Illusions wins the Oscar of the Travel Industry, yet again! May, 2010
Illusions Online won the prestigious award of the Middle East’s Leading Travel Technology Provider at the annual 2010 World Travel Awards Middle East ceremony, held on 4th May in Dubai.
The World Travel Awards is the most comprehensive and sought after awards program in the global travel and tourism industry. Established to acknowledge and celebrate excellence, World Travel Awards is recognized as the hallmark of excellence, with the winners setting the benchmark to which all others aspire. Leading airlines, hotel operators, hotel developers, tourism boards, travel media, destination marketing campaigns, MICE businesses and several other companies that make a difference in the quality of travel and tourism are distinguished.
Faisal Memon, CEO of Illusions, commented “Winning this prestigious award again for the second year in a row is further recognition of Illusions commitment to the travel industry and highlights our ongoing investment in this dynamic field. The work of the entire team at Illusions and the continuous faith that our customers put in our technology to power their entire business - has been instrumental in us receiving the awards, so my thanks go out to them as this accolade really belongs to the Illusions team and its users.”
Illusions is a global travel technology company providing online enterprise travel software solutions for Tour Operators and Destination Management Companies. In less than a decade, Illusions has created the reputation of being the world’s finest travel technology provider and is proud to be partners with the strongest industry players across 5 continents.
“Challenging times continue in the travel industry; however companies, that have made a commitment to the long term, will continue to invest in technology and companies like Illusions, which provide complete automation for their business coupled with strong and robust Internet booking engines, ensure that when the industry rebounds, these companies will be ready on our platform, to capitalize on the investment that we have made together.”, continued Faisal Memon.
Illusions was also awarded the World’s Leading Travel Technology Provider in 2009 and has been nominated for the same category in 2010 too.
The Middle East Ceremony, hosted at The Address Dubai Marina Hotel, kicks off the World Travel Awards Grand Tour 2010, with seven events across seven continents including South Africa (Africa Ceremony); India (Asia, Australasia & Indian Ocean Ceremony); USA (North & Central America Ceremony); Brazil (South America Ceremony); Turkey (Europe Ceremony); culminating with the Grand Final in Great Britain.
We have been nominated once again as the Middle East’s Leading Travel Technology Provider at the 17th annual World Travel Awards 2009, to be held on 3rd May at The Address Dubai Marina, Dubai.
The World Travel Awards is the most prestigious, comprehensive and sought after awards program in the global travel and tourism industry. Established to acknowledge and celebrate excellence in all sectors of the industry.
Dubai-based solutions firm creates unique identity for Aussie inbound specialist.
Illusions Online has signed a
deal with Australian inbound
tour operator Lawand Tourism,
which will see the Dubai based
technology specialist
provide the travel firm with
a complete seamless front and
back-office system.
The booking engine Illusions
has created for Lawand,
an operator that has its own
permanent regional marketing
and support office in
Dubai and a marketing liaison
office in Riyadh, has
its own “unique identity”
according to Illusions Online
CEO Faisal Memon.
“There are so many DMCs using Illusions that we need
to make sure that each solution
we provide is different,”
he explained. “What we
have done is create a unique
identity [for Lawand] in
terms of the colours,
the themes and the
brand. We have done
something similar
for [UAE DMC)
SNTTA.” Memon
continued: “We
are taking the
systems of
these operators
to the next level
with XML.”
He explained
that this involved
seamlessly linking DMCs to their clients so that
all booking systems were in
sync through interfacing.
Lawand Tourism’s solution,
he added, also included
crucial elements such as
product management and
pricing, in addition to the
booking tools.
“They have also gone for
B2C, as well as B2B solutions,”
Memon said.
The roll out of the Illusions
system will be completed
in phases, starting with the
back office system to include
product loading that is based
in Bangalore, India.
Once up-and-running, it
will be pitched to individual
agents within the Gulf who wish to interface their booking
systems with Lawand.
In other Illusions news, the
firm won the coveted World’s
Leading Travel Technology
Provider accolade at the
World Travel Awards in London
on November 8.
Memon said he wasn’t
surprised to win the award,
which is usually given to one
of the four GDS providers.
“The GDS aren’t doing anything
new at the moment and
there is no one else,” he said.
The firm has also revealed
that Al Rais Travel has finally
gone live with its GTA interface
so all of the wholesaler’s
inventory is now available to
Al Rais travel consultants.
Cloud computing – using internet-based applications, rather than investing in software that is hosted on your local PC - is the way forward for travel agents, according to Faisal Memon, CEO of Dubai-based Travel Technology provider Illusions Online.
“Cloud computing means applications, hardware and software traditionally used by travel agents can be avoided, so all the work is done over the internet and agents pay only for resources that they use,” said Memon.
“Cloud computing is not a new idea in the global sense, but it is not as widely recognised in some sectors of the developing travel industry regionally.”
It can be as simple as using web-based email or calendaring systems, but can also include more complex CRM and bookings software.
Memon said cloud computing was particularly useful for the travel industry, because of its security features and automatic online updates, which can cut down on the expense of upgrading systems.
