A technology start-up plans to “disrupt” the travel ancillaries market by allowing agents to choose their level of commission.
Opitech hopes to tempt travel agents with a “simple and flexible” platform, and claims it pays a larger proportion of commission than other ancillaries aggregators – at up to 85%.
The B2B platform, which is free to sign up for and use, currently offers lounge access at the UK’s 10 biggest airports; more than 200 airport hotels; on-site and off-site parking; meet and greet airport parking; cruise port parking in Dover and Southampton; and currency cards, through a partnership with WeSwap.
It plans to add to its product range with airport transfers in 20,000 destinations across 150 countries, 900 international airport lounges and car hire.
Opitech, which says its market research shows the travel ancillaries market is worth £717 million annually in the UK, allows agents to customise their dashboard and sacrifice commission if they wish to offer discounts to their customers.
“There are three reasons agents should look at Opitech,” said managing director Peter Brooks. “First, we offer agents an 85% share of the commission profit – no one else does that.
“Second, our system is free and ready to use. Other providers just send out a list of instructions, but we know not all agents are tech-savvy so we set everything up for them.
“Third, ours is the only ancillaries platform that allows you to choose what you take as commission versus what discount you give to the customer.”
Brooks added that Opitech plans to build a marketing and sales team over the course of 2020. He added: “The past year has all been about the tech and supplier deals; now, we are ready to fully go to market.”