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Travel
agencies can increase revenues
through Travelguru’s
e-distribution hotel platform
Mumbai, April 11th, 2006:- With declining
airfares and reducing airline commissions, the travel
agent industry in India is going through a tough phase.
Euromonitor research on the travel industry indicates
that a typical travel agency generates about 70% of their
revenues from air ticketing and less than 5% of revenues
from hotel bookings.
However in more mature markets like the U.S. and Europe
the contribution of hotel sales has been greater than
15% for most agencies. The lack of large hotel consolidators
and credible e-distribution platforms in India is cited
as the principal reason for the low contribution of hotel
revenues to an agency’s overall profitability in
India.
But this scenario is set to change very soon with an innovative
scheme launched by Travelguru, India’s largest e-distributor
of hotels. Travelguru recently extended its hotel distribution
to travel agents who register with the company, with an
unbeatable, inaugural offer of a 10% guaranteed commission
on all hotel bookings made till May 31st, 2006.
Commenting on the offer, Ashwin Damera , CEO Travelguru,
said “We have distribution tie ups with more than
650 hotels in India. Our range of hotels is wide –
we distribute budget hotels, guest houses, villas, star
rated hotels including 5 star and heritage properties.
The real value we add to travel agencies is that we guarantee
their commission and we give them the ability to sell
several hotels that they cannot sell on the GDS”.
Till Travelguru entered the market, most agencies sold
hotels through the GDS or by calling the hotel directly.
However, there were two problems with this business model.
First, many of the budget hotels that the cost sensitive
traveler look for are not sold on the GDS. Second, only
a small fraction of the commission bookings due to the
agency was actually collected. For, unlike BSP for flights,
there is no real collection agency for hotel bookings.
The advantage a travel agency has with if they book with
Travelguru is that there is no worry in terms of collecting
commission. The agency can pay Travelguru with their corporate/individual
credit card to confirm the booking for their clients.
At the end of every month, Travelguru will automatically
credit the commission and incentive due to the agency
to the credit card account under which the bookings were
made.
After 3 months, agencies that generate large enough volumes
can look forward to credit facilities and a separate tracking
tool that can track their hotel bookings by city, property,
employee etc. Also, to follow is the ability to sell more
than 55,000 hotels worldwide through Travelguru.
As a promotional offer, Travelguru is offering any agency
that books 50 hotel room nights before 31st May 2006 a
full paid, round trip to the Far East.
More information on how to register and start earning
hotel commissions can be obtained by calling one of the company's regional representatives.
Shaun Dubash (Mumbai) -9820899970, Sharad Kacker (Delhi)-
9810274364, Deepak Mavinkurve (Bangalore) - 9845262753,
Mrs Asha Devi (Chennai)- 9884106089.
About Travelguru
Travelguru is a pioneering travel solutions company that
offers travelers the opportunity to plan and purchase
their travel in a transparent, hassle-free, quick and
smart way. Strategic partnerships and alliances with travel
industry leaders give Travelguru the edge as an aggregator
of travel services. Backed by next generation, real-time,
metasearch technology, Travelguru throws up a wider range
of travel options for domestic and outbound international
travelers. Promoted by two Harvard Business School alumni
with significant travel, technology and corporate experience
and a team of experienced professionals from industries
such as hospitality, travel & trade, financial services
and E-commerce, Travelguru is set to redefine the way
India travels. Travelguru can be found on the World Wide
Web at www.Travelguru.com or can be reached by calling the company's customer
support center,
+91 - 22 - 4275 4878 (standard charges apply).
About WestBridge Capital Partners
WestBridge Capital Partners is a Mauritius-based,
leading Indian venture capital fund with approximately
$350 million under management. The fund focuses primarily
on high growth India domestic services, IT and outsourced
services businesses that are leaders in their market segments.
WestBridge’s investors include leading university
endowments and foundations. For more information, visit www.wbcp.com
Media contact for
Travelguru:
Praveen Meloth
Travelguru
Tel: 022 42754847
E-mail: pmeloth@travelguru.com |
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