Q & A with Javine Tan, business development manager, for Traveltek Group Ltd in SE Asia
Contributors are not employed, compensated or governed by TDM, opinions and statements are from the contributor directly
UK travel technology specialist Traveltek has opened a Singapore office,
marking its foray in South-East Asia – a market where its advanced solutions
can help the travel industry keep pace with demand for leisure travel, in
particular, cruise, says the company’s new regional Business Development
Manager, Javine Tan
What does Traveltek bring to the SE Asian travel industry that’s new?
Asia is the fastest-growing outbound travel market globally, driven by leisure
trips and more recently, cruise. However, the region’s travel industry – spanning
retail travel agents, OTAs, tour operators, wholesalers and cruise agents – has been
somewhat hamstrung by the absence of technology to maximise this potential.
Booking leisure and cruise travel remains quite a manual process for most travel
companies. Many rely on the time-consuming process of booking travel products
and services online through each individual supplier.
Traveltek brings new advanced
solutions to the market that crucially, enable bookers to access live content from
more than 300 suppliers through one single API and then dynamically package each
component to create a complex itinerary – all on one platform. This is unheard of in
Asia, which is why Traveltek believes it will be a real game-changer for the region’s
travel trade.
How will Traveltek’s dynamic packaging solutions benefit the region’s
travel industry?
Traveltek is a leader in this field, having won the coveted ‘World Leading Dynamic
Packaging Solutions Provider’ at the World Travel Awards in 2014, 2015 and 2016. It
is known industry-wide for its bespoke solutions that help its clients work smarter,
boost their bottom line, enhance customer experience and improve retention.
Traveltek’s dynamic packaging solutions promise the Asian travel industry a more
efficient way of selling leisure travel, enabling travel professionals to hand-pick
every component of a travel itinerary and sell it as one package, including flights,
hotels, cruise, tours, transfers, car rental, attractions tickets and more. Itineraries
can also be customised/company branded.
How can your technology boost cruise sales?
Cruise technology is Traveltek’s forte and new to the Asian market. Our cruise
dynamic packaging solution presents multiple flight, hotel and transfer options to agents’ customers after they have selected their cruise. Taking this one step further, our Cruise Super Itineraries (CSI) enables bookers to dynamically package pre- and post-cruise itineraries including multiple components flights, hotels, transfers, attractions and more. This tailor-made approach allows their expertise to shine –they curate the package demonstrating their expertise and knowledge and our
technology does the rest.
We provide access to more than 190 cruise lines through
our API, offering live availability and pricing. This eliminates the need for agents to
search each individual cruise line’s website. We offer rich cruise content too,
providing in-depth detail on product, from cabin grades to their location on the
deck, which is a great selling tool. This technology will give travel companies in the
region a real competitive edge considering the rate at which Asia’s cruise sector is
growing. With more than 3.1 million Asians taking cruises in 2016, up 55% on 2015,
according to Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) statistics, Traveltek can
help savvy travel firms capitalise on this demand.
What are the key benefits your technology delivers to tour operators?
Traveltek’s solutions tick all the right boxes for tour operators. Our technology
enables them to take total control of their sales distribution, expand their market
reach, enhance the customer experience, boost in-house productivity and drive
multi-channel sales — all on one integrated platform. Key features also include the
ability to package and professionally merchandise land-only and air-and-land
holidays for agents and consumers using net airfares and accommodation and
applying the relevant pricing, sales channel and booking rule management.
Our system also connects to a selection of data feeds for product inventory including
those provided by third parties and includes inventory management capabilities.
What has been the Asian travel industry’s response to Traveltek?
Travel businesses in the region are very keen to know how Traveltek’s advanced
technology can help them maximise distribution channels and sales. We have
already forged deals with several large travel companies – those who have
recognised how Traveltek solutions can give them a competitive edge in the
marketplace. Potential clients are very interested in our cruise packaging tools; our
API – because of the live pricing and availability; and our platform’s multi-channel
and multi-currency functionality. They are also impressed that we offer customer
support services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Traveltek has 20 years of
industry experience and provides solutions for several big industry names, from
Flight Centre to Virgin Holidays Cruises, which gives clients confidence. Companies
are also asking us to help them establish an online presence, based on our
experience transforming small retail operations into e-commerce successes.
What are Traveltek’s target markets in South-East Asia?
I am responsible for developing commercial opportunities in Singapore, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar. We also recently opened a Hong Kong
office, headed up by my colleague Simon Leung, the company’s Business
Development Manager for North Asia, who is covering markets including Hong Kong,
Macau, China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. We’ll be active at many industry
events this month including Web In Travel (WIT), which takes place from October
23-25; the Travolution Digital Masters Executive Dinner (October 24); and ITB Asia
(October 25-27).
