THE Wrap is a round-up of news in the travel and technology sector – new partnerships, product launches, aviation industry updates, innovative solutions, and more …
Agoda boosts product offerings to facilitate return to travel,
As an extension of its ‘Welcome Back’ campaign, Agoda has launched a multitude of products across the customer booking funnel to improve the accessibility of travel in a post-Covid landscape.
One is the expansion of the alternative state quarantine packages, launched earlier this year in Thailand, for travellers to book accommodation for their mandatory quarantine needs across Asia.
Repatriates and inbound travellers can now search availability, room type and pricing in real-time and pick from a total of over 600 government-approved hotels worldwide in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Taiwan and the Philippines. More market are expected to join the programme in the coming months.
The digital platform has simplified the search and booking process on its platform. It said “participating hotels will benefit from its international reach and marketing strategies to drive higher exposure and conversion among travellers looking for a greater selection of quarantine hotels as more markets reopen.”
The company has also partnered with digital solutions provider Sherpa to build a travel restrictions world map explorer. Housed on Agoda’s platform the interactive map details entry restrictions and Covid-19 documentation, testing requirement, quarantine protocols and more, for destinations around the world. The web-based widget pulls together the latest data and information in real-time via an interactive map for easy navigation.
According to Agoda, this secure solution connects across the customer journey via homepage banners, property listings and hotel pages, across web, mobile and app to further reinforce booking decisions and drive conversions across the funnel.
“Travellers can choose a country or territory on the map to identify what restrictions are in place, before inputting their passport issuing country, origin and destination country and vaccination status,” it added.
Additionally, Agoda has built a curated selection of country and city guides housing in-depth information of top travel destinations. The content is aimed at capturing granular details of differing interstate and interzonal requirements, highlighting things to do, places to visit safely and travel tips in a post-pandemic environment.
The first guide for Thailand will be launched later this week followed by destinations including the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, France, US, UAE, South Korea, Japan and Singapore by the end of the year.
On the drawing board is a vaccination badge to show the vaccination status of hotel staff, with information on the safety and hygiene standards of each property. If successful in its test markets, the company said it plans to scale this service globally.
“As international travel remains complex it is not enough to just have good supply and price. We want to give our customers further autonomy and flexibility over quarantine stays, clarity on which type of rates they need to book and what requirements and restrictions exist for their travel route.” said Enric Casals, regional vice president, partner services, South-east Asia and Oceania.
Now everyone can check in to AirAsia flights with FACES
Low cost carrier AirAsia has launched biometric facial recognition technology on its super app, allowing users to check in flights and order other travel services with their faces.
The technology, known as FACES (Fast Airport Clearance Experience System), will initially be rolled out for air travel.
Bo Lingam, group CEO of AirAsia Aviation Group, said FACES would be implemented across all Malaysia airports within 12 months, before expanding the technology to key markets including Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Describing FACES as a “game changer”, airasia Super App CEO Amanda Woo said the technology delivers a “a greater user experience” to its customers as they are able to access products and services in a simple and secure way.
“All airasia Super App users around the region can now register for FACES easily on the app, and soon they will be able to use the feature not just for travel but also for all of our lifestyle offerings in our rapidly expanding ecosystem,” she added.
AirAsia developed the biometric facial technology in-house in conjunction with it tech partner, Vision-Box, as part of the company’s Covid-19 mitigation procedure.
Garuda Indonesia, Singapore Airlines strengthen partnership with new MoU
Garuda Indonesia and Singapore Airlines (SIA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which expands their wide-ranging commercial partnership to provide customers with additional options and an enhanced travel experience.
The two carriers inked the agreement on November 26 to coincide with the launch of a quarantine-free Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) between Indonesia and Singapore on November 29.
The collaboration includes the potential alignment of frequent flyer programmes, joint marketing activities and initiatives to promote inbound tourism into Indonesia, subject to regulatory approval.
Both partners are also committed to finding new growth opportunities in the air freight segment, as well as cooperation in maintenance, repair and overhaul activities.
“This agreement allows us to leverage on the strengths of both partners to provide our customers with a greater array of choices, as well as an enhanced and more seamless travel journey,” said Goh Choon Phong, Singapore Airlines chief executive officer. “It would also enable us to work closely together to support initiatives that facilitate and grow tourism and economic activity as borders reopen.”
Garuda Indonesia and SIA reactivated their air connectivity partnership arrangement between Singapore and Bali, Jakarta, and Surabaya on October 1.
The Indonesian carrier commenced flights network connectivity on SIA’s services to London on the same day (October 1), and will codeshare on SIA’s flights to Mumbai from January 1, 2022, subject to regulatory approval.
• Featured image credit: Aryut/Getty Images
