"We are working with TravelgateX to develop a multi-vendor API to immediately compete with the range of hotels and prices offered by more established companies. Our platform has already been built to allow us to connect multiple APIs in a simple and fast process and now having the TravelgateX API makes it even easier to work with a wider variety of providers," Tom says.
Has the crisis motivated AllInclusive to make internal or external changes?
Alihoco is a new start-up OTA that sees the post Covid-19 world as an opportunity for a new travel business. Covid-19 has caused untold stress for many people and travel companies have struggled to manage and pay refunds in this difficult time. As a result, we feel that thousands of people will now be in the market for a new travel agent and, as a result, we have the opportunity to position ourselves as an attractive alternative.
What is your growth strategy post-COVID-19 and how is TravelgateX going to help you?
We are working TravelgateX to allow us to easily develop one API from multiple suppliers so that we are immediately able to compete with the range of hotels and prices that are offered by more established companies. Our platform has already been built to allow us to attach multiple APIs in a simple and quick process and now having the TravelgateX API makes it even easier to work with a wider variety of suppliers
How did you come to work with TravelgateX?
We discovered TravelgateX through extensive online research and having read the website, had an informative zoom meeting. We then had a play with the test credentials and were convinced that the solution that they offer is not only great value but also easy to implement.
With regard to partners in our platform, what destinations are interesting for AllInclusive?
We focus on hotels which offer All-Inclusive board type and therefore we work with hotels in beach locations. Our primary destinations with be The Canaries, The Balearics, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, however we also expect to do a lot of winter sun business in the Caribbean, Mexico, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
In your personal point of view, what would you say has been the biggest lesson learned from this crisis?
You must manage your cash flow. Nobody expected to have their income reduce to virtually zero and to have to refund their clients all at the same time. This has meant that 12 months worth of profit has been lost and will be catastrophic for many travel companies. Therefore it is imperative that clients monies are treated with respect and held in trust until time of travel.
What do you think are some of the biggest opportunities that may come from this time for your sector? For the travel industry?
The travel market is now wide open with a huge percentage of customers looking for a new supplier. For us there is now no other UK company that specialises in only All-Inclusive Holidays and Hotels and so we feel that we have an opportunity to take some market share of the niche which is worth over £7b a year.
What is a crazy or out-of-the-box product or technology that you would personally like to see attempted for the travel industry?
I would like to see the ability to refine hotel search be much improved. Standard facilities filters are often inaccurate and lacking detail. We have a domain called yourperfecthotel and we'd one day like to find a solution that delivers highly accurate search results for detailed search queries.
