JACTRAVEL, traditionally a tour operator selling the UK since 1975, is now growing its reputation as an online supplier of hotel inventory, setting its sights on both properties and business from the region with its debut at ITB Asia 2011.
Explaining that the company had only started online wholesaling in recent years, CEO Mario Bodini said this source of revenue had now overtaken its traditional offline one, contributing 70 to 80 per cent of business. Three years ago, it decided to put together a dedicated contracting team for Asia.
Selling 7,000 “handpicked” hotels worldwide, only 15 per cent of these are in Asia, concentrated in hubs such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok. Much of its inventory is in the UK, Europe and Canada.
JacTravel’s key Asian customers are major wholesalers in South Korea, Japan and Thailand, with demand also coming from other countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam and India.
Properties can be booked via XML or by logging into a web-based interface.
Bodini said: “Right now we’re selling more Asia to Asia than Asia to Europeans. Our inbound business is steady but not growing at the same level as our online wholesaling. The UK is a mature market, whereas online, we have the whole world.”
– Read more in ITB Asia 2011 Official Daily – Day 3 issue