“Travel technology, because it works on a pay-as-you-book basis, can work out cheaper for companies during the financial crisis; it will be perceived as the way forward and this is something that we are closely observing nowadays,” he said.
Illusions proves to be the best London, UK, 8th November, 2009
From Left : Tamara Beckwith (Host, WTA 2009), Bobby Davro (Host, WTA 2009), Faisal Memon (CEO, Illusions Online), Tansey Coetzee (Miss South Africa 2008)
From Left : John Flower (Business Development Manager, Illusions Online), Maheen Mohamed (Business Development Manager, Illusions Online), Faisal Memon (CEO, Illusions Online), Julia Makarova (Marketing Manager, Illusions Online), Mini Nimkar (Business Development Manager, Illusions Online)
From Left : Kseniya Sukhinova (Miss World 2008), Faisal Memon (CEO, Illusions Online), Graham Cooke (President & Founder, World Travel Awards)
Once again Illusions Online has proven to be the best; this time winning the coveted World Travel Award for being the Worlds Leading Travel Technology Provider at the 2009 Grand Ceremony held in the prestigious Grosvenor House, JW Marriott Hotel in London.
The World Travel Awards are recognized as the hallmark of excellence, with the winners setting the benchmark to which all others aspire. Leading airlines, hotel operators and developers, tourism boards, travel media, destination marketing companies, MICE businesses as well as many other specialty companies that strive to make a difference in the quality of travel and tourism attended this exciting event which celebrated the best of the best in the industry.
Faisal Memon, CEO of Illusions, commented “This award is a culmination of more than a decade of commitment to our product and customers, but what's more important to remember is that this means that we have a huge responsibility to continue to deliver on our promises of providing the ultimate product for our clients along with only the best service to our users globally”
Illusions is a global travel technology company providing online enterprise travel solutions for Tour Operators and Destination Management Companies. In less than a decade, Illusions has created the reputation of being one of the world’s finest travel technology provider and is proud to partner with the strongest industry players across 5 continents.
“2009 has been a very challenging year for the travel industry, but technology improvement or investment should be an important consideration for businesses looking to the future. Technology represents the opportunity to achieve more efficiency in their operations and allows them to improve revenues without affecting their HR or distribution costs. Illusions continue to be a choice for such businesses and this award reiterates our commitment to these travel companies”, continued Faisal Memon.
Illusions Online - set to take over the world? Dubai, UAE, 29 September, 2009
The hard-working team at Illusions Online are proud to have been nominated once again for their continuous dedication – this time as the World’s Leading Travel Technology Provider at the 16th annual World Travel Awards 2009, to be held in London on November 8th. Illusions and their fellow nominees will go head-to-head in the Travel Technology Gala Ceremony, just one in a line up of exciting World Travel based events in the UK’s capital.
On May 5th 2009, Illusions Online won the equally prestigious award, the Middle East’s Leading Travel Technology Provider at the annual World Travel Awards Middle East ceremony, held in Dubai.
The World Travel Awards are regarded as the most prestigious and sought after in the global travel and tourism industry, and to be voted to receive and award in a process involving 167,000 industry peers across the globe remains as one of the highest accolades a company can receive.
As you can imagine, the busy team at Illusions Online are already being viewed as winners for achieving the nomination.
Faisal Memon, CEO of Illusions, commented “We are delighted to be nominated and hope that our efforts are rewarded once again, especially after receiving our first award in May. Throughout the last decade, Illusions Online has worked hard for its reputation as the world’s finest travel technology provider and we’ve always had the foresight to deliver efficient, flexible technology that adapts to the ever-changing travel market place. This nomination underscores our commitment and dedication to the task at hand, which is to help more businesses become more efficient and successful, and for us to remain the world’s leading travel technology provider. We hope to win in London and to continue to be recognised well into the future."
SNTTA seeks competitive edge with Illusions Dubai, UAE, 1 September 2009
UAE Market Leader in providing Travel Services boosts yet another business.
Illusions Online, pioneer of the world’s first browser-based tour operator system, has been selected by SNTTA (Sharjah National Travel and Tourist Agency) Emir Tours to facilitate its Business Processes in November last year, goes live.
Illusions award-winning browser-based solution offers a complete product management, pricing and reservations system, Internet booking engine, powerful XML/Web service, integration capabilities with partners and suppliers, and reporting and business intelligence framework.
Says Illusions Online CEO Faisal Memon: “Illusions Online is actually nurturing the customer database, providing vital project management and ongoing support.”
Vijay Raman, Senior Manager of Finance & Administration and Project Manager at SNTTA Emir Tours says:
“The back bone of FIT business segment is contracting allocation management and tariff. Amongst the softwares we had evaluated, Illusions scored the highest in all these modules.”
Raman has seen great improvements in the efficiency of reservations agents: “We can capture more rules as part of the contracting and product management, so it’s a breeze for the team to enter bookings… Faisal Memon the CEO of IOL, we believe, has the potential and seriousness to take his company forward”
He also adds: “We believe that we have found the right software and vendor who have the potential to be in step with the growing needs of our company and this industry.”
