WOTIF Group is hoping to turn around its underperforming Asia business with yesterday’s launch of dynamic Asian packages on Wotif.com targeting Australian outbound as well as a new marketing campaign to be rolled out next month for its two brands in the region, Asia Web Direct and LateStays.com.
Managing director and group CEO, Scott Blume, who took over the reins of the company earlier this year, said: “We need to get back to where we were. Asia was down 20 per cent last year (in room nights).”
The strategy is two-pronged: wooing existing Australian customers who currently don’t use Wotif for their outbound travel to Asia while increasing the group’s share of intra-Asian travel by ramping up investment in its two brands here.
Wotif.com’s new dynamic packaging technology went live yesterday, building on the success of its theatre package offered in Australia. Combining land and air components, domestic and international packages may include flights, hotels and transfers.
Said Blume: “We know there’s a market for us. Australians, particularly those travelling shorthaul to all the standard Asia destinations, are very comfortable buying a package. They are not so sensitive about which hotel they stay at.
“Our DNA and history are around domestic hotels, and that strength will continue. But as proven with flights (total transaction value is expected to increase by more than 30 per cent over the first half of the prior year), our subscribers trust us. If we can serve relevant content, it’s a natural fit for us.”
When asked if he saw a slowdown in outbound this year due to the weakened economy, Blume said Australians are still travelling, adding that even the offline players are not witnessing cutbacks.
The company is continuing to build its inventory in Asia, where it currently already works with around 9,000 hotels.
“We’ve got people on the ground throughout all the key cities in Asia who can get the content for us directly…In cities where we are weak, like in Japan, we’ve done the Rakuten (content sharing) deal. Nine of the top 20 destinations that Australians travel outbound to are in Asia,” explained Blume, singling out Bali, Phuket, Koh Samui, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Read more in TTG Official Show Daily – ITB Asia
