Travelocity India, wholly owned subsidiary of Travelocity, a leading global OTA (Online Travel Agent) brings New Year celebrations to discerning Indian travellers by introducing ExploreKaro, a new age interactive tool to Explore the World in 2009. ExploreKaro, offers a traveller a host of exciting travel ideas with the flexibility to plan travel to suit individual preferences, convenience and budget.
ExploreKaro is unlike the current online travel booking options available in the Indian market. Instead of just offering a choice of travel and stay at a predetermined destination, ExploreKaro opens with an interactive world map and guides the ‘explorer’ through options of destinations, their rankings, activities on offer, budgets, ideal seasons to visit, and a host of travel related information. It also offers instant online bookings with dynamic packaging of all travel related services.
Reaffirming Travelocity India’s commitment to be a true customer champion, Mr. Himanshu Singh, Managing Director of Travelocity India said, “ExploreKaro is an ideal tool for Indian travellers, especially in the current economic scenario when the traveller is exceptionally keen to know the best and widest possible options for holidays in the available budget including the choice to visit a host of not-so-frequented worldwide destinations to satisfy the wanderlust.”
Speaking about the prospects of the online travel market, Himanshu Singh said, “Travelocity.co.in continues to register healthy bookings despite an overall slowdown in the travel industry. We have witnessed a rise in international bookings in the last two or three weeks. We strongly believe that the online travel space will continue to grow significantly in 2009 especially as people look for more choices and more flexibility on the budget.”
“During times of economic crisis, we normally see suppliers working more closely with OTAs as they see value in their speed to market and cost effective distribution. There also exist good opportunities in growing lines of business beyond domestic air online, and we have had good success with International flights, hotels and dynamic packaging. We have built a good foundation for our B2B business through our Branded Affiliate Programme. We expect the Indian online travel market to grow from 1.75 billion in 2007 to over $6billion by 2010 and we will ensure Travelocity India is a key player in that growth”, added Mr. Singh.
Powered by Travelocity India’s unique dynamic packaging, ExploreKaro, makes it possible for travellers to book flight tickets, hotel stays and activities at any of the destinations on offer. The interactive world map indicates the desired destination and provides details such as: best time for travel, images and interesting trivia about the destination. Over 500 international and domestic airlines, more than 50,000 hotels, scores of activities and complete flexibility make ExploreKaro an irresistible travel tool for those bitten by the travel bug.
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ExploreKaro features some of the most widely searched categories of well know and not-so-well-known travel destinations. Top Ancient History Lessons includes destinations such as Greece, Israel/Lebenon, Kambodia, Rome, Turkey, Egypt, Madhya Pradesh/India, Chiang Mai, Beijing and Prague. Once in a Lifetime Festivals feature Oktoberfest (Munich, Germany), Burning Man (Nevada), Love Parade (Berlin), Carnivale (Rio De Geneiro), La Tomatina (Bunol, Valencia, Spain), Full Moon Party (Thailand), Australia Day (Sydney, Australia), Queen’s Day (Amsterdam, Holland), International Jazz Festival (Montreal, Canada) and Mardi Gras (New Orleans).
Those looking for some time alone with their partners, newly wed or not, can consult ExploreKaro’s Top Romance/Honeymoon Getaways that lists Halong Bay (Vietnam), Paris (France), Venice (Italy), Dubrovnic (Croatia), Provence (France), Milford Sound (New Zealand), Faafu (Maldives), Santorini (Greece), Kyoto/Fuji Lake Districts (Japan) and our very own Udaipur as the most favourite destinations.
Some of the other categories on ExploreKaro include Best Beach Destinations in the World, Best Christmas/New Year Breaks, Top 10 Shopping Destinations, Top Family (With Children) Getaways, Top Bargain Holidays, Best Spas In India and Rainbow Getaways.
Aimed at the youthful (as opposed to just the young), adventurous travellers, ExploreKaro is a truly interactive section that also engages the users by providing them a platform to showcase their travel exploits. Travellers can upload their most interesting photographs on the website and win exciting prizes if their photographs get the maximum votes. ExploreKaro also invites and allows travellers to post their comments on their experiences and share their views with other visitors.
“Travelocity India is committed to being the traveller's champion -- before, during and after the trip. We follow the same customer-driven focus, competitive prices and powerful shopping technology that have made Travelocity, one of the largest travel companies in the world with gross bookings of more than U.S. $10 billion in 2007”, said Mr Singh.
To check out some of the most interesting holiday destinations, log onto www.explorekaro.com
About Travelocity and Travelocity India
Travelocity® is one of the largest travel companies in the world with gross bookings of more than U.S. $10 billion in 2007. Travelocity operates multiple businesses tailored to customers domestically in the United States of America and international sites catering to local travellers around the globe. Travelocity owns and operates: Travelocity Business® for corporate travel; igougo.com, a leading online travel community; lastminute.com, a leader in European online travel; and ZUJI, a leader in Asia-Pacific online travel. Travelocity is owned by Sabre Holdings Corporation, a world leader in travel marketing and distribution.
As a champion for customers, Travelocity India offers Indian travellers an exceptional travel planning and shopping experience online, great value and choices, safe and secure booking and buying online. Travelocity India was created in 2007 (www.travelocity.co.in) and offers a full suite of online travel choices, giving consumers control over their travel planning, and the convenience of online bookings and payment.