WD TRAVEL has launched a Preferred Hotel Partner programme aimed at boosting bookings for participating properties from its base of 4,000 travel agents worldwide.

The programme guarantees top appearance in wd-travel.com and inclusion in the online wholesale operator's promotional tools.

But in exchange for top visibility and more bookings, the company requires hotels to provide competitive contracted rates, allotments and credit of at least one month.

CEO, Mr Heiko Wilms, said the programme, launched this month, was not a sales gimmick but a long-term commitment to the company's top suppliers.

The company invites all its contracted hotels in Thailand (1,000 properties), Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam to apply for the programme.

http://www.ttgtravelhub.net

March 11, 2008. Despite economic woes and political strife, last year, internet driven bookings and FIT travel to Thailand continued to prosper according to Thailand-based online wholesaler, WD Travel. We talk to the company's CEO, Heiko Wilms to find out more.

A: For us, Thailand is a strong performer and every year has been better than the last year, despite political turmoil. Most importantly, there is a shift towards online booking in Asia. Bookings from western markets may decline or flatten, but bookings in or for Asia will rapidly increase following the growth of low-cost carriers, that make it more economical to travel. Since LCCs do not make deals with travel agents, people have to book online. Also, there is an increase in business from India as travellers there get used to using credit card, so they book online.

A: This group is most suitable to sell via the internet, because they are mainly young couples, single travellers. If you go into group tours, you will need a big commitment in human resources.

Also, the market is shifting towards FITs and the key to attract them is to provide a one-stop-shop experience, because they have so many choices and many opportunities that can be very confusing. Speed is the essence. Nobody wants to wait. They use internet primarily to get first hand information on a destination and book everything online. Internet has become the medium of choice for sophisticated travellers.

A: To increase sales volume and at the same time remain profitable. We expect to sell 144,000 room nights by the end of 2008, an 80% increase from 96,000 sold last year. As for the revenue, we project US$30 million, from US$20 million earned last year.

As we focus only Asia, we are looking to expand more allocations in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and also to take the next step into China. Thailand, our base and we already have 800 clients on our list. In the Thai market we try to focus more on premier hotel partners.

Mr. Wilms founded WD Travel in 1996 and established his base, first in Phuket. The head office was subsequently moved, in 2003, to Bangkok.

WD Travel's decision to switch its positioning from a B2C retail accommodation website to a B2B accommodation consolidator has paid off. The online wholesaler is sharpening its specialisation further to attract more global travel intermediaries. Sirima Eamtako checks what WD Travel offers agents that other consolidators cannot.

IN the face of growing B2C accommodation websites, and regional and global hotel chains' increasing investments on Internet booking technology, web-based WD Travel says it recognises the need to specialise in B2B and to work with global travel intermediaries.

WD Travel, established in 1996 in Bangkok, switched to wholesale in 2004 when it launched the first TravelWorks B2B platform and has never looked back.

The shift proved the company was moving in the right direction. When calculated on an average of three nights' stay at US$250 per booking, the company recorded 29,000 room nights booked for Thailand alone in 2005.

The number rose to 40,000 room nights in 2006 and 96,000 in 2007.

It projects a total of 144,000 room nights for Thailand alone in 2008.

The company launched its latest third-generation TravelWorks in 2007.

It is sharpening its edge by specialising further in wholesale, in order to attract more global travel intermediaries to work with it

CEO, Mr Heiko Wilms, said: “In a world so competitive, it is important to specialise to get agents' interest. We want to be in line with global companies – such as those in the global village at World Travel Market – who combine travel with technology.”

While its business focus continues to be on using the Internet as its sole distribution channel and selling rooms only, WD Travel is shifting to reach larger global travel intermediaries – those that are able to contribute high volumes. Its edge, Mr Wilms claimed, was being Asia's only FIT web-based wholesaler. “Our focus (on selling hotel rooms) is Asia with Thailand as a root,” he said.

Mr Wilms said the increase was due to contracting activity in Thailand, more allocations with more properties.

“Allocations lead to higher conversions, which in turn lead to increased ROI (return on investment).”

In 2006 and 2007, he said revenues were generated from bookings for destinations worldwide, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Europe, Central and South America, and the Middle East.

