EFT Exclusive: Travelocity in IndiaThe competition among the online travel intermediaries in India has intensified with the launch of Travelocity website.

Published: 19 Mar 2007

EFT Exclusive: Travelocity in India

The competition among the online travel intermediaries in India has intensified with the launch of Travelocity website.

In order to know more about the operations, EyeforTravel.com’s Ritesh Gupta recently caught up with Roshan Mendis, director - supplier relations and partnerships, Zuji.

“Our strategy in India relies on driving hotel sales from day one, so you can expect that hotel sales to be, and remain, a very important part of our product suite to Indian consumers, and therefore to our business in India, for the long term,” he says.

Mendis, who was recently in Singapore for EyeforTravel’s Travel Distribution Summit Asia ’07 in Singapore, shared info on relationship with suppliers in India, challenges and much more. Excerpts:

How have preparations for your company’s operations in India progressed?

We’ve been very busy since we announced in May last year that Travelocity was coming to India.

Travelocity India (Travelocity.co.in) has just gone ‘live’ and is now accepting bookings. Travelocity India is the first and only online travel company in India to offer real-time global hotel bookings for over 72,000 hotels, differentiating itself from existing OTAs in India which have predominantly focused on domestic air bookings. Travelocity India also offers the ability for customers to book 4000 attractions and more than 1000 cruise options. Flight, car rentals and package booking functionality will be added in the future.

Not only do we have an online travel site operational, we also have a Travelocity India team on the ground in India, lead by Mr Himanshu Singh, based in Mumbai; a specific Travelocity Net Rate Hotel Program team focused on adding more hotels to the global Travelocity Net Rate Hotel Program, which facilitates local and global distribution for participating hotels; and a customer care centre in Delhi supporting Indian consumers if they require booking or payment assistance.

It’s early days, but public reaction has been great, our membership base is growing rapidly, and Indian hoteliers have embraced the programme and opportunity to distribute in India and globally via our new online channel. Further, hotels globally have the opportunity to benefit from India-based sales, and if they like, advertising-lead merchandising via the Travelocity India site and direct channels.

What do you think will be critical in forming and strengthening relationship with suppliers in India?

It is all about seamless global distribution.

Travelocity India must become a ‘must-have’ supply channel locally and globally for hotels, and ahead for airlines, as we build a one-stop-shop for Indian travellers offering real time bookings and transparent travel choices. We have every confidence this will occur based on unique access to local and global travellers.

As we add flights and packages to the India site, our ability to offer suppliers access to short, sharp, targeted travel offers to our user base will be an important ingredient to success. You’ll see us actively building up our India member base to help supplement these direct marketing opportunities.

How are suppliers approaching online intermediaries in India? What would you recommend to them?

At this stage, I can only really comment on India hotels, because that’s been the first focus for us at start-up OTA in India. The response thus far has been encouraging, and to this end, we already have hundreds of Indian hotels operational within the Travelocity Net Rate Hotel Program. Indian hoteliers do appreciate the value Travelocity offers as a real-time, secure, online distribution channel that reaches the Indian travelling public, and far beyond, via the Travelocity network of companies, including Zuji sites in Asia Pacific, Travelocity.com in North America and Lastminute.com in Europe.

With hotel chain websites evolving from basic brochure ware to robust e-commerce platforms and focusing on direct web distribution, what do you think will be critical for OTAs in India?

The customer must find value in your site and services: Trust, convenience, choice and offering great travel deals are the pillars on which we will build our business in India. A real-time online booking facility offering instant confirmation and secure payment, allowing potential travellers to see many choices, check availability for when they want to travel, and give them the ability to choose from a variety of types of hotels, find room rates which suit individual budgets and needs, along with being able to find out about the hotel from real travellers, and allow travelers to add their own comments after a hotel stay, are key and unique features of Travelocity India.

OTAs in India are bullish about operations. For example, a start-up is targeting $120 million in sales by 2007-end. If one on hand, traditional players say a joint online and offline model is imperative to succeed in India, on the other OTAs are independently surging ahead. What do you think is critical as far as operations of OTAs in India is concerned?

I can’t comment on how other companies build their business, but our business model is absolutely built around online bookings and payment. We will stay true to that model in India as we do with Zuji sites across Asia Pacific. This approach allows our business to grow in scale without growing overheads at the same rate.

During our inaugural event in India last year a tour operator stated that most online players are really offline and costs are bloated as some OTA have larger staff pools than traditional players. Are there any such concerns? What's your viewpoint on the same?

Again, our business model is predominantly online, and we will stay true to that model in India.

It was also stated that the challenge for OTAs is actually to conduct online bookings, payments and fulfillment seamlessly with next to no human interface. What's your viewpoint on all these issues related to OTA business?

From a technical standpoint, online choice, bookings and secure payment is our core business, and so not a technical ‘issue’ or challenge to us as such because we can access a tried and tested technology from Travelocity, and implement it with the learning’s gained from Travelocity-owned ZUJI sites across Asia Pacific. Travelocity India offers real time review of hotel availability, traveller reviews, maps and various other information and photo features. We also offer real time reservations and payment online via the site, without a consumer phone call or behind the scenes human-generated email or call to the supplier. We are a real ‘online’ travel agent.

However, gaining the confidence of consumers to try real time online booking and payment is another challenge altogether. The Travelocity brand, and our family legacy of success in North America; lastminute.com’s success in Europe and ZUJI’s success in Asia Pacific will be important factors in securing our position as a trusted online travel agent in India.

Of late, airlines in India have been focusing on ancillary revenues and tying up with OTAs. How is your company geared up to exploit this arena?

Our first priority has been our team and our consumer-direct site development (Travelocity.co.in) in readiness for launch. Separately, we have a team working with Indian hotels for inclusion in the Travelocity Net Rate Hotel Program for India and global distribution. But, we are open to inquiries and opportunities.