KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 — Travelwalla, a homegrown subscription-based online travel booking platform and Malaysia’s first online travel partner (OTP), has garnered over RM21 million in contract value of listed properties on its website within weeks of the launch of its ‘Become a Partner’ web page.
Chief executive officer and founder Mohammed Amin Mohammed Sidek said the company is set to become the dominant travel booking platform in Malaysia.
“Our ambition is to achieve 25 per cent market share of Malaysia’s online booking platform and we believe that it can be achieved in three to four years’ time,” he said at the media briefing of the web page launch in Petaling Jaya today.
Travelwalla said it is also set to possess an inventory of over 60,000 properties on its website.
“For each successful booking, Travelwalla retains 12 per cent of the sale price, until the sum retained reaches the agreed-upon annual subscription rate.
“This first-of-its-kind model will see hotels saving up to 90 per cent on commission paid out to international online travel agents (OTA),” the company said separately in a statement.
The Travelwalla platform is the pioneer of a new travel trend where empowerment is given back to travel industry partners, instead of an over-reliance on third party commission-driven sites, all while offering a scalable travel experience for the end consumer, it added.
By integrating with large channel managers such as RateGain, a leading travel technology platform, and its DHISCO Switch platform, Travelwalla said it is able to establish direct push connectivity to large and enterprise hotel chains globally.
“Both technologies allow listed hoteliers to expand their reach and visibility online while easily managing rates, availability and reservations via artificial-intelligence-powered solutions,” the company added.
Plans are underway for additional integrations with other global channel managers to ensure the largest inventory of hotel rooms is available for users.
“Travelwalla opens doors for hoteliers and business owners to reap the benefits of a booming travel period without being drowned by high commission rates charged by large corporations, driven by both leading technology and scalability of Travelwalla’s solution,” the company said. — Bernama
