TTG Asia Media is taking its B2B business further with the debut of Roomonger, a travel consolidator that offers agencies real-time booking access to hotels and other intermediaries.
Officially launched last month, Roomonger carrries inventory of more than 100,000 hotels across 150 countries – ranging from budget to luxury – obtained through direct contracts with hotels as well as connections to numerous suppliers.
The system filters the best available nett rates across all channels, which are competitive enough to provide a margin of 15-20 per cent. Transfers, tours and packages are also on the cards, and will be progressively added.
TTG Asia Media managing director, Darren Ng, explained: “We are in the business of facilitating buyers and sellers. If you look at our publishing titles, advertisers are suppliers who want to reach out to travel agencies. For our events, we provide a platform for sellers to exhibit and link them with buyers through appointments. Roomonger is a natural extension, where we secure suppliers’ rates and offer them to buyers.”
With her background in online booking systems, Cecilia Teo joined the company in April as general manager of Roomonger, which falls under TTG Global Commerce, a business group of TTG Asia Media.
Said Teo: “We’re not in any conflict of interest (with wholesalers). We’re giving them the opportunity to join us, and we’re helping them to clear their stock. A wholesaler from Europe, for example, may not have the means to personally approach every travel agency in Asia.
“Other than being a consolidator, we can also help travel agencies who want to be wholesalers by giving them a white-label B2B hotel booking system.”
An advantage that Roomonger has over other B2B portals is that its agency reach is far wider, pointed out Ng.
“Because of the nature of our business, we have built up a significant database of potential buyers not just in Asia but globally.”
Buyers will be engaged through marketing EDMs, among other forms of communication.
From October to December, agencies also stand a chance to win prizes for every booking they make.
At press time, there are 500 registered travel consultants, and the target is to have at least 1,500 by year-end.
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