Sharjah based SNTTA Emir Tours has chosen Dubai based IT solutions provider, Illusions, to build a system that it believes will run its FIT business most efficiently. "All our partners have been asking for this system and the same must be true of our competitors - so it definitely gives us an edge," said SNTTA senior general manager David Milican.
"It is also very user friendly, which helps us to encourage new partners to consider adopting the system."
Milican added the technology would give SNTTA "total flexibility in revising and implementing business decisions quickly."
"This will provide the cutting edge, even in volatile markets," he said.
The system will allow users to give immediate answers to clients as it works in real time offering instant rates and confirmation. It will also ensure maximisation of the available room allocation.
The backbone of the FIT business segment is contracting, inventory management and tariff fixing. The new technology has very robust modules for managing all these areas." Milican added.
A travel professional looking for use the system can first visit a test site to learn how it system works.
They are given a login and password allowing them full access to book hotels, transfers and excursions. The system automatically generates invoices, client itineraries and vouchers.
"Technology (such as this) is the future of the travel industry globally,” said Milican. "In these very difficult times, effective use of technology can only help companies optimise services, increase efficiency and there by increase revenues."
With such speedy expansion and the drive to keep winning those awards, comes a hardworking, dedicated team, storming ahead in the quest to stay ahead of the game. Meet the new recruits who are helping make Illusions Online a reality…
Lisa Shortland
If anyone has a greater passion for travel technology, we haven’t found her yet. Lisa started her career in the travel industry over 18 years ago as a reservations agent for one of Australia's largest wholesalers, Qantas Holidays, and quickly realized where her future lay.
After 7 years in wholesale reservations and operations, Lisa was instrumental in delivering one of the first online B2B booking engines in Australia. With 11 years at Qantas Holidays to her name, she continued up the travel ladder with project roles at Australian airline consolidator, Concorde International and the Belgian Software provider, ICSAT.
In 2003, Lisa joined Flight Centre International and implemented the Travellusions product for the wholesale division, Infinity Holidays, becoming an expert on giving each business maximum return on investment. She comes to Illusions having managed several other large-scale projects at Flight Centre.
Lisa moved to Dubai in 2008 and continues to scratch her itchy feet by working and traveling abroad, and keeping up with every happening in the world of travel technology.
John Flower
As experienced as John is on the front line, he’s also honed plenty of skills in the back office, having fuelled his love of globe-trotting as a retail travel consultant in the suburbs of Melbourne Australia. A family man at heart, John lives in Dubai with his wife and two daughters, who happen to be the only people who let him sing in front of them. John confesses: “I might have been born a Welsh man, but I can’t sing a note!”
Now Business Development Manager for Illusions Online, John brings essential hands-on experience to the company, thanks to a base in the world of wholesaling, as a destination specialist and in the area of business development with tour companies, including the prestigious Emirates airlines.
His first love is product management and John is ever active in his mission to gain a foothold in the industry, utilizing the amazing advances in travel technology available today. When he’s not trekking, flicking through the pages of his beloved history books and acting as a true asset to Illusions, John remains hard at work on his singing voice…
Maheen Mohamed
Maheen flew in from Bombay and first set foot in Dubai in 1979. Needless to say, she’s seen more than a few changes in her time. Varied work included time at both a construction and a shipping company, before she planted roots at Emirates in 1986 as Sales Co-coordinator for DNATA. A stint at Emirates Holidays quickly saw Maheen become the Tours Sales Manager UAE for the Destination & Leisure Management Division.
In 2002, Maheen was instrumental in setting up the Groups, Promotions & Incentives Division, which saw her life become a jet-setting frenzy. In managing all aspects of group corporate/business travel requirements for an exhaustive list of clients, no destination in the Emirates network was left untouched! In demonstrating the most exciting programs for eager clients, Maheen’s work was never done – they always came back for more.
After a 9 month (well deserved) break, Maheen joined Illusions as our highly valued and ever-smiling Business Development Manager. When she’s not in our office, she’s cooking, which she finds hugely therapeutic, delving into puzzles and hanging with her husband and two children.
Mini Nimkar
Mini by name, huge job responsibilities by nature! With over 28 years of leadership and experience in operations, Mini joined Illusions in May 2008 as Training Manager, and is now responsible for business development in the GCC, the Indian Subcontinent, the Indian Ocean and Africa. Phew. Luckily, she still has time for her dog, Bandit, who’s the main joy in her life here in Dubai.
Mini’s diverse background includes a wealth of experience in Tour operations, HR, Administration and educational institutions. She has a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting and Tourism from the University of Bombay, so comes to Illusions well accustomed to life in another culture and the demands of the global travel industry.
When Mimi’s not hard at work at the wheel of Illusions, she can often be found snuggling up with a book, or busying herself with her vast collection of coins and jewelry
ATN Interview with John Flower Dubai, UAE, 22 June 2009
New Illusions business development manager John Flower explains why he believes an investment in technology will be the catalyst for a more professional travel trade
ATN: What is your travel trade background?
I’ve been in the industry 17 years. I started my career in 1993 with STA Travel in Australia. I moved to Dubai four years ago and have worked with Emirates, Dnata and Alpha Holidays.
