By Sade Williams/Business a.m.
Travellers tapping into digital online bookings for their travel bookings are being offered an expansive bouquet of services by African Tourism Corporate Travel (ATCT) which has just launched Eazi Travel, an online travel agency (OTA) which it is promising would revolutionise online travel bookings as it offers travellers more services than the traditional ones.
Travel packages unveiled as offerings that will go along with the usual travel bookings as it birthed the agency include medical travel, cargo and payment plan services, among others.
Claud Batohi, director of Eazi Travels, said ATCT is excited to launch this unique one of a kind OTA designed for its dynamic travel market .
“Most OTAs focus on traditional travel services, Eazi Travels went beyond that. While you can still book, pay and compare airline, hotel and ground transfer content, we also found a way to bring offline travel products online to ensure Eazi Travels is able to cater to all travel needs,” said Batohi.
He explained that travellers looking for support for medical travel have themselves covered by Eazi care, adding that those looking for cargo support will find it Eazi with Eazi cargo, and that those in need of a payment plan, Eazi Pay has a plan for that too.
Batohi further stated that for visa and travel information, Eazi Travels has potential travellers covered all in one place, making it Eazi for travellers!
“We are excited to launch this unique, dynamic OTL within this market. We have done something no other OTL has done currently.
“We have brought a whole lot, all kinds of offline services online. From Eazi cargo to Eazi care, Eazi pay. We have got a solution to every customer doing everything within the travel industry. We are dynamic, unique and we are ready for the Nigerian market. Our technology speaks for itself. We are working with Sabre to power the system. It is a dynamic company with content that there is none other in the industry. We are ready to do business and serve Nigeria,” he added.
Also speaking, John Adebanjo, chairman, ATCT Group, said the company is associating with the global brands to offer various travel solutions.
“We are associating with the global brand, Golden Treasure. We are also associating with Tourvest. They have a massive inventory. Not just that, Expedia has been knocking on our door, knowing fully well who we are and what we are capable of achieving. That is why we are well positioned. We started early so we are just starting to wrap it up.
“The Destination is still far. We haven’t gone there yet. It is the way you enjoy what you do and if your focus is based on providing solutions, we sit down. We re-engineer the travel industry, that is exactly what we are doing. We are doing something that has been put in place but in a better format; that is why we are here. It is not just for us to benefit from it, it is the travellers that will surely benefit from it,” Adebanjo said.
On the ‘travel now and pay later’ plan, he said; “Travel now and pay later means that we should be able to trust each other. It is the element of trust. If you go abroad you will see; why do people buy homes, buy cars without having the money. If they can do it and pay after, we can replicate the same thing here.
“All Nigerians are not defrauders or scammers. There are some Nigerians that are working hard but they can’t afford to buy a ticket. One million naira ticket, how much is their salary? Maybe 300k. Why don’t we put something in place that will enable them to fulfil their dreams and for us to be able to do that we have got banks that are ready to support us. So it is good for them to afford things easily. We are trying to build that trust. If we trust you, we will give you a ticket. The trust that you will pay us back that is what we are doing.”
Adebanjo, who is of the opinion that demand for air travel is still very high, said: “I just got back from South Africa just some hours ago and I can tell you that it was a full flight. Six days ago, I was coming from the UK. I will tell you that no empty seats on that flight, people are buying. All we need to do is ensure we speak to the government to give these airlines the money they owe them. If we do that, you will be amazed that Emirates will put back their two flights. Nigerians are ready to fly. We are just making things difficult for ourselves. What I will appeal to the government is to pay them so that we can assist the travel industry.”
