The Launch Of Expedia Corporate Travel In China – And Why Cant India Catch Up
Going into China for the first time unsure where to stay or what to wear? Call Expedia Corporate Travels incountry call center or visit their website. Sounds too good to be true. Well this is what Expedia is promising with the launch of Experdia Corporate Travel ECT in China a first foray into the burgeoning Asia Pacific Region.
Does it sound tempting? Heck yes and why not. How many times have we been stranded at crossroads unsure whether to head north or south never mind the myriad options the east and the west could offer us. How many times have we wondered why in order to answer three simple questions we have to wade through reams of information either online or in travel books. How many times have we asked a colleague who supposedly went the previous year on the same assignment only to have a pair of shoulders shrugged in our direction. How many times have we gotten in touch with hotels only to have too much information thrown back at us with the final product failing expectations. Too many and perhaps the time is right to take control over our travel programmes. Forget about being able to just access Expedias plathora of information online you can also call into ECTs incountry call center which can answer your questions in a choice of laungauges.
Expedia Corporate Travel will be a fullservice travel management company in China and will be strategically partnered with Elong Inc. Elong is the second largest online travel company in China proof enough of Expedias commitment. Companies and travelers doing business in China will have access to fully localized service and information global reporting capabilbities in addition to the incountry call center. Customers will also have direct access to their travel data so the travel nightmares will hopefully be a thing of the past. Database searches will be based on a range of product and service offerings based on specific needs words from heaven for the time crunched corporate traveler.
ECTs entry into China underscores the companys focus on balancing each new markets unique needs while maintaining a consistent high level of service. In addition to global content across the AsiaPacific region and the rest of the world the partnership with eLong will provide ECTs customers with access to over 4700 hotels in more than 330 cities across China as well as flight options to more than 70 major cities in the country.
ECT has had previous successes with similar need based models in United States Canada United Kingdom Belgium Germany Italy and Spain. The Chinese foray will now help increase its global presence in addition to being a critical initial footprint into the Asia Pacific reagion.
JeanPierre Remy president of Expedia Corporate Travel said the the entry into the AsiaPacific region was part of Expedias commitment to grow with the needs of customers. Business travel into China was an ever expanding market and a clear opportunity for Expedia to better service the needs of clients by being where they were needed.
Its exciting to partner with Expedia Corporate Travel as they enter China to meet the needs of global businesses said Guangfu Cui CEO of eLong. Our local market knowledge and relationships with regional suppliers combined with ECTs outstanding level of service designed for the corporate travel market ensures a strong corporate travel offering for companies doing business in China and beyond.
Futuristic thinking indeed which leads us to the one question. What is India doing to catch up. The Incredible India campaign has been hitting us with stateofart advertising for a long time now but how is it meeting the needs of this not so new yet still challenging market. India seems to be foundering in the wake of the third parties commitment to doing business in Asia Pacific. From being an ostrich in the sand when it came to discussing the online world a couple of years ago the Indian hotels have now decided that business from third parties may not be a bad thing indeed. But playing with them or trusting them is an altogether different deal. So Rates are given albeit reluctantly and usually 3060 higher than branded websites commissions are not paid loyalty programmes revoked and inventory just not made available.
Why? Nobody really seems to know. Its the fear of the unknown the move away from tradition a sheer reluctance to play in a fair market scenario where the current set of revenue managers are just not net savvy enough and there is this misguided panaroa of loosing control. How long will the third party play along in this ever growing region. Well at least until they decide to boycott Unfriendly hotels permanently from their databses. Would this affect a customer or Expedia. Probably not since there would still be a varied choice of hotels available in Expedia. Would the hotels close their doors to over 60 of customers who like the freedom of chocie today. Well I think the answer to that one would be a Yes.
About the writer: Zorba’s articles can be found at http://www.cafespeak.blogspot.com/ She writes about true expereinces and topics of interest would be Sailing Hotels Travel Hospitality Art and Revenue.
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