ATN: What are your responsibilities in your new role?
Increasing the distribution and awareness of Illusions technical solutions and concentrating on getting them out into the marketplace.
ATN: How do you intend to do this?
We’ve territorialised the globe and we’re trying to get products out to DMCs and wholesalers around the world through trade fairs, direct marketing and utilising my existing contacts.
ATN: Are agencies in this region open to change?
I think a lot of agencies are starting to realise if they don’t invest in technology they’ll be left behind and there’s a huge push at the moment within a number of agencies. They’re reviewing their technology and it’s quite surprising to see that some of the larger travel agencies don’t have up-to-date solutions.
ATN: What are the challenges involved?
The biggest challenge is getting out there and becoming familiar with the expectations of the industry.
ATN: Is now the right time for agents to invest?
This is a time when companies are looking at business and realising they have to make changes to make money. If that involves adopting new technology, then so be it. I think this is the perfect opportunity to invest. Technology won’t make staff work harder; it’ll make them work smarter.
ATN: Does more technology mean less staff?
Maybe in the long run, but the reality is not to cut staff but to grow distribution, allowing you to employ people more readily. If the agent is able to spend less time processing they can improve their product knowledge.
I believe Technology is the catalyst for a more professional trade.
ATN: What if the regional industry fails to adopt the new technology?
There’s a lot of potential here, but the industry needs to move quicker towards technological advancement, there is no doubt about it. The rest of the world is steaming ahead.
Illusions wins the Oscar of the Travel Industry Dubai, UAE, 5 May 2009
Illusions Online won the prestigious award of the Middle East’s Leading Travel Technology Provider at the annual 2009 World Travel Awards Middle East ceremony, held on 5th May in Dubai.
The World Travel Awards is the most comprehensive and sought after awards program in the global travel and tourism industry. Established to acknowledge and celebrate excellence, World Travel Awards is recognized as the hallmark of excellence, with the winners setting the benchmark to which all others aspire. Leading airlines, hotel operators, hotel developers, tourism boards, travel media, destination marketing campaigns, MICE businesses and several other companies that make a difference in the quality of travel and tourism are distinguished.
Faisal Memon, CEO of Illusions, commented “We are delighted that Illusions has been recognized as the leading travel technology provider in the Middle East. This award underscores our commitment to our customers and our continued investment in our technology to enable them to run their businesses more efficiently. I would like to thank the entire team at Illusions for their dedicated work and commitment over all these years. This trophy truly belongs to them”.
Illusions is a global travel technology company providing online enterprise travel solutions for Tour Operators and Destination Management Companies. In less than a decade, Illusions has created the reputation of the world’s finest travel technology provider and is proud to partner with the strongest industry players across 5 continents.
“The travel industry is going through challenging times but the players who are in for the long-run are still investing in technology like Illusions which provides complete automation of their business coupled with strong and robust Internet booking engines. So when things rebound, and they will, these companies will be ready on our platform”, continued Faisal Memon.
The Middle East Ceremony, hosted at the Monarch Dubai, kicks off the World Travel Awards Grand Tour 2009, with seven events across seven continents including Durban, South Africa (Africa Ceremony); Singapore (Asia, Australasia & Indian Ocean Ceremony); Riviera Maya, Mexico (North & Central America Ceremony); Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (South America Ceremony); Óbidos, Portugal (Europe Ceremony); culminating with the Grand Final in Jamaica.
Illusions Online has been nominated for Middle East’s leading Travel Technology Provider
The World Travel Awards is the most prestigious, comprehensive and sought after awards program in the global travel and tourism industry. Established to acknowledge and celebrate excellence in all sectors of the industry.
The ceremony is to be held in Monarch Hotel, Dubai, UAE on 5th May 2009.
Illusions Online has taken its tour operator solution and adapted it to meet the demands of the meetings, conventions and exhibitions sectors, providing a B2C system to streamline all bookings and requests related to specific events.
Now, using Illusions MICE, PCO’s are able to create a dedicated B2C website for each event and encourage attendees to register online. Using the system, attendees for events, exhibitions and conferences can access the site, register for the event, book their hotels and any tours (taking advantage of group discounted rates), arrange for their meet and assist and then pay via the integrated payment gateway.
The software is programmed so that once a client is registered their history is kept on file for future events, meaning that they only have to enter vital information such as contact details once. This also enables the DMC or PCO to build up a comprehensive picture of their clients and their booking habits, which assists with event planning and business forecasts.
“Illusions MICE is a very flexible programme. It enables the user to decide what they are selling and to whom,” explained Faisal Memon, CEO, Illusions Online.
“It allows clients to use the same common platform – content, photos, company information – for each event. All that varies are the specifics for the event itself. The idea is very simple but powerful and effective when it comes to converting browsers into bookers.”
Illusions Online has been providing its tailored tour operator back office solutions for over 10 years and now boasts a network of clients spanning five continents.
Buffalo Tours inks deal with illusions to overhaul its IT Platform April 17, 2009
Leading DMC in Asia Buffalo Tours invests in illusions for complete automation of its business.
