META-search sites are muscling in on OTAs and other traditional players, and pundits expect the disruption in travel distribution to continue with the end winners and losers being anybody’s guess.
With facilitated or assisted bookings gaining ground in Asia – where users don’t have to leave meta-search sites to complete bookings – other intermediaries can effectively be bypassed.
Ross Veitch, co-founder and CEO of Singapore-based Wego, a meta-search, said: “There’s probably a few more layers in travel distribution than there needs to be. It’ll be good for suppliers and customers if we could strip it down. ”
Wego is working with some of its bigger partners to allow consumers to book their inventory without having to leave the Wego app. Veitch said the emergence of “deep linking standards” over the last year would help Wego further drive conversion rates for its suppliers.
“(With deep linking) when we send somebody from Wego, we drop them on a booking page with their flights and the right fare already selected; they just have to pull out their credit card and fill the form,” explained Veitch.
Read more in TTG-ITB Asia Daily
