BidTravel shuts down OTA

BIDTRAVEL has shut down
operations of its online travel
agency, Webjet SA, with plans
to repurpose the technology
to cater for large corporates’
in-house loyalty schemes.
Webjet.co.za ceased trading
on April 30. The OTA was
launched by BidTravel in July
2014 and was expected
to “compete head-on” with
market leader, Travelstart,
offering SA leisure travellers
a one-stop online shop to
book flights, accommodation,
car rental, and holiday
packages.
“Bidvest was looking for
a far quicker return on their
investment than what Webjet
yielded within its first two
years of operation,” BidTravel
md, Allan Lunz, told TNW.
“The decision was then made
to terminate the initiative
rather than incur additional
costs.”
BidTravel will now offer the
technology as a white label
solution to large companies
with a high customer
base looking to introduce
a loyalty programme that
allows customers to earn
and redeem points for
travel – similar to Investec’s
loyalty programme, Investec
Rewards, which is run by
FlightSite. (Clients can
redeem points earned
by using their Investec
Visa cards for flights,
accommodation, car hire,
tailor-made cruises, rail tours
and holiday packages through
Investec’s OTA ‘Travel by
Investec’.)
“For example, if a company
was looking to introduce
a loyalty scheme, we
would provide and run the
technology for them. Travel
will be booked on the
company’s website, under
the company name, but
the booking process will
be facilitated by BidTravel
technology,” Allan says.
The idea is to move away
from consumer-facing
technology, rather operating
in the background where
BidTravel does not need
to deal with or market
to consumers directly,
he says.