Musafir targets agents with online booking tool
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UAE travel website Musafir.com is rolling out an online booking tool for travel agents.The Musafir Plus product, which has evolved from the consumer booking site, has already been introduced to some UAE-based corporates to satisfy their internal travel needs, and is now being offered to small- and medium-sized travel agents to handle both business and leisure bookings.One of the key advantages of this product, which is accessible via a Musafir QuickSearch desktop widget, is that it offers non-IATA agents access to consolidated fares and also allows them to white label the system with their own branding.”There is no maintenance of set-up fee for agents,” Musafir.com Co-Founder and Marketing and Technology Director Albert Dias told TDME, who explained that Musafir Plus was essentially and online wholesaler that marked-up discounted fares.”We establish traditional credit terms with agents after we assess them through an internal review process.”Dias said that around 200 organisations across the UAE had already signed up to Musafir Plus as it was “designed to intelligently track and maintain records of a company’s negotiated rates and highlight them enabling travel managers to make quicker and better choices, in addition to savings on the travel budgets”. Additionally, Musafir Plus allows companies to review travel plans online at any time making it highly convenient to adjust last minute changes or plan new travel.Dias added: “Musafir Plus allows different departments in a company to collaborate online when it comes to travel, saving paper, middlemen and most importantly, time. In fact, booking a conventional trip takes less than two minutes using Musafir Plus, while still meeting company policies.” In terms of rolling the product out to agencies, Dias said he was currently in discussion with several agencies in the UAE and once successful in this market, would look to other GCC states for further expansion.He pinpointed KSA as a target but indicated that an Arabic version of Musafir Plus would probably need to be developed for this market.”This is something we will look to in 2011,” he said.Dias is also looking to attend the Business Travel Show Middle East in October and said exhibiting at next year’s Arabian Travel Market was an option.
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