ZUJI focuses on India opportunity

ZUJI, voted the best online travel agent in Asia Pacific in 2005 and part of global online travel leader Travelocity’s international network, announced today that it will establish a specialist online travel team in India, with a view to launching a ‘Travelocity India’ site later this year. The team will be based in Mumbai and will be supported by ZUJI’s regional headquarters team in Singapore.

The Travelocity India site will be built upon the existing, tried and tested technology foundations of current ZUJI online travel sites operating across the Asia Pacific region, including ZUJI sites in Singapore (www.zuji.com.sg), Australia (www.zuji.com.au) and Hong Kong (www.zuji.com.hk).

ZUJI has invested significant time, effort and money in customising Travelocity technology to ensure it meets the unique needs of travellers in each of the countries in which it operates. ZUJI’s experience in the online travel sector extends beyond creating the sites to also include online marketing, supplier relations and online merchandising expertise.

The combination of ZUJI’s experience and expertise in starting and growing online travel businesses, supported by in-country teams with local knowledge, has been key to establishing its many successful online travel sites. It is a unique and powerful proposition which ZUJI expects to employ in India.

In preparation for launch, ZUJI will also be ramping up its hotel contracting team and efforts in India. Indian hotels which choose to make their rooms available on the site will also gain immediate access to an audience of global travellers via Travelocity’s’ network of online travel sites across Asia, the US and Europe.

This focus on Indian hotels comes in clear recognition of India’s growing status as an attractive international travel destination, and acknowledgement that local talent and presence is the key to building strong supplier relationships in India.

Singapore-based ZUJI Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Scott Blume expanded upon ZUJI’s vision for India: “The future of travel bookings in India is online. Just as we have seen the trend towards online travel bookings grow rapidly in the US, Australia, and now in parts of Asia, we absolutely believe that the global trend to book travel online has begun to ‘find its feet’ in India.

We believe our decision to create a substantial, international online business in India will be a catalyst for change to the online travel business scene here. It’s a decision we’ve made after much research, but ultimately because of our confidence in the Indian economy and the foundation of a robust domestic travel market, the rapid growth of the outbound and inbound sectors, the growing trend towards e-purchasing in general, and the pool of talented people here. Travelocity-India’s launch later this year will literally connect Indian travellers to the world, and a world of travellers to India.”

Travelocity (www.travelocity.com) led the way in developing the online travel business in the USA, and ZUJI (www.zuji.com), owned by Travelocity, is a leader and innovator in online travel in the Asia Pacific region. ZUJI, harnessing Travelocity technology, already powers six customized online travel sites in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand and Korea, as well as partner online travel sites in the Asia Pacific region.

Travelocity’s gross travel bookings were US$7.4 billion for the full year 2005, translating to US$830 million of full year revenue for Travelocity for the full year 2005.

Interested candidates in working for ZUJI as part of the Travelocity India team should email their details t [email protected] For further information or photographs, kindly contact:

At ZUJI

Kim Stockham, Director of Corporate Affairs, ZUJI

Tel: 61 409 580644 / email: [email protected]