The company behind LateRooms.com is launching a holiday booking platform next month which it says is an industry first.
More than 50 senior representatives from top travel and leisure brands gathered in the heart of Manchester’s business district Spinningfields to see Wizian unveiled by the Malvern Group.
The technology developed in Manchester over the last two years allows customers to book a number of products simultaneously when planning a trip – such as hotels, excursions, travel and meals – and to benefit from subsequent deals and discounts in doing so.
The Malvern Group is the parent of company of Manchester-based LateRooms.com, Super Break holidays and Malvern Travel Technology and says the tech is an industry first.
It will be available from April in tiered-level white label packages to travel and leisure brands. Several major UK household names have already signed up, with launches planned this spring and summer.
Attendees at the exclusive launch at The Ivy Spinningfields, included senior representatives from brands such as Manchester United, Icelandair, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Manchester City, Chester Zoo, as well as a host of hotel groups and independents.
They were welcomed with a drinks reception followed by a presentation by Executive Chairman of the Malvern Group, Hugo Kimber, a leading figure in the travel industry.
Kimber said: “Malvern Travel Technology came into being because we saw that the trip planning and booking space was really under fulfilled in terms of the type of technology consumers were demanding.
“We did a lot of consumer research two years ago to validate what we thought was a good idea and fortunately for us, consumers agreed. Our new technology enables consumers to have much better choice and much better value.”
The event follows a recent YouGov poll commissioned by the Malvern Group which found that concerns over unfavourable exchange rates and Brexit have inspired UK travellers to trust in the multi-element packaging market more than ever.
Almost half of UK consumers singled out financial protection (ATOL security) and convenience as their main reasons for opting for a package trip.
The poll of over 2,000 respondents also showed that the days of standard accommodation and flights package bundles appear to be on the decline. Consumers now want a broader choice of options and experiences under one booking facility.
While two thirds of consumers still opt for the ‘classic travel bundle’ of accommodation (67%) and flights (65%), over a third (36%) of respondents expressed a demand for the convenience of bus travel (from airport, around destination and key tourist spots), closely followed by train travel (32%), 1 in 5 (19%) expressed a demand for restaurant bookings and over a quarter (27%) said they’d like museums/attractions and theatre/shows tickets.