Traveltek Group Ltd has made its debut in South-East Asia, introducing game-changing booking solutions to the region’s tech-hungry travel industry.
The UK-headquartered firm has opened an office in Singapore, targeting OTAs, retail agents, cruise bookers and tour operators seeking technology to help them keep pace with customer demand for leisure travel, particularly cruise, with Asian passenger volumes growing at double-digit rates every year.
Experienced cruise and IT industry professional Javine Tan is heading up Traveltek’s South-East Asia operation, responsible for developing commercial opportunities in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar.
Tan, who has worked in business development and marketing roles for Asia’s most popular cruise lines – Star Cruises and Royal Caribbean – has already forged deals with large local travel companies as they look to harness Traveltek solutions to get a competitive edge in the marketplace.
“Travel businesses in the region are very keen to know how Traveltek’s advanced technology can help them maximise distribution channels and sales,” explained Tan who joins Traveltek as Business Development Manager, South-East Asia.
“Selling travel, particularly cruise, is largely a manual process in Asia and so Traveltek fills a huge void in the market, providing a platform that ticks every box, from dynamic packaging to live access to more than 300 suppliers, including 190 cruise lines, via our API.”
Traveltek is a leader in the field, having won the coveted ‘World Leading Dynamic Packaging Solutions Provider’ at the World Travel Awards in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
They promise the Asian travel industry a more efficient way of selling leisure travel, enabling travel professionals to hand-pick every component of a complex itinerary and sell it as one package, including flights, hotels, cruise, tours, transfers, car rental, attractions tickets and more.
Traveltek’s cruise solutions are new to the market too, empowering agents to package together pre- and post-cruise itineraries using a unified, web-based platform. The company’s cruise content is also second to none, providing in-depth detail on product, from cabin grades to their location on the deck – a great selling tool for bookers.
This technology will give travel companies a competitive edge in a market where the cruise industry boom continues at pace. More than 3.1 million Asians took cruises in 2016, up 55% on 2015, according to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), while 66 cruise ships are being deployed in Asian waters this year, five of which are mega ships – those with more than 3,500 passenger capacity.
Tan said Asia’s travel trade was already being wooed by Traveltek’s cruise packaging tools; its API, which offers live pricing and availability; the platform’s multi-channel and multi-currency functionality; plus the company’s customer support services, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“Traveltek’s 20 years of industry experience and its roster of big-name clients, from Flight Centre to Virgin Holidays Cruises, are piquing the interest of potential clients too,” she said. “In addition, companies are approaching us to help them establish an online presence, based on our experience transforming small retail operations into e-commerce successes.”
Traveltek’s foray in South-East Asia is part of an ambitious global expansion plan and follows the company’s debut in North Asia last month (September), with the opening of an office in Hong Kong.
In August, the company launched its first operation in the Middle East, based in Dubai, and further expansion in other growth markets worldwide will soon be announced.
