completion, Mike began to believe it was a strong enough product to become the basis for a new venture. So he formed a company and named it Distinctive Systems. Mike travelled the country demonstrating the first ever Coach Manager to operators. He installed both hardware and software for them, trained them in how to use it and looked after them on the phone. Mike’s father ran the accounts and handled incoming enquiries. In the first year the company sold 23 systems.

In 1995, Distinctive Systems moved to its new purpose-built offices and continued to grow. Today its core products include Coach Manager along with the Tour Booking System and Vehicle Maintenance System. The company expanded into other territories, including the USA and Australia and the company Mike created now serves over 2,600 coach operators.

In 2022 Distinctive Systems celebrated its 40th birthday with a staff party where it was a great opportunity for everyone to reflect on what had been achieved. Mike built a successful team, recruiting people with coach industry expertise, some having worked for the company for over 35 years, along with strong development and IT staff. The entire team have made the company the success it is today.

We will all miss him very much.

02/13/2025

Distinctive Systems is excited to be attending UMA Expo next week in Oklahoma City! We welcome our clients to our User Group Meeting on Friday, February 21st at 3:15pm in room 202 and encourage everyone to stop by our booth ( #514) during the show floor hours.

01/29/2025

Distinctive Systems is thrilled to attend the upcoming IMG Meeting and ABA Marketplace in Philadelphia, starting this Friday!

We invite you to stop by our booth to discover how Distinctive Systems continues to drive the future of Charter and Tour Software Solutions.

06/13/2024

Distinctive Systems is excited to announce that Jason Fenske has been named Director, Support and Training Services. Bob Hopwood will be transitioning to a new position managing special projects and software implementation planning.

Jason Fenske named Director, Support and Training Services. Bob Hopwood Shifts to New Role Managing Special Projects

02/06/2024

Busy day at United Motorcoach Association EXPO here in Raleigh! With a successful User Group meeting yesterday and a busy floor day today, we looked forward to finishing strong tomorrow morning! See us at booth 311!

09/27/2023

Distinctive Systems is excited to announce and welcome Jenni Lawler and Sean Mueller to our industry leading Software Support Team! Full Press Release in comments.

With the additions of Jenni and Sean to our support team, Distinctive Systems now provides over 125 years of direct Motorcoach Industry experience. This consultative support approach provides our clients with the best software experience!

07/15/2023

Vermont 211 is here to provide all people in Vermont with connections to community, health and human resources. We promote the health and well-being of all people in Vermont. Get started with Vermont 211 today!

04/25/2023

Thank you to IMG for allowing us to host a Coach Manager webinar on Driver Communication and Dispatching. Nearly 100 Attendees!

03/29/2023

Distinctive Systems is growing at an unprecedented pace and we need you! If you are looking to join the most experienced and dynamically growing software company in the motorcoach and tour industry, now is the time to apply! We need additional Client Support Specialists to assist our clients to utilize our solutions to improve their efficiencies and profitability.

Apply at https://www.distinctive-systems.com/.../join-the...//

At Distinctive Systems, we pride ourselves by offering the most complete and utilized product that has helped motorcoach and tour companies be successful for over 20 years in North America. With more companies than ever implementing Coach Manager, the Tour Booking System and the Vehicle Maintenance System, we are rapidly expanding our Client Support Team to continue to be the leading provider of software solutions.

Distinctive Systems is the leading supplier of software to the Motorcoach Industry.