"We are not here to bring about a price war or to be just like the other travel sites. What we have is travel information backed by visual aids, multimedia technology and strong editorial content, matched with relevant bookable travel products," said Michael Loh, chief executive officer, GettingHere.com at the soft launch of the portal here today.
Loh added that gettinghere.com offers 360-degree virtual tours, video streaming, indepth editorial on each destination and an extensive range of travel products, all of which help build a community of better-informed travellers.
Currently, the travel portal covers 60 major destinations in the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.
The usual items found on other travel portals are also available. These include flights, hotels, packages, car rentals, transfers and insurance.
Other items include Destination Guide which provides background information on various destinations; Gallery which contains the 360-degree virtual tours and video streaming; Reading Room with write-ups on various places; and Travel Consultant for general enquiries via e-mail.
The Web site currently caters only to the business-to-consumer (B2C) environment. Its business-to-business (B2B) offering is expected to be rolled out during the second half of the year.
"On the B2B front, we will be offering travel agents a platform called the Internet Travel Management System (ITMS) which enables their corporate clients to make travel arrangements via the Web," said Loh.
The solution, he added, will enable corporate travellers to set travel policies based on stipulated preferences and control expenses without removing existing contractual agreements between them and their travel agents.
Loh told CNET Malaysia that another channel, 11th Hour Deals, will soon be available.
This channel will allow travel merchants to open a window on the Web site for a limited period to offload "perishable" products.
"Merchants may be interested in offering a weekend package that's coming close to the end of its run, for instance, the Wednesday just before that weekend. They can do that through 11th Hour Deals."
GettingHere.com will generate its revenue from advertising fees, partner participation fees and distribution channels through co-branding with media portals.
Among its strategic partners are Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Indian Ocean Travel Organisation (IOTO), Mitra Travels and Tours Malaysia, World Express Tours Malaysia, BuzzCity Singapore and Bangkok Post.
In future, GettingHere.com plans to launch niche Web sites such as SpaAsia.com, AsianCruise.com, AsianFairways.com and DivingAsia.com.
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