THAI travel businesses have embraced mobile channels faster than their regional counterparts with 71 per cent of companies saying they have a mobile presence, reveals new research from PayPal.
The figure compares with 54 per cent of travel companies in Malaysia and 50 per cent in Singapore, according to PayPal Insights: The Digital Future of Travel 2014, which was published in March.
Travel companies can further maximise their mobile and online channels by pricing products and services in the currencies of their target markets, said Rahul Shinghal, country manager at PayPal South-east Asia, speaking yesterday at the PayPal — The Travel Edition South-east Asia seminar in Bangkok yesterday.
“Listing in the buyer’s currency is essential,” he said. “There’s a 12 per cent conversion drop for not doing this. Many online buyers still fear hidden costs from forex conversions online.”
Key concerns preventing 29 per cent of Thai travel companies surveyed from not developing a mobile presence are: no time or resources (44 per cent), did not find good mobile reception (41 per cent) and worried about additional investment required (37 per cent).
Hotels form the majority of travel businesses using PayPal. Shinghal said the payment solutions company was predominantly focused on consumers and was not likely to be adopted by traditional travel businesses, such as DMCs, in the near term.
However, hotels selling rooms through a number of OTAs could use the service to manage online payments more efficiently. “They can use PayPal to receive all of their payments from OTAs which means they can significantly reduce transactional costs.”
