In the news: Travelport’s Exclusive Rates programme for agencies, HK Express’ loyalty programme new mobile app, Cebu Pacific ‘ASEAN One’ celebrations
TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY: Exclusive rates for agencies on Travelport platform
Agencies benefit from Travelport’s ‘exclusive rates’ (Image credit: mkitina4/iStock)
Travel commerce platform, Travelport, is giving its corporate travel agency customers “negotiated corporate-friendly rates” in 1,000 hotels in its Exclusive Rates programme.
The participating hotels, including four and five star properties, are located in 48 countries spanning Europe, Asia, US, Africa and Latin America. They offer negotiated rates with at least one element exclusive to the Travelport Travel Commerce Platform.
According to Travelport, the programme is “the only such hotel offer available through a travel commerce platform”. Accessed via its point of sale tool, Travelport Smartpoint, the exclusive rates can be found directly in the agent workflow, thereby saving time and increasing efficiency
“These offers are negotiated directly by Travelport with the hotel, providing agencies that may not be able to secure these special rates themselves the benefit of Travelport’s scale,” said the company in a statement.
For agencies manually searching hotels and using Travelport’s rate audit tool the rates are less expensive and contain more exclusive elements, such as included breakfast or more favourable cancellation terms in 80% of cases.
In the other 20% of the searches the hotel offers an enhanced agency commission or other benefit to the traveller.
Niklas Andreen, vice president and managing director, global hospitality and digital at Travelport, described the programme as “a real timesaver for agents”, as apart from driving their performance it offers everything they need in one place via the Travelport platform.
“It will help agents increase attachment rates and stay competitive by always offering the best rates available to travellers.”
Travelport Exclusive Rates are available to B2B agencies on Travelport Apollo, Travelport Galileo, Travelport Worldspan and through a variety of Travelport point-of-sale products including Travelport Smartpoint and Travelport uAPI by adding the rate access code 4TM to a hotel search.
AVIATION: reward-U launches a millennial-focused mobile app
Easy to earn and redeem reward-U points with new mobile app
Hong Kong-based HK Express has joined other service providers in launching products for millennials with a mobile app for its loyalty programme, reward-U.
Steven Greenway, CEO of reward-U, said the app would strengthen the programme’s appeal to tech-savvy consumers in Hong Kong and millennial travellers in particular, as the young “mobile-first” consumer market is growing larger.
“Statistics show that Hong Kong has one of the world’s highest mobile phone penetration rate at 237%, and mobile technology continues to develop at a rapid pace.”
Greenway added the new mobile app, which launches with instant rewards, “will also be an important platform to interact with our members and enhance their overall rewards experience.”
The app, with a user-friendly interface, is a convenient way for members to earn and redeem points individually or as part of a reward-U Crew, receive latest offers and promotions and manage accounts at their fingertips.
Additional benefits include redeeming points for HK Express tickets “any seat, any flight, any time” and for add-on items such as extra baggage, pre-purchased meals and seat selection. Partial redemption allows millennial travellers greater access to value fares whenever they feel like going on a vacation.
DESTINATION: Cebu Pacific celebrates the ‘ASEAN One’ spirit, brings travel influencers to the Philippines
ASEAN One delegates at the send-off dinner in Makati (L-R) Thailand’s Baby Mojiko, Vietnam’s Pho Dac Biet, Philippines’ social media influencer Janina Vela, Malaysia’s Johanis Sani, Singapore’s Elaine Jasmine, Indonesia’s Salshabilla Adriani
Cebu Pacific Air celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by taking key social media influencers of five ASEAN countries to destinations in its route network.
The initiative, ‘ASEAN One’, is to commemorate the Philippines assuming the chairmanship of ASEAN this year.
For the week-long adventure, from September 20 to 26, the airline flew five travel and lifestyle influencers – Johanis Sani of Malaysia, Salshabilla Adriani of Indonesia, Pho Dac Biet of Vietnam, Elaine Jasmine of Singapore and Baby Mojiko of Thailand – to the islands of Cebu, Bohol and Dumaguete in Central Visayas.
While there they enjoyed activities highlighting the similarities between the ASEAN nations – rice and good food, fun with friends, revelry and dancing, and the rich marine life and clear blue seas.
Candice Iyog, Cebu Pacific vice president for marketing and distribution, said the ASEAN One trip aimed to strengthen the bond between the Southeast Asian nations, as well as to showcase the Philippines’ various facets.
“Through our invited content-creator guests from ASEAN we hope to share the abundance of experience in the Philippines—whether it’s travel for scenic landscapes, adrenaline-filled activities, culture-rich explorations, city life or a breath of serenity.”
Cebu Pacific currently offers over 100 weekly flights to seven ASEAN country destinations – Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei and Cambodia.
Watch how the ASEAN One travellers discovered the Philippines by visiting Cebu Pacific on Facebook or by following #CEBTravels and #ASEANOne on Instagram and Twitter.
• Featured image credit: AlexLMX/iStock
