Newstrack

Raj Travels to set up online portal exclusively for hotels

Neeti Mehra - Mumbai

Mumbai-based tour operator Raj Tours & Travels is the latest entrant into the online space with a web-portal exclusively for hotels, offering live inventory of three to five star hotels across India. The portal, slated to be launched by early October this year, is close on the heels of its announcement to enter the hospitality segment with the country's tallest hotel in Ahmedabad.

Lalit Sheth, chairman and managing director, Raj Travels and Tours, explaining their move, said, "We saw a vacuum in this space, and wanted to create a niche by upgrading the existing product available in the marketplace on the strength of a technological platform. We have already signed up with more than 250 hotels in India, and eventually within a year or two, we would like to extend our reach and cover global inventory." The company is already shooting panoramic views, which will include the lobby area and the guest rooms, of the properties to load on the portal, a plus point which no portals offer.

The company has developed the software internally which connects seamlessly to the hotels' inventories, enabling travellers to confirm their reservations immediately after completing the transaction. "We are allying only with technologically advanced hotels, thus the focus on three, four and five star hotels. But the cities which we will focus on are primarily non-metro, due to their inaccessibility to most travellers," he adds.

The company will also target the B2B segment, and is looking at corporate sales being integral to its revenues. "With the advent of commission cuts and changing roles of the agent, this portal will be relevant to them as an alternate revenue source, and we are already deliberating the credit limit based on a bank guarantee or a deposit, against which they can pick up vouchers in bulk for corporate bookings," he adds.

Already in this segment are players such as Makemytrip, Yatra Online and Cleartrip, which connect to a range of travel suppliers, but Raj Travels aims to build a connect with hotels exclusively.