Buffalo Tours, one of the biggest Destination Management Companies in Asia has signed up with Illusions Online, for their travel technology solution. This achievement marks the first foray for Illusions in South-east Asia. Besides the importance of this strong partnership, both companies underscore the value of being a part of one of the world’s fastest growing tourism destinations, Vietnam.
“Vietnam's travel and tourism sector has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years. Buffalo Tours plays a key role in the travel Industry and we confirm our commitment of support to our client and the industry on the rise. This is a significant milestone for Illusions” said Faisal Memon, CEO of Illusions Online. “Illusions provide a unique platform for commercial synergy of all business processes. The Buffalo Tours’ management has a very strong belief in technology being a key enabler for the growth of the business moving forward and we are very pleased to support this vision”
Buffalo Tours will implement illusions to improve efficiencies and productivity, optimize business performance, increase visibility and better serve its customers in a highly competitive global environment. The implementation of Illusions will result in complete automation of Buffalo Tours’ contracting, reservations, operations, planning and management environment as well as powering its websites for agent and consumer bookings on a comprehensive range of both FIT products and packages and allowing users to tailor-make holidays online. The powerful web-services and XML capabilities of Illusions will allow Buffalo Tours to provide easy access for their tour operator customers to be able to connect their systems in real-time to their entire product range with prices and availability and the facility to make bookings directly into Illusions
As one of the most established travel companies in Vietnam and winner of both international and national Awards: Outstanding Customer Service - Luxurious Adventures, the Guide Award 2008, Best Tour Operator, Condé Nast Traveler World Savers Awards 2007, Named one of the 158 Best Adventure Travel Companies in the World by National Geographic Adventure (NGA) magazine, Best Adventure Tour Operator – 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002 and many others, Buffalo Tours decided to go with illusions because it is a comprehensive end-to-end solution with the ability to automate every aspect of its business.
Tran Trong Kien, Founder and CEO of Buffalo Tours commented: “At Buffalo we are focused on offering a truly specialist and tailored service and our business demands an underlying system that will facilitate the high-level of service that we provide. Illusions is at the cutting-edge of tour operator systems, and will provide us with a secure and reliable framework that can be used by employees at every level of the company and will ensure the continued growth of our business. Benefits will include increased operating speeds and reliability, enabling all the bookings and customer data to be centralised for improved reporting and business intelligence. Finally the ability to offer instant availability and confirmation of all our products through the Internet Booking Engines will allow us to increase our revenues and grow at a tremendous pace without putting pressure on our staff or increasing HR and related costs. Deploying a technology like illusions will give us the extra edge in a very competitive marketplace and keep us at the forefront of technology”
Faisal Memon added: “We thank Buffalo Tours for their confidence in our ability to serve them. We welcome the opportunity to support Buffalo Tours in its business and look forward to a continuing relationship which will be profitable to all concerned.”
About Buffalo Tours : Buffalo Tours is an internationally-renowned, award-winning travel company spanning Indochina. It is recognized as one of the top inbound tour operators and destination management companies in Vietnam. Last year it provided tours for over 16,000 satisfied clients. As well as its many individual direct clients, Buffalo Tours enjoy global and constantly growing partnerships with international tour operators and travel agents. Buffalo Tours is a leading inbound tour operator and provides destination management and inbound ground handling for over 200 companies worldwide.
Illusions Online review on ITB Berlin March 11-15, 2009
Travel Technology at ITB Berlin 2009 still enjoyed substantial growth despite the recent economic downturn with a number of new companies taking the opportunity to market their products to the travel industry at large.
This was Illusions’ first experience to take part in the leading travel industry event of the year. Illusions has been actively running its marketing campaign started at the beginning of 2009, which fired ahead a new era. Illusions’ received an overwhelming and established prospective relations earlier at Travel Technology Show in London (February 2009) and now at ITB Berlin.
One of the noteworthy events at ITB Berlin was signing of the new contract. New partner is an internationally-renowned, award-winning travel company spanning Indochina. It is recognized as one of the top inbound tour operators and destination management companies in Asia. (Details to be revealed shortly)
At the show Illusions team went over the fact that Tour Operators and DMCs are in urgent necessity of reforms and this is when Technology comes to the scene. The focus is shifting toward travel technology. In a short term Illusions anticipates the attention being directed towards applications that will help reduce costs and increase revenues. Improving sales efficiency and streamlining back offices will be more important than ever before.
Thus Travel Technology section at ITB Berlin 2009 occupies an interesting role in consistently dynamic growth in e-business. As a result Illusions has confidence and high expectations of outreached expansion in the niche it knows best on global travel trade level.
Agents urged to switch to cloud computing Feb 23, 2009
With bookings are down, travel agents should switch to cloud computing technology, which works on a pay-as-you-book basis, according to Illusions CEO Faisal Memon.
Cloud computing replaces applications, hardware and software traditionally used by travel agents, so that they can work online and are charged a licence fee.
Memon explained that Cloud Computing is not a new concept worldwide but it is not widely recognised in this region’s developing industry.