Prior to 2006, bookings had come mainly for Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore.

He added: “We now continue to focus more on Thailand and South-east Asia.”

The increases led the company to exceed its expectation of US$20 million in gross sales revenue in 2007, a twofold increase over 2006's performance. Sales volume for 2008 is estimated at US$30 million.

From the total sales, Mr Wilms said depending on the season, around 40 per cent came from bookings for Thailand alone, and other key destinations for room nights booked were Singapore and Hong Kong.

When asked how much and what benefit agents or travel intermediaries would get from booking through WD Travel, Mr Wilms said: “When agents book (hotel rooms on wd-travel.com) they can apply any mark-up.

“Our mark-up is set for agents individually, based on performance.”

He added partner agents who wanted to access WD Travel rates and allocations live from their own websites could do so using XML feeds.

The booking process is automated with real-time availability and confirmations, and attended to round-the-clock by WD Travel's reservations team.

Agents from global locations are allowed free access to wd-travel.com with no timeout, but if they agree to book rooms, a fixed deposit of €5,000 (US$7,300) must be settled before any booking is made.

Mr Wilms said the company now had a client base of 7,000 travel intermediaries worldwide – the majority are based in Europe, North America and Australia – versus a supply base of more than 800 direct hotel contracts for Thailand, coupled with some direct hotel contracts for Hong Kong (25 hotels), Kuala Lumpur (20 hotels) and Singapore (15 hotels).

“We buy (rooms) from hotels at contract rates.

“Accounts payable are contract based – usually on 14 days credit payable after the service has been rendered, or after the client has checked out.

“We do not work on commissions. We have the same arrangement with all our third party room providers (local and global wholesalers).”

He said the company would actively pursue contracting throughout 2008 in Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, and would also seek contracting partners in China.

While Mr Wilms acknowledged the fact there were already a host of local and global wholesale operators who used traditional and web-based business models, he said travel intermediaries who booked hotel rooms from WD Travel could do so at prices that were five to seven per cent cheaper than its competitors.

However, he added that what really set WD Travel apart from its competitors was data management and its belief that in-house IT development was the key to excelling in the highly dynamic and fast paced travel industry. “We use in-house developed information management tools to link yield management, sales, inventory management and reservations to ensure ad hoc IT implementation of findings.

“The yield management department is a key component of our commitment to constantly increase our competitiveness,” Mr Wilms said.

In addition, he added WD Travel used open source software to reduce licensing costs dramatically without compromising on development speed and reliability.

This was necessary, he said, as WD Travel was also committed to active research and development, as well as conducting ongoing feasibility studies solely dedicated to emerging technologies.

TravelWorks 3.0

TRAVELWORKS 3.0, which is designed to attract high volume clients such as wholesale tour operators and destination management companies worldwide, offers real-time rates availability and a simplified two-step booking process.

New features include: an outgoing XML data feed that allows clients to tap into WD Travel's room inventory without having to go to the web-based system; dynamic maps that allow visitors to browse information on all hotels in a preferred destination by moving the mouse cursor over the hotels in a map – allowing an easy comparison; and the ability to shortlist hotels without having to reload the page, with the list being automatically saved and displayed at the next log-in session.

WD TRAVEL has launched the third-generation TravelWorks B2B platform, designed to attract high volume clients - worldwide wholesale tour operators and destination management companies (DMCs) - to book its niche hotel inventory in South-east Asia.

Sales and product manager, Mr Nathan Szabo, said TravelWorks 3.0 version offered real-time rates availability and a simplified two-step booking process.

He said the new TravelWorks version and the company's customer service and IT commitment, available 24/7, meant booking requests made after-hours or during weekends were attended to round-the-clock.

Established in 1997 in Bangkok, WD Travel launched its first TravelWorks B2B platform in 2004 and has a base of more than 4,000 B2B partners, wholesale tour operators and DMCs, most of which are based in Europe, North America and Australia. Given its base in Bangkok, it has more than 800 direct contract hotels in Thailand.

Its competitors range from local traditional B2B wholesalers based in Thailand to the large international travel companies such as Gullivers Travel Associates, Hotelbeds and Tourico.

http://www.ttgtravelhub.net

WD Travel is pleased to announce the third-generation release of its TravelWorks B2B platform for FIT hotel reservations. TravelWorks is a web-based application that allows agents to book and manage hotel reservations online. The release is a technological milestone for the company, as it can now focus on attracting large international travel intermediaries to its niche hotel inventory in South-east Asia.

