Australian hotel beds wholesaler Excite Holidays has launched a major assault on the UK and European travel trade, expecting to win agents over with its trade-friendly approach.
Announcing its arrival in Europe with a presence at this week’s World Travel Market, Excite believes its technology and commitment to customer service will help it stand out from existing suppliers.
Founder and managing director, Nicholas Stavropoulos, said this is what it has built its reputation on in Australia and New Zealand over the past 13 years to establish itself among the top three online B2B wholesalers and to be considered as market-leading in its home markets.
“We are taking that same philosophy that won the hearts of Australian and New Zealand travel agents and duplicating that in this market. We do the right things for our clients,” he said. “Trust is a big thing. We have fought very hard in Australia to earn the trust of agents.”
As well as offering the trade 24/7 call centre support, Stavropoulos said what sets Excite apart is its in-house technology which has automated many functions and offered the efficiencies that allow it to scale on a global level.
“We are not a technology company but we realise that has fuelled our growth,” said Stavropoulos. “We work by the mantra if it does not automate, don’t do it. Automation is salvation.”
Co-founder and chief executive, George Papaioannou, said: “We have done the hard yards to earn loyalty and support from agents over the years. Our technology is ready for scalability round the world, it’s ready to tackle any market. We identified very early on that technology was key to growing our business.”
As well as a regular XML connection, Excite offers a more sophisticated JSON variation of its API. This enables travel agents to conduct more elastic searches for properties based on a wide range of search parameters.
Excite also offers agents the opportunity to earn individual rewards if they sign up personally and a tiered agency perks scheme called Club Excite in which agencies reach different levels depending on turnover.
Excite claims commission rates are high and through its AP100+ scheme agents who pre pay 100 days prior to travel earn an extra 1%.
Excite Holidays offers 250,000 properties including hotels and apartments and operates call centres in Athens and Australia and it solely a B-B supplier with no consumer facing sister site. The new UK office is being headed up by Adrian Marpole, head of sales UK and Europe.
“It’s all about happy clients, if you service that travel agent successfully they will be loyal to you. We protect the travel agent channel,” said Stavropoulos.
“We are open for business globally with dedicated customer service support. It’s been 13 years in the making and we are really excited to excited to be here at WTM.”