Following news that Visit Wales is to withdraw all online accommodation booking service from its tourist websites in January 2008 for an undisclosed period, Discover Global Bookings is stepping into the breach and reaching out to Welsh hospitality providers to make good the holiday bookings shortfall that the cessation of the Visit Wales facilities will cause.
Visit Wales is withdrawing online booking services across all visitwales.com websites whilst concerns about the organization’s compliance with EC competition law are resolved.
However, worried Welsh hospitality providers need not suffer reduced forward bookings and room occupancy rates as January sees the launch of a unique and powerful online accommodation booking system from Discover Global Bookings, a newly created division of leading UK holiday provider, Discover Travel & Tours.
Aimed squarely at the independent hospitality trade sector, Discover Global Bookings enables accommodation providers to take fully automated, instantaneous room bookings online from 500,000 worldwide travel agents as well as directly from many more millions of holidaymakers looking to take a break in Wales.
Besides enabling owners of guesthouses, inns, B&Bs, self-catering properties and hotels to promote and take room bookings from 5,000 websites and via all of the major global distribution systems used by the international travel trade, the Discover Global Bookings offer includes provision of an individually tailored and attractive bookings-led property website for each hospitality provider purchasing the package.
The user-friendly Discover Global Bookings platform requires no specific IT knowledge and allows accommodation providers to manage all room pricing and availability options at the click of a few buttons. Travel agents and holidaymakers from around the world can see the same information a few seconds later before booking online.
Andrew Grieve, Managing Director of Worcester based Discover Travel & Tours, explained: “We understand that many Welsh hospitality businesses have gained valuable UK and overseas trade from the online booking facilities offered by the Visit Wales websites. However, the launch of Discover Global Bookings means that Welsh accommodation providers need not lose out in the wider marketplace at all as Visit Wales reviews its online practices.
“Discover Global Bookings offers a comprehensive and value-led solution by hooking Welsh accommodation providers into global online booking systems that they aren’t normally able to reach on their own.
“The beauty of the system is its simplicity. Once it’s installed in a property, that’s it. Apart from the proprietor setting room prices and availabilities, the entire booking process is automated. Room occupancy and business turnover are all increased with almost no extra effort required.”