TravelWorks has several advantages over traditional wholesalers. WD Travel's reservations team works 24/7/365 and many other functions like accounting are automated within the TravelWorks system. The increased efficiency allows WD Travel to operate on smaller margins and pass on cost-savings to users. The company has positioned TravelWorks as a viable alternative to other Asia based wholesalers.

WD Travel CEO, Heiko Wilms comments “This release greatly improves real-time availability and usability in TravelWorks. Our in-house IT team has worked hard to integrate real-time availability into the system and have used programming languages such as AJAX to enhance usability. For example, our booking process has been reduced from six to two steps, which really simplifies things for the user”.

TravelWorks now offers real-time availability for Thailand, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Dubai, Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, Vietnam, Bali and Sydney. More destinations including Europe and the Americas will be introduced before the end of the year. Other key improvements include over 3,000 dynamic maps for all destinations, past search history, list of recently viewed hotels, user-generated hotel short list, and an account dashboard.

“We will continue to improve both availability and usability in order to accelerate the company's rapid growth and to further strengthen its position in Asia. This latest release puts us on a level where we feel comfortable approaching the large travel & tour operators in Europe and America”, concludes Wilms.

About WD Travel

WD Travel, Asia’s first true web based wholesale provider for FIT hotel bookings, supplying travel & tour operators and travel organizers worldwide, has its offices in Bangkok, Thailand. For more information, access the WD Travel website at WD Travel or visit the WD Travel about pages.

WD Travel is proud to continue support of the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in the Sabah region of Malaysian Borneo. The company has recently ‘adopted’ a trio of baby orangutans and also joined the Centre’s ‘Friend of the Rainforest’ conservation program.

Baby Orangutans ‘Sen’ (18 months), ‘Sogo Sogo’ (30 months) and ‘Naru’ (36 months) have all received donations from WD Travel which will aid in covering their rehabilitation costs at the Sepilok Center for the next 12 months. WD Travel’s CEO Heiko Wilms adds “We try to support causes where we can have a direct impact such as supporting baby orangutans. I hope we will be able to create more support for the Orangutan Appeal and Sepilok Centre through marketing efforts to our customers and general public”. Pictures of all three baby orangutans can be found by visiting WD Travel.

Additionally, WD Travel is also supporting the ‘Friends of the Rainforest’ program which helps fund conservation work in the Kabili Forest Reserve in Sabah, the area in which the Sepilok Centre is located. The Chairwoman and Founder of the Orangutan Appeal commented on the Centre’s goals, “Sepilok is working tirelessly to rescue, rehabilitate and eventually release orangutans into a remote reserve, which will help widen the gene pool in the natural orangutan population”.

WD Travel will continue its efforts to support the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, and encourages the public to support this charitable cause.

About Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre

The Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre in the Malaysian Sabah District of North Borneo was founded in 1964, with the purpose of rehabilitating orphan orangutans. The site is 43 sq. kilometers of protected land at the edge of Kabili Sepilok Forest Reserve. Today around 60 to 80 orangutans are living free in the reserve.

For more information on how to support the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre visit WD Travel.

About WD Travel

WD Travel, Asia’s first true web based wholesale provider for FIT hotel bookings, supplying travel & tour operators and travel organizers worldwide, has its offices in Bangkok, Thailand. For more information, access the WD Travel website at WD Travel or visit the WD Travel about pages.

WD Travel is pleased to announce it will distribute all Centara Hotels and Resorts to its growing number of B2B partners effective immediately. This increased cooperation between the two companies is the result of a growing trade partnership.

"Previously we were only offering a limited number of Centara properties in Phuket, Bangkok and Chiang Mai. The demand for these properties was quite good, so we approached Centara to add all of their properties and they responded positively”, states Heiko Wilms, CEO of WD Travel, based in Bangkok. Mr. Wilms has been involved in the travel distribution industry since 1996, “We have had success partnering with the top hotel brands in Asia, and will continue to do so in the near future".

