|
ISORG
|
|
Monday, October 19, 2009
INTRODUCTION Asiatravel.com is a leading pan-Asia online Hotel and Airline Travel Reservation Company that has grown successfully from a niche hotel reservation service provider to a total hotel and travel service provider worldwide. This company now ranks among the highest companies servicing inbound customers to Asia Destinations, supported by a network of operation and customer services offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Hong Kong, China and UAE. It has one of the widest selections of hotels and airlines and thousands of bookings are handled on a weekly basis. Its massive purchasing power has allowed this website to pass on a significant savings to the consumers. To add on, Asiatravel.com offers flights with discounted airfares for all major airlines departing from 11 countries in Asia where these flights can be booked on an instant confirmation basis, allowing consumers to do it in a fuss-free manner. They have now expanded their destination footprint from 8 core destinations in Asia to worldwide destinations, offering over 50,000 hotels worldwide that can be booked on instant confirmation or even on a last minute basis including bookings for same-day check-in. In summary, this online business model is direct, straightforward and dependable, through it, would-be travelers can at anytime, search, view a slew of hotel rooms at his desired destination and make a booking and receive instant confirmation with ease and free of hassle. PURPOSE Asiatravel.com aims to provide consumers with all necessary information and reservations for business or leisure travelers at their fingertips anytime – anywhere. They are committed to bringing consumers a wide selection of hotel and resort accommodations in Asia, Pacific region, Middle East, USA and Europe. It is a website that aids the consumers in raising their convenience level to plan a get-away or a business trip. Being aware of the steep competition in this online travel industry, Asiatravel.com stands out to work towards a goal of providing the consumers the lowest affordable hotel rates, yet, encompassed with a world-class customer service. FEATURES Business ModelTransaction BrokerIt is apparent that Asiatravel.com engages in booking of mentioned services that involves a B2B (as Asiatravel.com needs to negotiates with other hotels, insurance companies etc) and B2C (i.e. the traveler). This involves money transactions over the Internet or through banks. Information BrokerA wide variety of information is provided such as travel guides, accommodation reviews and images.Payment Modes Asiatravel.com provides two types of payment – Payment direct to hotel / upon check out or prepayment. For prepayment, payment are processed and debited instantly through Asiatravel.com’s online payment gateway with a hotel voucher displayed instantly online when successful. Alternatively, consumers can choose to provide their credit card details via fax should they feel uncomfortable to furnish their credit card details over the internet. Generally, payment can be made via any credit/debit card (i.e. Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Jcb) with an international billing address. Considering the fact that some consumers might not have these cards, Asiatravel.com allows consumers to perform the payment direct to hotel upon check out. As the payments are needed to be in the currency of the country of destination, the cost can be pretty unpredictable as it is susceptible to the constant change of exchange rate. As such, Asiatravel.com or the consumer can either incur losses or gain the benefit depending on the situation. Site Details Asiatravel.com is a website that calls out to all travelers who are intrepid enough to plan their holiday via this website. Would-be travelers at this site will be greeted with comprehensive information, reviews and testimonials, allowing an informed choice to be made. On top of it, this website allows confirmed availability of the customers’ selected flight and hotel room immediately, even on a last-minute basis. Hence, allowing all users, regardless of business or leisure travelers, to experience a hassle-free, quick and easy booking process. All the information of hotels and resorts are listed in detail with the rates, discounts, and graphics of rooms, sports or recreation facilities, function rooms for all purposes. Location and fact sheets are also included for more in-depth information to ensure a comfortable and memorable stay for the consumers. Mentioned above will greatly assists consumers to make wiser selection according to their individual needs. DESIGN This site is found to be very straightforward, methodical and comprehensible. It can be navigated with helpful pointers and step-by-step instructions which enable consumers to effortlessly plan their vacation. This site is neatly categorized accordingly into headings like Home, Reviews, Flights, Packages + Tour etc. The contents are relatively rich, with attention-grabbing glossy images of the different destinations and professional-looking air stewardess by each flight. With these attractive images, travelers would tend to be captivated and stay on longer on this website to browse for more information and make a selection. Interactive maps are also linked to the hotels to allow consumers to have a clearer idea on the location of the hotel. Asiatravel.com has a different heading that stands out on the website, differentiating itself from other online travel agencies – TraveltTV, a page that features a list