This week partnerships throughout Asia make the news – Klook with HK Express, Minor Hotels and Cendyn, Red Planet Hotels and SiteMinder
TRAVEL: U-Explore – new online booking platform from Klook and HK Express
Partnership sealed with a handshake – HK Express’ Andrew Cowen (left) and Klook’s Eric Gnock Fah
Klook Travel (Klook), Hong Kong-based tour and activities booking startup, has teamed up with low fare airline, HK Express, to launch U-Explore, an online travel activities planning tool.
The new booking platform allows HK Express guests flexibility in booking tours, experiences, theme park visits, airport transfers and WiFi device rentals before taking off or after arriving at their destination.
Travellers can book Klook’s curated destination experiences through a hyperlink to HK Express’ U-Explore website when purchasing air tickets via the airline’s websiteor mobile app.
Andrew Cowen, director and CEO of HK Express, said the airline’s partnership with Klook was its ongoing service to meet the airline’s guests’ travel needs at every step of their journey.
Eric Gnock Fah, Klook’s co-founder & president, added his company “completes the picture, by making it easier and faster than ever to book travel experiences and services.”
Klook was the winner in WIT Start-Up Pitch held in conjunction with WIT Japan & North Asia 2015 in Tokyo.
HOSPITALITY: Minor Hotels chooses Cendyn as its CRM partner
Anantara Kihavah Maldives, one of the hotels benefitting from the partnership (Image credit: Minor Hotels)
Thailand-based Minor Hotels has selected cloud-based software and services provider, Cendyn, as its CRM (customer relationship management) partner to help drive loyalty and improve engagement with guests.
Cendyn will implement a guest intelligence solution, utilising data collected from multiple sources, to provide a single profile of each guest across the five brands in the group.
“This visibility will enable every brand in the group to gain a clear understanding about the history and preferences of each guest in real time, regardless of how they booked,” stated Minor Hotels in a statement.
Eric Cartwright, Minor Hotels’ director loyalty & partnerships, said as the group expands Cendyn “will enable us to easily add functionality and service to our growing portfolio, without the need to rethink platforms”.
Minor Hotels has a portfolio of 154 hotels and resorts in 24 countries across Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Europe, South America, Africa and the Indian Ocean.
HOSPITALITY: Red Planet Hotels utilises SiteMinder’s technology to fuel expansion across Asia
Red Planet Surawong Bangkok popular with budget conscious travellers (Image credit: Red Planet Hotels)
Budget hotel chain, Red Planet Hotels, will implement SiteMinder’s cloud-based distribution technology to sell rooms at its 24 hotels in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan.
This is part of the company’s plan to accelerate its expansion throughout Asia after receiving a multi-million dollar investment eight months ago.
The group, headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand, will open four new hotels this year, and another eight before the end of 2018. These new properties will add more than 4,000 rooms to the Red Panet’s inventory.
The partnerhip sees SiteMinder’s cloud platform integrate with Red Planet’s property management system, RoomKey PMS, to online booking sites. This integration supports the continuous flow of availability, rates and reservation data between the chain’s hotels and their guests.
Leah Teresa De Los Santos, Red Planet’s regional director of revenue management – Philippines, said Red Planet has become recognised as a brand for travellers looking for value when visiting Asia.
“So, it’s important we aren’t expanding for expansion sake, but are creating greater options for accommodation that are not only appealing to value-driven travellers, but that can be found and booked.”
• Featured image credit: Travel Daviles/iStock.jpg