Centara Hotels and Resorts is the newly re-branded name for the well known Central Hotels & Resorts Group. The move was done to reinforce Centara’s positioning as a luxury hotel and resort brand, particularly to European tourists who primarily come to Thailand to enjoy the beach destinations.

Chris Bailey, VP Sales and Marketing for Centara Hotels and Resorts adds "It is however more than just a simple re-branding exercise. By categorizing our hotels into sub-brands for five-star and four-star properties as well as for villas, we definitely anchor our group into the upper-market segment".

All thirteen of Centara’s properties will be available on WD Travel’s TravelWorks, B2B platform available exclusively for Travel & tour operators. This includes the Centara Grand at Central World Bangkok, which is scheduled to open in late 2007.

About WD Travel

WD Travel, Asia’s first true web based wholesale provider for FIT hotel bookings, supplying travel & tour operators and travel organizers worldwide, has its offices in Bangkok, Thailand. For more information, access the WD Travel website at WD Travel or visit the WD Travel about pages.

About Centara Hotels & Resorts

Centara is one of the most established and well known hotel brands in Thailand. To learn more please visit centarahotelsresorts.com.

WD Travel recently attended the Thailand Travel Mart Plus (TTM+) in Bangkok organized by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). This was a trade-only event with the focus of bringing together buyers and sellers with interests in promoting Thailand.

“We were in a unique position of being both a buyer and a seller at this event” explains Nathan Szabo, Sales & Product Manager for WD Travel. “We had one team meeting with all of the hotels and another team attracting travel & tour operators to our B2B booking platform. The event kept us very busy, and was very rewarding”, added Mr. Szabo who attended the event.

The 325 exhibitors at the TTM+ included established hotel brands like Accor and Centara (formerly Central) hotel groups, and also a large selection of new properties that used the event as an introduction to potential trade partners.

WD Travel CEO, Heiko Wilms was enthusiastic about the event, “Our initial results show several new properties added to our inventory. More importantly, the event gave us the opportunity to meet with many of our current hotel partners and discuss future trade, so it was a great networking opportunity as well. We will definitely be back next year with a larger presence”.

WD Travel will continue to work closely with its hotel partners in the future, and pass on the benefits to its growing number of B2B customers.

The travel mart is the largest of its kind in Thailand. TAT governor, Mrs Phornsiri Manoharn, stated in a welcoming speech that TTM+ helps to promote inbound tourism “We have set a target of 14.8 million international visitor arrivals in 2007 which will help generate estimated revenues of 547.5 billion baht (about US$ 14.5 billion)… I do believe that we will achieve our targets for this year”.

About WD Travel

WD Travel, Asia’s first true web based wholesale provider for FIT hotel bookings, supplying travel & tour operators and travel organizers worldwide, has its offices in Bangkok, Thailand. For more information, access the WD Travel website at WD Travel or visit the WD Travel about pages.

This partnership will ensure that all Sunshine Hotels & Resorts (SH&R) in Pattaya, Thailand will be actively managed in WD Travel’s inventory system, and that new properties added in the future by Sunshine will be sold through WD Travel’s B2B online booking platform called TravelWorks.

“We are extremely happy with this cooperation with the Sunshine Hotels & Resorts. Sunshine currently has five active properties in the Pattaya area and we receive frequent positive feedback about these properties from our customers based on their value and price,” said Heiko Wilms, CEO and co-founder of WD Travel. WD Travel will receive competitive rates and allocations for all Sunshine properties. Instant confirmation bookings for all Sunshine Hotels & Resorts will be available online for travel & tour operators worldwide via the TravelWorks platform at wd-travel.com.

The Group General Manager of Sunshine Hotels and Resorts Vinit Chidchanognarth was equally enthusiastic about the partnership: “We are looking forward to working with WD Travel as it is important for our growth and also because of their booking volume and efficiency. If there ever is a booking problem we can rely on our two reservation departments working together to find a solution”.

“This partnership is also a strategic decision to start promoting our newest 4 star beachfront property to be launched in November, 2007. The Ravindra Beach Resort and Spa will have 272 rooms with 5 private beach-front Pool Villas. We look forward to WD Travel’s support in launching this new property” added Mr. Chidchanognarth.

