Phocuswire analyses the travel brands of Middle East and speaks to founder and CEO Bader Al-Bader, Rehlat. 

 

Mr. Bader conveys,”Founded in 2016, Rehlat has quickly become one of the prominent players in the region with 200 employees working in offices across Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia, India and Egypt.” He further adds,“We try to customize it to each country,” 

 

Rehlat differentiating itself by adding features that demonstrate its deep understanding of local culture. “For example, for Middle Easterners, even people from India, when they go visit hotels in Europe they would look for a bidet. We don’t care anymore about Wi-Fi - we can get that on our phone - we care, does it have a bidet?” Al-Bader says. “So we introduced a filter where you can see which hotels have bidets and pick based on that. That’s gained traction with customers. It’s very low tech - just tagging hotels - but that’s what customers are looking for.”

 

Found a fantastic flight deal, but not able to book it because plans are not confirmed yet? Rehlat, Middle East’s leading online travel agency addresses this scenario by bringing in “Price Lock” – an innovative feature that allows you to lock flight fare now and pay only when your plan is confirmed. Even if the fare increases, you still pay the locked fare only.

 

No matter how fast technology is evolving when it comes to payments, a majority of the Middle East population does not find it comfortable to confirm & pay their booking on one go — this is one of the many reasons why OTAs are adopting flexi-booking option. From easy payment plans to pay @ hotel to the latest “confirm now & pay later”, end users are offered varied payment modes to suit individual requirements.

Bader Al Bader, president, Rehlat talks to TBMEs Charmaine Fernz on intricacies of setting up an OTA for the Middle East traveller, getting the right product mix and plans ahead…

 

The idea of venturing into the online space emerged when a family member faced problems while booking a personal trip. The outcome of the trip resulted in thought seeded for a year which began in 2011.

 

The advancements in technology witnessed many players enter the online travel space. However, Bader opines that there are two kinds of OTAs in the Middle East. The regular offline agencies who want to go online with a ready-made booking engine. In this case, it is easy to start but once launched, will the company be able to handle the demand, varying needs of customer service, developer issues and more so exponential growth? The other kind according to him are the serious OTAs, which is barely three to four in the Middle East region; Rehlat can safely be added to this category.