June 20, 2006
There is no disagreement about this one fact. Travelers, travel agents, hotels and hotel groups all agree that ‘Kerala’ is one of the hottest tourist destinations both domestically and internationally. The big question is how can Kerala sustain the interest and keep the interest alive in the tourism market and continue bringing in more and more tourists. Experts suggest that one possible solution could be by developing the technology infrastructure.
As the world shrinks due to advances in Internet technology, the battle for the customers in the future marketplace can be won only by those who use technology intelligently. In such a situation, to be successful, the hospitality industry has to gear up and provide tourists – both national and international, with timely information and easy access to the holiday opportunities in Kerala.
Taking the lead in this direction are some of the leading hotels in Kerala. Hotels like The Leela, have decided to offer an online reservation system with a credit card payment facility on their hotel websites. This solution, called ResAvenue, will allow guests to log into the hotel website from anywhere in the world at any time, check the availability of rooms in seconds and make a paid reservation using a credit card. Indian customers can pay with their bank accounts.
We caught up with Mr. Vishwas Patel, the Founder-CEO of Avenues, the company that has launched ResAvenue. Here in Kerala on a business visit to offer a specialized solution for the upcoming World Malayalee Council Conference in August, here is what he had to say about the benefits of ResAvenue to hoteliers. “This facility will help enhance the popularity of Kerala as a destination because the hotel website is easily accessible from anywhere and at any time, day or night. In our experience, when a hotelier provides easy access to room inventory, relevant information which is packaged attractively on the hotel website, the chances of attracting international guest grows exponentially. Moreover, when international customers discover that they can pay for their rooms using their local currencies … this enhances their comfort levels in dealing with the hotels.”
Vishwas Patel continues, “Kerala hoteliers are also experiencing another benefit. Free GDS/IDS connectivity which significantly extends the hotel’s online distribution channels to thousand of travel agencies across the globe. ResAvenue offers connectivity with major players comprising GDS providers including Galileo, Sabre, Amadeus, and WorldSpan. This new feature is helping hoteliers maximize their revenue on both the domestic and international front. The hotel’s overall profitability has increased as they seamlessly distribute inventory globally at a fraction of the cost.”
If the hospitality industry is enthusiastic about ResAvenue then so is the banking community. Mr. Varghese Thambi, Sr. Vice President and Head of Retail Banking IndusInd Bank says, “At IndusInd, we are determined to provide our customers with excellent and convenient services. With ResAvenue, India's complete reservation engine with an in-built payment gateway for the Hospitality Industry we will be able to offer our Accounts Holders direct online hotel booking facilities through their Net Banking accounts."
Launched in 2004 by Avenues, South Asia’s largest eCommerce company, ResAvenue aims to provide advanced hotel industry transaction processing solutions and e-commerce services in a single cost-effective package. It helps Hoteliers achieve better profitability, market their hotel on the Internet more easily and allow them to focus on their core competency-delivering a superb guest experience.
Vishwas Patel says, “In today's technologically advanced environment, no hotelier can afford to ignore the explosive growth of electronic bookings. Powered by online hotel reservation software systems, the trend of direct-to-customer sale is opening up a new cost-effective sales channel for the hotel. This accelerating demand for direct access using the Internet hotel reservation system is minimizing the hotel's need to rely on travel agents and tour operators for business. ResAvenue, with its low cost cutting, advanced hotel industry transaction processing solutions and electronic commerce services helps hoteliers strengthening hotel bottom-lines by saving operating costs substantially and minimizing the cost of acquiring and retaining a customer.”
Today, hotels are extremely conscious of the fact that a hotel website is one of the ultimate channels that allows direct contact with its market and can be used to churn out revenue. Therefore, more and more hotels are choosing to adopt online systems like ResAvenue’s Hotel Reservation System that not only draws in guests but also reinforces hotel brands by centralizing reservations from internet user customers, travel agents and corporate clients through one single gateway the HOTEL’S OWN WEBSITE!
About IndusInd Bank
IndusInd Bank has become one of the fastest-growing banks in the Indian banking sector today with its branch network expanding to 137 as an increase in excess of 125% in 24 months. The Bank has approximately 150 ATMs of its own, and has concluded multilateral arrangements with other banks with a total network of 15,000 ATM outlets. As on date, the Bank has 246 outlets, including 131 branches, 9 extension counters, 26 Vehicle Finance Division and 80 offsite ATMs apart from representative offices in Dubai and London. All the outlets of the Bank, including its branches and ATMs, are connected via satellite to its central database that operates on the latest version of IBM’s AS400-720 series hardware and Midas Kapiti (now, Misys) software.
IndusInd Bank’s broad lines of business include Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, Treasury and Foreign Exchange, Investment Banking, Capital Markets, Non-Resident Indian (NRI) / High Networth Individual (HNI) Banking, and (through a subsidiary) Information Technology. For more information about IndusInd Bank, please visit www.indusind.com
About Avenues:
Avenues is a profitable, debt-free company and currently services thousands of eMerchants worldwide through its solutions www.CCAvenue.com, www.ResAvenue.com, www.EventAvenue.com, www.MembersAvenue.com, www.TrustAvenue.com, www.BpoAvenue.com. It is the largest integrated eCommerce solutions provider in South Asia. Avenues has shown revenue growth and profit growth consistently, year on year. Avenues is incorporated in India, and has offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, and USA. The Avenues support and development center is based in Mumbai, India. The total strength of the Avenues team is currently 120 personnel, spanning across all disciplines. For more information, log onto: www.Avenues.info.
