In the news: International SOS’ new app, international routes for Batik Air, new offices for Khiri Travel, new ad targeting solution for Wego
An app for business travellers and expatriates to travel safe
Medical and travel security services group, International SOS, has unveiled its new Assistance App, which delivers crucial information, advice and connectivity into the palm of their hands.
Targeted at business travellers and expatriates, the app is designed to assist them in a wide range of situations such as the need to speak to a doctor or a security professional when there is a threat during their travel.
Brian Cheah, SSEA business development director, information & tracking at International SOS, described the app as a “traveller’s ultimate tool for overcoming obstacles they may come up against while overseas.”
The key to the app’s functionality is the new “location check-in” feature. Through the recently upgraded International SOS TravelTracker platform, travellers can let their employers know exactly where they are when requiring help. They can also alert medical and security support teams.
Explained Cheah, “Imagine a traveller flying abroad. Using travel booking data their employer easily knows where the traveller’s plane is due to land. But what if upon landing, the traveller takes a 150km taxi ride to a remote work site? With one click, that traveller has the ability to confirm where they are located at that time, with their location details clearly visible on their employer’s TravelTracker map.
“This location check-in is a huge step forward. It puts an end to much of the location guesswork that can exist during a crisis. With our fully integrated assistance capabilities, we can get help to travellers more quickly and sometimes even before they know they need it.”
Other key features include:
- Push notifications that show travellers an alert, even if the app is not open.
- One-click dialling to the nearest assistance centre, even before logging in. This is important if a traveller forgets the membership number
- Mobile-friendly medical and travel security advice for trip preparation
- Ability to store alerts when offline or with data services switched off
- Setting favourite countries for fast navigation to travellers’ most used information
- The app is available for iOS, Android and Blackberry smartphones from app.internationalSOS.com
To date, there have been over 320,000 downloads of previous versions of the International SOS Assistance App.
Batik Air goes international
Batik Air, part of Indonesia’s Lion Group, recently unveiled its expansion plans with the launch of 12 new domestic destinations in Indonesia, as well as its first international service.
The airline’s first international service will start by November or December this year, with a daily flight from Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport to Singapore Changi Airport, Batik Air CEO, Capt. Achmad Luthfie. said Singapore was chosen as the carrier’s first international destination due to increasing demand on the route. Also on the drawing board is a service to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from Jakarta.
On the domestic front, the airline plans to double its network from 10 to 22 destinations. New domestic destinations to launch this year include Banjarmasin, Batam, Gorontalo, Kendari, Medan, Padang, Palembang, Palu, Timika, Tarakan and Solo. It will also resume services on the Jakarta-Bali Denpasar route.
Batik Air currently operates six Boeing 737-900ER aircraft. It will be increasing its fleet to 16 aircraft in tandem with its expansion plans. In July this year the airline will add the Airbus A320 to its fleet, the first airline in the Lion Group to use this aircraft. The airline group also owns budget carrier, Lion Air.
Khiri Travel lands in Indonesia
Khiri Travel, headquartered in Bangkok, has partnered with Indonesia-based Sunda Trails to launch Khiri Travel Indonesia and will open its first offices in Lombok and Flores with dedicated English and Dutch speaking teams.
Pictured left: Khiri Travel Indonesia’s team
The new Khiri Indonesian tours will initially focus on East Nusa Tenggara such as Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba and Flores.
Anita Verhoeven, who founded Sunda Trails in 2002, have personally selected these trips. A Dutch national, she has been living and working in Indonesia for 20 years and speaks fluent Bahasa Indonesia. She will continue to play a key leadership role in Khiri Travel Indonesia, focusing mostly on product development.
Sunda Trails specialises in cultural and ecotourism tours in Java, Bali and Sumatra, as well as offers hiking, bicycle tours, diving, marine expeditions and anthropological trips throughout the Indonesian archipelago. It handled about 2,000 passengers per year, both on individual packages and group bookings.
Willem Niemeijer, CEO of Khiri Travel, said the merger was made possible due to both companies’ shared passion for sustainable tourism operations, innovative programmes and immersive travel experiences.
“Indonesia offers a treasure trove of great travel experiences. The country’s amazing diversity will be reflected in Khiri Indonesia tour offerings, including Java and Bali, the orang utan sanctuaries and Komodo Island, as well as dozens of off-the-beaten-track trips,” he added.
He added that Sunda Trails’ expertise and his company’s professional business systems would bring efficiencies of scale and fast client response times. The new internal systems will also give enhanced training and career prospects for Sunda’s existing 12 female staff.
Wego taps Lotame to power data-driven marketing strategy
Metasearch site, Wego, has linked up with data management platform (DMP), Lotame, to refine its ad target solution for marketers.
According to Wego, by using Lotame’s DMP it will enable marketers to target beyond content and put their messages in front of highly sought after audience groups. Some of these audiences available to advertisers will include individual business, family, frequent flyer and budget travellers.
Rick Mulia, VP, media & advertising at Wego, said, “Upgrading our audience targeting solution with Lotame’s DMP we are even better equipped to place ads with more relevance in front of an audience with high travel intent, using the data to build specific audience segments with zero waste, which is what matters most to advertisers.”
Prior to partnering with Lotame, Wego uses a flexible data management solution to help increase inventory against certain high value audiences, and to easily manage these audiences at scale. It, however, needed a solution that collected data across platforms, particularly as more people turn to mobile devices to find and book their travel.
“Lotame gives us the ability to reach our highly valued audiences on any platform, both within and outside of Wego’s global network; enabling us to go deeper into segmenting and re-targeting to suit our advertiser’s unique requirements,” added Mulia. “The advanced technology combined with a strong focus on customer service and support in the region made Lotame an easy choice when it came to our partner selection.”