of travel and hotel videos. With a broad library of over 5000hrs of compelling and informative video clips showcasing holiday destinations, entertainment, hotels, events, cultural shows and many more, travel enthusiasts can now discover a destination with the click of a button. ANALYSIS StrengthsAsiatravel.com does not only just provide online hotel and flight service, but also, group travel for meeting and seminar, airline ticket packages and packaged tours, such as, golf and sightseeing tours. Knowing the high demand for novel travels in today’s world, Asiatravel.com cleverly comes up with all these packaged tours catering to different types of individuals. In addition, it also provides the service of Travel Insurance, highly reducing the hassle of consumers to search for an insurance company for the purchasing of travel insurance. This one-stop service for consumer makes it highly convenient for potential individuals; the economical and discounted list of pricings also them to save on costs. To cater to the different nationalities, the website details are able to be surfed in different foreign languages such as English, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, French, Thai, and Bahasa Indonesia etc. A currency converter is also included to allow consumers to preview the rates in their desired currency. On top of it, lists of offices and their contact details in Asia are also available for those consumers who may encounter any sort of problems with respect to the service rendered by Asiatravel.com. Sub-pages like ‘My Bookings’, ‘FAQs’, ‘Bookmark this Page’, also aids consumers in their booking process. Asiatravel.com is linked up with DBS, RBS and Visa. Those cardholders of the above respective would be able to enjoy greater deals from time to time. Weaknesses Sensitive information like credit card details and passport information are sent via the internet. No matter what security policy Asiatravel.com has, there is still a degree of risk involved in furnishing such sensitive information over the internet especially so when the information has to be given before confirmation on the hotel booking can be given. The information may be misused without the knowledge of the consumer. One of the feature found in Hotels2Thailand.com is the 24/7 Live Chat Assistance that is not available in Asiatravel.com. Queries will be answered in real time instead of waiting for it to be replied through emails and single live chat service personnel will be able to handle multiple chat sessions. If this feature is to be incorporated by Asiatravel.com, it will be a great advantage to the consumers when surfing the web. Data Security Asiatravel.com gives the utmost importance to keeping consumers’ data secure at all times. It has implemented the use of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology, a strong encryption technology to ensure the safe transmission of all credit card transactions and personal information. Also, a digital certificate from Thawte, a recognized industry leader has been obtained. Consumers can view this site certificate on the secure pages by clicking on the padlock icon (or solid key) found on the status bar of the browser. They also make use of other technologies such as ‘cookies’ to record certain information to enable continuity of improvements in their services and to designed better and useful features to the site users or guests. Cookies are pieces of information that are normally used by many websites for record-keeping purposes that can help sites to remember things like preferences. A cookie, in and out of itself does not personally identify any user. PrivacyAsiatravel.com values each individual’s privacy. They need to collect details in relation to processing the transaction and fulfilling the consumer’s order, which may be done through the submission of queries via Inquiry Forms. Also, consumers will have to click on ‘I Agree’ after reading the contract before he discloses his personal information and proceed on with the bookings. Use and care of information is regarded with high importance in Asiatravel.com. It is stated clearly that Asiatravel.com remains the owner of any information collected on the website and has no intention to change the policy in the future. Disclosure of information is limited only to parties (such as hotels, airlines, etc.) connected to fulfilling the service/s that consumers have ordered. Asiatravel.com does not sell, rent, or otherwise trade any personal information from their guests to any party for marketing purposes. Asiatravel.com also reserves the right to disclose personal information only if required to do so by law, or by court order, or by law enforcement or governmental authorities, or in good faith belief that such disclosure is necessary to protect the rights or properties of Asiatravel.com, their guests/users, or the public. COMPETITORS Asiatravel.com does face a a lot of competition from a host of other online travel agencies such as - http://www.asiarooms.com - http://www.travelzoo.com - http://www.travelocity.com - http://www.directrooms.com - http://www.hotels.com Conclusion Asiatravel.com is a hassle-free website that provides one-stop services which consumers will rank it as one of the top criteria when surfing. It allows consumers to select the most affordable hotel/flight according to their needs alongside many other offers and deals featured in the web. All the different services provided, assured privacy and security by Asiatravel.com will enhance the consumer’s confidence in dealing with them. |