“It’s just picking up in this part of the world and is suited to these times when companies need to cut back spending and don’t have the cash for large investments,” said Memon.
He said agents can benefit from the technology because it works on a pay-as-you-book basis and can work out cheaper for companies during the financial crisis.
Long-term, Memon claimed that the application is a securer option for agents and also means that companies do not need to worry about upgrading systems as online updates are automatic.
Illusions @ Travel Techology Show - Post show review London, UK, Travel Technology Show, 10-11 February 2009
The TTS Show took place in Earls Court 2 and was presented side by side with another leading business travel event. Illusions Online, being the main exhibitor, witnessed the fact: despite current global financial crisis travel industry is still on its primary position among others due to such a simple need of a customer as his travel. The show proved that need for efficient and competitive travel technology is high; and Illusions has a privilege to satisfy Tour Operators and DMCs demands and take them to the next level of their business processes.
Live demonstrations of Illusions’ most up-to-date product tempted visitors’ appetite and ricocheted with number of factual requests. Faisal Memon, CEO of Illusions, commented: “This show is the unique opportunity for us to demonstrate how our product can help Tour Operators and Destination Management Companies to help manage all aspects of business processes. We are confident of Illusions accomplishments over the other competitors in the market, simply because we know how our clients would be benefited in this recent scenario of recession by choosing Illusions”.
Illusions software is comprised of providing complete product management, pricing/tariff and internet Booking Engines for Travel Agencies (B2B) and Consumers (B2C), Dynamic packaging, CRM, XML/Web services integration capabilities with partners and suppliers and an outstanding Reporting and Business intelligence framework. It is simple and user-friendly. Among the benefits of being 100% browser-based and e-commerce enabled, which every user can experience, companies find such core system benefits as: Cost Effectiveness, Improved Efficiency & Communication, Effective Business Analysis & Decision Making, Increased Revenues, Low Total Cost of Ownership.
Also, Faisal Memon stated, that all elements of Illusions software are tied in and this is how company provides the genius solution; Illusions is a quality supplier of world class software for Tour Operators and DMCs and it evinced the fact
Illusions looks at the bigger picture Feb 9, 2009
Arabian Travel News in an interview with Illusions CEO Faisal Memon about the company’s niche product and its strategy to attract more business from the region’s travel trade
Travel operator business solutions specialist Illusions Online is looking to secure deals with top travel companies across the region having ended 2008 with a major coup.
The Dubai-based firm, which offers the tour operator system Travellusions to companies across the globe, recently signed a deal with Dubai’s Al Rais Travel, to provide all if its software solutions and help integrate its online offering.
To build on the momentum of this sign-up, Illusions CEO faisal Memon is on a mission to score more big names, but will be choosing his partners carefully, he told ATN.
“It’s both an advantage and a disadvantage for us that a lot of travel companies out here haven’t been prioritising the sort of online service solutions that we offer,” he mused.
“In the short term it’s been good because what we do is so specialised we have been able to create a specific niche in the market for ourselves — but the downside is that we really do have to be careful when it comes to who we align ourselves with.”
He continued: “It’s absolutely no use to us to partner with a company that thinks we can deliver a business solution like it’s a commodity. What we do is more complicated and time consuming than that — the benefits are enormous but we have to be sure that we are aligned with a company that we are satisfied we can deliver a solution that matches the levels of our own high standards.”
Memon conceded that initial consultation periods and business analysis with travel companies could be slow going, but was adamant that the practice was necessary.
“It is not our way to implement a quick fix,” he stressed.
“Through us our clients will enjoy complete business automation that is also customisable. We don’t look at just one section, we build a platform structure for all aspects of the business; we can facilitate one system to cover the entire business from pricing, reservations, operations, bookings — the whole lot — so it can make a massive difference.”
Memon added that he expected increasing numbers of travel companies across the UAE to gradually embrace the idea of implementing technology solutions.
“Companies in this region will see the benefits eventually,” he said, “which is good for us of course because we are already established here. This means we will have the inside track and we can point interested parties in the travel industry to our track record so they can see our quality and what we are all about.”
He added that the agreement with Al Rais Travel was “a good indication” of the stage at which the travel market was at in terms of solutions uptake.
“As a company, they are becoming more technology and web savvy and they recognised the benefits of working with us and we’re really pleased to be aligned with them as well, because of their approach and understanding of how our partnership will work,” he said.
“If you just look at Dubai alone, you can see the speed that things change — and the travel industry is changing by the day.”
He stressed that in the current financial climate, it would be the most forward-thinking companies that would do well.
“We have a lot of negotiations going on behind the scenes and expect more announcements to be made soon, so it’s a case of watch this space,” Memon concluded.
Illusions to launch its latest software solution code-named Poseidon at Travel Technology Show 2009 February 2009
Illusions Online (www.illusions-online.com) enters another year of its aggressive marketing activity. Travel Technology Show, which takes place on 10-11 February in London, UK, will be the first venue in illusions’ list this year to demonstrate that as a global travel technology company, it provides unique and entirely customised solutions for Tour Operators and DMCs.
