Mobile savvy Indonesians a boon to Wego’s travel app

Wego’s recently launched iOS travel app has been rated number one in Indonesia by Apple iTunes App Store, with thanks to the country’s millions of mobile users.

According to a report in online site, We Are Social, as of January this year, there are 80 million active mobile users in Indonesia. Of this number, 95% researched products on their smartphones and 57% made purchases through mobile.

Sales of smartphones in Indonesia are also on the rise. Online tech news portal, e27, in its report said that in the first quarter of 2014 purchases reached over 7.3 million units, a 25% year-on year-growth. Currently Indonesia leads as the largest smartphone market in Southeast Asia with a 68% sales increase in the same quarter.

Graham Hills, managing director of Wego Indonesia, said that since the company’s entry into the Indonesian market in 2011 it saw how passionate Indonesians are about travel, social media and travel related content.

“We knew the next step was to provide access to all of the best flights and hotel options through a mobile device to effectively serve this insatiable travel audience,” he added.

Wego’s free app for both iOS and Android is an extension of its platform. It has been designed to provide users with hundreds of airfares and hotel rates available online in 20 languages (including Bahasa Indonesia). Among its features are easy gestured navigation, advanced filtering and sorting options, clear images, highly optimised logic for lower data and battery consumption, and option to email travel search results to a friend or book at a later time.

“The ability to search so many travel options which include familiar local travel brands all within one site is fairly unique in this country. We’ve developed trusted relationships with some of the local travel industry’s biggest brands, including our most recent partnership with national carrier, Garuda Indonesia,” said Hill

He noted that the number of mobile users in Indonesia would continue to grow along with internet penetration. “Indonesians are also avid social media consumers. So many spend a great deal of time commuting and accompanied by notorious traffic jams, use the time to stay in touch with friends through their social networks. It’s also the perfect opportunity to research and share travel plans, especially with Lebaran approaching.”

Wego travel app is available for both iOS and Android at the iTunes Store and at Google Play respectively.

Goibibo provides seamless connectivity
 with eRevMax’s help

Goibibo, one of the largest online travel aggregators in India has completed integration with eRevMax to offer two-way XML connectivity to its fast growing portfolio of hotel partners.

Accommodation providers are now able to make real-time ARI (Availability, Rate & Inventory) updates and receive bookings generated on these channels through eRevMax solutions directly into their property management system. This also improves the consumer experience, as the data flow between the channel and the hotels are immediately reflected on the Goibibo hotels platform in real time.

The partnership also enables Goibibo to gain access to broader products and more inventory, improve booking conversion and increase revenues as part of its growth plans across the Asia Pacific region.

Sanjay Bhasin, CEO of Goibibo, said, “This integration is aligned with our commitment to deliver fastest and most trusted user experience. This will help our hotel partners to further reduce their time to update rates and availabilities while automating reservation delivery directly into their PMS. In addition, connecting with eRevMax Hotel Ecosystem will give us the opportunity to explore new supply partners for improving our global inventory supply.”

Goibibo is a part of ibibo group – the largest online travel company in India – and is among th top three most searched sites for making hotel reservations online. It is the fastest growing online booking sites with over 9,800 domestic properties and 150,000 worldwide.

Online travel in India is growing at over 30% year-on-year with midscale properties driving 50% of hotel bookings.

Asia is preferred holiday playground for Singaoreans

Holidaying closer to be home seems to be the norm among travellers from Singapore as revealed in a recent survey by travel site, TripAdvisor, on travel trends for the Lion City’s mid-year school holidays.

The most searched destinations in chronological order are Hong Kong, Bangkok, Taipei, Seoul,  Kuala Lumpur, Bali,  Batam,  Johor Bahru, London and Malacca.

TripAdvisor site data shows that Singaporeans love activities on their holidays with one-quarter of searches on outdoor activities, followed by cultural experiences (17%) and shopping (11%). They also have a preference for luxury with more than 70% of hotel searches looking at four or five-star properties.

“With the increase in supply of low cost airlines serving the local market, many of the top searched destinations by Singaporeans are just a short flight away,” said Jean Ow-Yeong, TripAdvisor spokesperson in Asia Pacific. “Given Singaporeans’ love for food and shopping, it is no wonder Hong Kong, Bangkok and Taipei are amongst the favourite destinations of Singaporeans.”

MasterCard and eNett offer payment solution to travel industry

MasterCard and eNett International, a Travelport joint venture, have extended their partnership to provide more efficient payments solutions for the travel industry, as well as to reaffirm their joint commitment to redefine travel payments globally.

The companies said in media release that despite international tourism expanding by 5% in 2013 (statistics from the World Tourism Organisation) many travel agents and travel providers, such as airlines and hotels, leave money on the table by relying on inefficient ways to make and receive B2B payments.

According to research by PhoCusWright and eNett analysis, manual payments handling and reconciliation cost the travel industry over US$1.5 billion per year.

Research by MasterCard and Kaiser Associates also revealed that card-based travel solutions can be up to 37% cheaper than other payments methods such as cash, cheque and Automated Clearing House (ACH) networks.

Over the past three years, MasterCard and eNett have helped travel agents, airlines, hotels and travel wholesalers across 47 countries to optimise their payments process, reducing cost and improving their cash-flow. Using unique MasterCard Virtual Account Numbers (VANs), eNett provides travel companies with a fast, easy and secure way to pay, or to be paid, enabling automated reconciliation at point of sale.