South African travellers will soon have access to a seamless all-in-one travel shopping experience when Flight Centre Travel Group SA (FCTG) launches a new technology initiative across its network and websites.
The new Web-based technology will allow online customers to book a wide range of travel content on a single platform featuring the best direct rates.
“Everything from coach tours to hotel accommodation will be bookable,” says Sue Garrett, GM of marketing and product at the Flight Centre Travel Group, who is spearheading the project team.
In conjunction with FCTG UK, FCTG South Africa is the second market to roll out the new technology following the UK, says Garrett.
FCTG travel experts will be the first to benefit from the tool’s ability to deliver dynamic and static inventory, early next year, after which it will be rolled out to online travel customers through the Flight Centre website and mobile app.
“The first phase will give our travel experts a single platform to access a wide range of bookable product to offer their customers,” explains Garrett. “As they won’t have to navigate between multiple platforms to find the best rates, they’ll save valuable time, leading to increased productivity and allowing them to offer a better service to their customers.
“The second phase will be rolled out on our consumer-facing channels and will allow the South African traveller to access and book this live inventory on the Flight Centre website and app,” says Garrett. “The customer will benefit from having direct availability of the best prices from the widest choice of product with easy payment options. They’ll be able to bundle dynamic packages (airfares, accommodation, transfers and more) or book just one night’s hotel accommodation.”
A new dedicated project team has been formed to roll out the first-to-be-seen technology in South Africa.
Working on the project are: Prashanta Papia, Project Manager; Danielle Baldwin, Finance Lead; Rhine Pabale, Finance Operations; Kavita Pranjivan, Operations Lead; and Jenna Jewell, Subject-matter Expert – Backend.