Illusions paradoxically is all about reality and offers a plethora of services under one roof. It brings into play the latest technology. Illusions adapts and responds effectively to the ever changing market requirements enabling the automation of travel companies and providing consumers with a simple and cost-effective way to book travel. Plainly put, all of the travel technology solutions under one roof, devoid of operational nightmares and complications. And resultantly provides optimum levels of service to their clients.
It was announced at the end of last year that New World Travel (NWT), one of North America’s largest Receptive Operator and Destination Management Company, 100% subsidiary company of DERTOUR, Frankfurt, part of the REWE Group, has selected illusions as its partner for their technology. It will be the replacement of NWT’s business operating systems. One of the key aspects of the project is to interface the system directly with key customers that would automate the entire reservations function for New World Travel, allowing the business to grow substantially without necessarily increasing costs.
Peter Dorner, President of New World Travel stated: “New World Travel firmly believes that technology is the key to future success. We are very pleased to be implementing illusions browser-based reservation solution, which will open a whole new world for New World Travel. We needed a new, modern reservation system that could meet the demands of a new era. Specifically, illusions will help us to deliver our targeted operational efficiencies and to offer increased product choice and flexibility to further improve the high levels of service we provide to New World Travel customers”
Faisal Memon, CEO of illusions Online declared, “Following the announcement made at World Travel Market, being held in London, UK, November 10–13, we are glad to confirm that the project implementation is going smooth and according to the agreed schedule. We are at the very middle of the process and confident to “go live” on time.”
Illusions gives a complete product management, pricing and reservations system, an Internet booking engine. It has very powerful XML/Web services integration capabilities with partners and suppliers and an outstanding reporting and business intelligence framework. The Agent Web Booking Engine allows customers 24/7 online access to book products directly from inventory, manage their bookings and also print their documentation. It enables companies distribute their products to the trade efficiently and have contractual changes, offers and new product on sale, much, much faster than ever before
Meet us on stand B09 at Travel Technology Show (Earls’ Court 2, 10-11 February 2009)
Al Rais buys into Illusions Jan 7, 2009
Dubai-based travel company Al Rais Travel has signed an agreement with travel operator business solutions specialist company Illusions to provide all of its software solutions and help integrate its online offering.
“Al Rais is becoming more technology and web savvy,” said Illusions CEO Faisal Memon. “We’ve had dialogue for them for some time and it will be a privilege to help take them to the next level.”
Memon admitted that the shift into embracing more advanced online options was “noticeably slower”, in the Middle East compared to other areas but commented that for a niche company like Illusions the situation had its advantages.
“We have to be very picky about who we align ourselves with,” he said. “Anyone can make a sale what we’re interested in is building partnership where we can genuinely provide a service, for that we need to be able to trust the company we are working with, it’s a very niche area that we work in and the standards that we set for achieving our goals are very high.”
Memon went on to hint that Illusion was in the process of negotiating with other “major” travel companies in the region and to expect further “exciting announcements” in the coming months.
Al Rais Holidays to transform the travel industry with illusions Al Rais Travel (Al Rais Holidays), one of UAE’s oldest and largest travel company, has selected illusions for the complete automation of its travel and holiday business. Al Rais Holidays made this selection based on company’ quickly respond to the changing market thus to create a stable platform for future growth and evolving business needs. Al Rais Holidays aims to optimize its internal business processes with illusions, provide reliable support for its future operations and apply tools for better strategic decision-making on a unified, efficient and information-based platform.
Since its establishment over 3 decades ago, Al Rais Holidays has seized opportunities in UAE’s booming market and grown rapidly in all segments in which it operates. In light of the need for new business development strategies, Al Rais Holidays’ management identified broader and more strategic use of information technology as one of the company’s key development objectives. illusions will support Al Rais Holidays’ strategies by unifying its business processes across the organization, enabling its management to make better decisions for day-to-day and future operations. illusions will work together with Al Rais Holidays to leverage illusions well-established experience in the travel industry and leading technology, to create an advanced platform on which Al Rais Holidays can streamline its operations.
Al Rais Holidays management believes that optimized financial and internal business processes are key for effective management of internal operations. New software will help Al Rais Holidays improve productivity for these core operations of its business while reducing total cost of ownership by aligning all systems on a common, modern platform. The management has also identified e-commerce opportunities as a very important growth driver for increasing revenues and market share without incurring significant costs.
Al Rais Holidays will implement illusions to increase visibility, improve efficiencies, optimize business performance and better serve its customers in a highly competitive global environment. The announcement was made at World Travel Market, being held in London, UK, November 10–13
Implementation will result with automation of Al Rais Holidays’ reservations and management environment, powering its websites for agent and consumer bookings on a comprehensive range of long-haul holidays, including luxury, wedding and spa products, and allowing users to tailor-make holidays online.
