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Former travel agent launches free ‘one stop shop’ to the trade
A former travel agent has launched a ‘one stop shop’ and community network for the trade that can be scaled up in a ‘pay as you grow’ model.
Zikomo Solutions chief executive Chetan Patel – former director of Chadwell Travel which traded as A1 Travel - has developed the ZeKo System over the past eight years.
It includes a free bookable website and digital office, including a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and a CMS (Content Management System) system. The company has its own custom-built AI system and aims to connect agents with tourist boards, hoteliers, airlines, and ancillary providers in one community-based information network.
The ZeKo system is offering its core functionality – a website and digital back office system - for free in a deliberate move to allow agents to avoid the burden of ‘tech debt’ and enable smaller retailers to access technology to compete with larger players.
Agents can then pay to ‘scale up’ their package to take on more elements in a “pay as you grow” model.
The system is available to all types of agents, from homeworkers to established high-street agencies, as well as other travel firms such as OTAs and flight-only businesses. It can be used as a ‘bolt on’ to technology that firms already have to fill gaps or automate processes where needed.
Its services range from automated workflows, real-time analytics, and dynamic pricing to enable agents to compete with OTAs to campaign templates, supplier management, itinerary automation, automated itineraries, commission tracking and invoicing.
“Our primary focus is agents but this is not just for agents,” said Patel, who added: “My travel agent days are gone but my days of supporting agents are here. When I was at A1 I realised there was not a system out there to fit a travel agency – an agent still has to stitch it all together.”
A1 Travel was forced to close in 2017 as a result of the Monarch Travel Group collapse. The Romford based online and call centre agency and Atol holder had been licenced to carry just under 100,000 passengers a year by the Civil Aviation Authority.
Referring to the failure and his decision to find a system to help make an agent’s job easier, Patel said: “A lot of people put trust in you as an agent and [if your company collapses] you feel like you have broken their trust. I realised agents were not allowed to be agents – they have to be everything, from the person that does the marketing to knowing the regulation.
"So we needed to create something where the agent doesn’t have to think; they can just focus creating a holiday.”
Patel described the technology as an “eco-system” rather than just software in which agents can ask suppliers and tourist boards questions in a closed network.
"My whole aim was how can we deliver an eco-system to the travel trade as a whole but also empower every agent. This is about rebuilding our travel community through a collaborative network. We are providing a unified toolkit for unrestricted growth,” he said.
“We are working to get all tourist boards on board – information will be supplied by the boards into a closed network. Tourist boards might have new hotels but they are not highlighted to the key agent sellers; our system would highlight the hotels to the right people.”
The company now aims to talk to agency consortia about the new system, which officially launched on May 1.
Zikomo has also appointed Paul Riches, an experienced industry professional, on a consultancy basis, to drive new business for the digital platform.
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