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LateRooms and Super Break parent unveils new booking technology
Malvern Group, the parent of LateRooms and Super Break, has launched new technology that it claims will transform the booking experience.
Called Wizian, it allows customers to book a number of products, including hotel, excursions, travel, theatre tickets and meals, all in one place.
The technology, which took two years to develop, will be available from April in tiered-level white label packages to travel and leisure brands.
Malvern said several major UK household names have already signed up ready for spring and summer launches, but it refused to disclose names.
Chairman Hugo Kimber said: "Malvern Travel Technology came into being because we saw that the trip planning and booking space was really under fulfilled in terms of the type of technology consumers were demanding. We did a lot of consumer research two years ago to validate what we thought was a good idea and fortunately for us, consumers agreed."
A YouGov poll of 2,000 Brits in January, commissioned by the Malvern Group, found that concerns over Brexit and a weak pound mean UK travellers are more trusting in the multi-element packaging market more than ever.
Almost half (47%) of UK consumers singled out financial protection (ATOL security) and convenience (47%) as their main reasons for opting for a package trip.
It found that while two thirds of consumers still opt for the ‘classic travel bundle’ of accommodation (67%) and flights (65%), over a third (36%) of respondents expressed a demand for the convenience of bus travel (from the airport, around destination and key tourist spots), abd closely followed by train travel (32%).
One in 5 (19%) expressed a demand for restaurant bookings and 27% said they’d like to be able to book museums/attractions and theatre/shows tickets.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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