Al Rais Holidays will additionally take advantage of illusions seamless GDS interface which allows the users, travel agents and consumers to perform sophisticated multi-destination searches and package air with hotels and other land services to create a unique holiday booking experience
Mohammed Jassim Al Rais, deputy managing director at Al Rais Holidays, said: “At Al Rais we are focused on offering a truly specialist and tailored service and our business demands an underlying system that will facilitate the high-level of service that we provide. illusions is at the cutting-edge of tour operator systems, and will provide us with a secure and reliable framework that can be used by employees at every level of the company and will ensure the continued growth of our business. Benefits will include increased operating speeds and reliability, enabling all the bookings and customer data from our corporate, retail and leisure businesses to be centralised for improved reporting and business intelligence and finally the ability to connect to our supplier systems which would translate into instant availability and confirmation and a much larger choice of products to suit our customers’ needs. With airline commissions disappearing, allowing our customers to dynamically package their holidays suddenly becomes very important. Deploying a technology like illusions will give us the extra edge in a very competitive marketplace and keeps us at the forefront of technology”
The required hardware and hosting infrastructure is provided by illusions, avoiding the need for any capital investment, which is managed and hosted from illusions highly secure data centres and Al Rais users, travel agents and consumers would simply connect to illusions over the internet
Faisal Memon, CEO of illusions said: “Al Rais Holidays conducted a thorough evaluation of tour operator solutions in the market, and chose our product because it offered the most technologically advanced and complete solution for its business. Their decision highlights our position at the fore of the tour operator systems market.”
“Al Rais Holidays’ management is very forward thinking and in spite of the current economic climate, they are investing in illusions to keep them ahead of their time. I can say very confidently that, when the dust settles around the global downturn, our technology coupled with the vision of Al Rais Holidays’ management will help them clearly emerge as the market leader. We look forward to working close with Al Rais Holidays and to help them achieve continued success and rapid expansion in the region."
He added “Al Rais have trusted illusions with the entire hardware and hosting infrastructure. More and more companies want to outsource not just the software that runs the business but also the infrastructure on which it is run. I am of the firm belief that travel companies should focus on what they do best. i.e. deliver the best booking experience to their clients, let the experts handle the rest.”
Illusions inks deal with New World Travel December 2008
Illusions announced recently that New World Travel (NWT), one of North America’s largest receptive operator and destination management companies, has selected Illusions for the replacement of its business operating systems. This project is designed to enhance NWT’s competitive advantage and support its growth through the consolidation of IT systems across the enterprise.
NWT will gain visibility, improve efficiency, optimise business performance and better serve its customers in a highly competitive global environment. The announcement was made at the World Travel Market held in London from November 10-13, 2008.
New World Travel Enters Strategic Relationship with illusions to Transform its IT Platform London – November 11, 2008
Illusions today announced that New World Travel (NWT), one of North America’s largest Receptive Operator and Destination Management Company, has selected illusions for the replacement of its business operating systems. This project is designed to enhance NWT’s competitive advantage and support its growth through the consolidation of IT systems across the enterprise. NWT will implement illusions to increase visibility, improve efficiencies, optimize business performance and better serve its customers in a highly competitive global environment. The announcement was made at World Travel Market, being held in London, UK, November 10–13
illusions will provide NWT with the ability to efficiently load, manage and price thousands of hotels, services and motorcoach tour contracts. The deployed system will enable NWT to service their customers with a flexible, scaleable, state-of-the-art booking engine. One of the key aspects of the project will be to interface the system directly with key customers that would automate the entire reservations function for New World Travel, allowing the business to grow substantially without necessarily increasing costs
The decision to choose illusions was based on a combination of the system’s rich functionality, the real-time integration provided across the back-office components and the Agent Web Booking Engine, the excellent match with NWT’s requirements and illusions proven track record in successful system deployments.
Commenting on their selection of illusions, Peter Dorner, President of New World Travel stated: “New World Travel firmly believes that technology is the key to future success. We are very pleased to be implementing illusions browser-based reservation solution, which will open a whole new world for New World Travel. We needed a new, modern reservation system that could meet the demands of a new era. illusions gives us a complete product management, pricing and reservations system, an Internet booking engine, very powerful XML/Web services integration capabilities with partners and suppliers and an outstanding reporting and business intelligence framework. The Agent Web Booking Engine allows our customers 24/7 online access to book our products directly from our inventory, manage their bookings and also print their documentation like booking confirmation, itinerary, invoices and vouchers. It will enable us distribute our products to the trade efficiently and have contractual changes, offers and new product on sale, much, much faster than ever before. Specifically, illusions will help us to deliver our targeted operational efficiencies and to offer increased product choice and flexibility to further improve the high levels of service we provide to New World Travel customers”
Faisal Memon, CEO of illusions stated, “We are thrilled that new World Travel has chosen illusions as their technology partner. In the current market it is vital that operators harness technology to streamline and optimize their activities. illusions state-of-the-art XML and CRM capabilities are designed to ensure companies operate as competitively as possible and can achieve rapid growth. New World Travel conducted a thorough evaluation of tour operator solutions in the market, and chose illusions because it offered the most technologically advanced and complete solution for its business. This agreement, which comes after a series of high-profile wins for illusions, highlights the strength of our offering in the tour operator systems marketplace and also demonstrates our capability and track record to be able to deliver and support these systems wherever they are deployed in the world. We look forward to working with New World Travel and to help them achieve continued success and rapid expansion in a very competitive market place”
