Apart from Travelocity, Zuji's financial backers include All Nippon Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, China Airlines, EVA Airways, Garuda Indonesia, Hong Kong Dragon Airlines, Japan Air System, Japan Airlines, Malaysian Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Qantas Airways, Royal Brunei Airlines, SilkAir, Singapore Airlines and United Airlines.
Zuji, which means footprint in Chinese, will start with Web sites in Singapore and Australia.
In the cooking pot since June 2000, Zuji had to push back plans for an early 2002 launch due to the events of September 11. The 40-man firm even had to lay off 15 workers last November.
But company officials say the market is improving and that Zuji has bright prospects.
"We're here for the long-term, and we have the funding to do that," said Zuji commercial director Martin Symes, in an interview. He revealed that new sites for consumers in Hong Kong, Taiwan, New Zealand, Malaysia and Brunei are in the pipeline this year.
Zuji will also embark on an aggressive marketing campaign in Asia-Pacific beginning next year, said Symes. The firm has a marketing budget of US$50 million to last it through to profitability in 2006, he claimed.
Symes was coy about transaction targets but expressed confidence in registering 500,000 users across Asia-Pacific by year end.
And Zuji's attraction? Giving customers access to the inventory of over 700 airlines, 56,000 hotels and 50 car rental companies worldwide. The extensive databases were provided by air tickets reservation systems specialists Abacus and Sabre. Sabre owns 96 percent of Travelocity.
Powered by Travelocity, Zuji lets customers plan their itinerary to include multiple carriers of choice and free stop-overs, as well as receive e-mail notification for bargain airfares.
However, Zuji does not directly address price-conscious buyers in the way Priceline does. On its competitive advantage, Symes said: "Customers who buy from us know the carriers and the hotels they are getting. We have complete transparency."
Although Priceline guarantees savings of up to 30 percent on prevailing rates, its name-your-own-price online travel service does not identify the airline and hotel until a purchase is made. It's this opaque model that couldn't entice Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways to offer tickets on Priceline.
"Cathay Pacific prides itself on its brand, which is its main selling tool," Tim Fitzsimmons, the airline's general manager of e-business & regions, told CNETAsia. "Customers tell us that they want to buy our brand."
Singapore Airlines Senior Vice President of marketing Tan Chik Quee concured, saying: "Priceline's proposition does not make sense to us at the moment, and its business model is not proven."
In Asia, Priceline operates as a joint venture with Hong Kong conglomerates Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong (Holdings). It currently has reverse-auction sites in Hong Kong and Singapore.
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