KENYA VACATIONS MADE EASIER AS LEADING COMPANIES JOIN FORCES
(Posted 02nd August 2015)
Travelling to Kenya’s key attractions, both beaches and wilderness, has just become so much easier as East Africa’s number one booking system, Jovago.com has teamed up with Kenya’s premier safari airline, Safarilink.
The two will with immediate effect focus on customizing packages for tourists visiting various destinations within the country. The new model will provide visitors with ready-made packages inclusive of flight fares, airport transfers and accommodation for the period of their stay and bookings can be made online from anywhere around the world, including of course from within Kenya and from the wider Eastern African region.
Commenting on the development did Nafisa Fazal, Head of Marketing for Jovago.com East and Southern Africa observe that incorporating technology and adapting the delivery structure to the market needs will enable stakeholders to find a level playing ground with the global tourism industry. ‘This is even more important as product competitiveness and rivalry become more intense throughout the region. Creating convenience and consistency will go a long way, as both are major drivers in the sector’ did she comment.
According to a combined report by eTrack, eMarketer and Alexa.com released earlier this year, revenue generated through online hotel bookings has grown by more than 73% in the last five years. The report goes on to place the percentage number of online travel reservations at 57% while noting that a remarkable 65% of travelers will make same day hotel reservations via smartphones.
The report puts the total annual number of hotel bookings made on the internet at 148.3 million with corresponding increase in other aspects such as online car rentals, travel research and travel review. It is therefore important for suppliers and related operators to adapt, evolve and grow to meet global expectations by an emerging digital-savvy market. This should take major consideration of attributes such as travel and hotel bookings, virtual tours, content and provision of online payments.
Speaking on the partnership did John Buckley the CEO for Safarilink say: ‘Today’s traveller prefers an all-round operator with a keen interest on value added services.Both Jovago and SafariLink will work in sync to ensure a seamless, convenient and cost-saving process for the customer’.
This, as Nafisa Fazal noted in her conclusion, is the basis of reforming the tourism industry and repositioning itself for a future guided by eCommerce.