This recent partnership is a continuing initiative of WD Travel to strengthen relationships with its partners. “In order to provide our customers with the best rates and availability we must have constructive and mutually beneficial relationships with our hotel partners. The Sunshine Hotels & Resorts is a good example of the cooperation and interaction we aim to have with all of our partners.” concluded Wilms.

WD Travel will continue to work closely with its hotel partners in the future, and pass on the benefits to its growing number of customers.

For more information on the Sunshine Hotels & Resorts please visit:
www.sunshinehotelsresorts.com

About WD Travel

WD Travel, Asia’s first true web based wholesale provider for FIT hotel bookings, supplying travel & tour operators and travel organizers worldwide, has its offices in Bangkok, Thailand. For more information, access the WD Travel website at WD Travel or visit the WD Travel about pages.

A: Our clients are mostly small travel & tour operators, who are comfortable with our payment methods. They can pre-pay, secure their bookings via credit card, or adopt our convenient floating, fixed-deposit accounts. The feedback we receive from our customers is that larger, established wholesalers do not readily meet their requirements. So it appears that our focus on the small to mid-sized travel & tour operator is paying off.

Most of our travel & tour operators - recently as many as 4,000 - come from Europe. However a surprisingly high number are also based in Thailand. With over 500 direct hotel partner contracts in Thailand, this is definitely our No. 1 market. But an increasing number of direct hotel contracts in Singapore and Hong Kong, means these markets are also doing quite well.

A: I think the biggest difference is our commitment to service. To start with, our reservations team works 24/7, 365 days a year, regardless of public holidays. Being open 24/7 also allows us to serve agents across various time zones, particularly Europe.

Another aspect what sets us apart is our commitment to IT, as we truly believe in merging travel with technology. Of our over 50 employees in the WD Travel's Bangkok office, the IT team is the strongest team of all. All web-based and internal applications have been custom-built by our inhouse IT team. This includes all reservations, hotel inventory and data management systems. Public and inhouse applications must be evolutionary in design to sync with the company's growth. Third party providers would simply find it hard to meet these constantly evolving system specs.

A: The Internet has become the medium of choice, not only for travellers worldwide, but also for travel & tour operators. With the Internet being the default distribution channel more people book online than ever. Travel & tour operators must be ready to serve global site visitors around the clock. We found that a lot of customers of WD Travel understand the current challenges. I do not think it is a matter of adapt or die. Service commitment is still the name of the game. Not all businesses are volume-based and clever niche players can still ensure their survival for many years to come.

WD Travel recently started supporting the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in the Sabah region of Malaysian Borneo. Mr. Heiko Wilms, CEO of WD Travel: “We are pleased to announce that WD Travel will donate a portion of hotel bookings for Malaysia from April 1 to September 30 to the Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre. We also encourage our customers and readers to make individual donations by visiting the Centre's website”. Mr. Wilms continues: “Funds generated by WD customers are channeled via the Sepilok Orangutan Appeal UK, with official charity status in the UK and the first and only NGO to be recognized by the Malaysian Government”. Sue Sheward, the Appeal’s Chairwoman and Founder comments: “It is really encouraging to have the support of WD Travel - the funds donated will really help with our struggle to save this beautiful endangered ape from extinction".

Orangutans and their natural habitat are being threatened due to deforestation, poaching, illegal pet trading and expanding palm oil plantations. Indonesia and Malaysia were once covered in forest, but 40 years ago the wood became a valuable commodity as timber and the land were perfect for farming and overzealous agriculture, causing a rapid deterioration of the Orangutan's natural habitat. In fact, just ten years ago the estimated Orangutan population was around 27,000, today it could be as low as 15,000. The Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre in the Malaysian Sabah District of North Borneo was founded in 1964, with the purpose of rehabilitating orphan orangutans. The site is 43 sq. kilometers of protected land at the edge of Kabili Sepilok Forest Reserve. Today around 60 to 80 orangutans are living free in the reserve.

For more information on how to support the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre visit WD Travel.

About WD Travel.

WD Travel, Asia’s first true web based wholesale provider for FIT hotel bookings, supplying travel & tour operators and travel organizers worldwide, has its offices in Bangkok, Thailand. For more information, access the WD Travel website at WD Travel or visit the WD Travel about pages.