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Travel Daily - Middle East
Magazine Issue: May, 2010

Hotels and SMEs demand Illusions products

Dubai-based travel technology provider Illusions Online is witnessing demand for distribution technology from new customer types.

The firm, which has traditionally catered to the technology needs of large inbound and outbound tour operators globally, said it had been approached by several hotels and smaller travel firms who cannot find solutions to meet their budget and requirements.

As a result, the company, was inundated with new prospects at the recent Arabian Travel Market (4-7 May).
“We had a lot of hotels approach us asking if we could provide a system for them and when we thought about it, we realised there is no reason why we can’t do this,” Illusions Online CEO Faisal Memon told TDME in an exclusive interview.

“We provide a system for tour operators that connects them to suppliers so we can provide a system for hotels that connects to the tour operators and clients.”
He said that one of the biggest challenges facing hotels was distribution, to both the trade and consumers.
“I’m not talking about the big chains and the five stars, but the independents and the four stars etc,” said Memon.

“There isn’t much available to them at a cost-effective price. So, there is no reason why a hotelier cannot use our platform to put in their inventory and distribute it. This is an entirely new system for us, but we can fill the gap in the market.”

He said Illusions would take its “big elephant”, which was normally designed for tour operators and “scale it down for hoteliers so they can use it for reservations, yield management and distribution etc – all online”.

“We had at least 15 hotels interested in this concept at ATM alone. We are currently looking at our system and how it can be adapted,” he added.

Memon said there were also many small- and medium-sized travel companies crying out for distribution technology and automated systems and that Illusions was looking to create a concept for this market.

“We would charge a fee per month and make it really affordable for them,” he said.

Memon stressed that when it came to selling online, most travel companies “don’t have a clue” and that they should leave it to Illusions to get them up to date.

“The beauty of it is that we have been browser-based since 2000. We know the internet in and out,” he said.

“We have done the hard work and have created an enterprise system they can use. All we need to do is scale it down and make it available to the masses.”

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Magazine Issue: June, 2010