TRAVEL technology provider Illusions is making its move on Asia next month when it opens its first regional office in the “travel hub” of Bangkok.
Vice president Asia of Illusions and former PATA CEO, Greg Duffell, will be relocating to the Thai capital with the aim to get major DMCs on board with the company’s marketplace solution IWTX that he calls the “Amazon of the travel trade”, as well as deepen Asian products within its wide scope of inventory.
He told TTG Asia e-Daily: “Let’s face it, Thailand is the hub of travel in Asia, and a lot of major DMCs – Diethelm, Khiri, Destination Asia, Exotissimo – are based there, and we’re pitching to get this crowd.”
“Five years ago, Asia was struggling but now it’s the leading travel market in the world…Trade comes so naturally to Asians, look at the wet markets!”
Illusions has had four salespeople based in Thailand since three years ago.
Another aim of the shift is to get more content aggregated on Illusions’ IWTX solution to in turn fulfill its aim of offering all travel-related products under the sun, eventually including peer-to-peer vacation rentals as well.
Duffell pointed out there is “not so much” inventory on products from Cambodia and Vietnam.
Asked what was next for Illusions, he said: “We’ll go to B2C eventually, but there’s enough trade on the B2B platform to be happy.”
