The MPDF team that has enabled around 400 locally-owned Mekong region hotels and guesthouses to market themselves over the Internet and receive bookings worth over $350,000 since 2004, has now set up a private company, Worldhotel-link.com (WHL) to scale-up this work worldwide. In the second half of 2005, this new enterprise established sites in China, Pacific island nations, and eastern Indonesia.
Although there are parallels to Worldhotel-link.com in Expedia, Orbtiz, and Hostelworld, a major difference with WHL is that booking operations are located in the destinations served, rather than offshore. With local e-marketplace operators managing content for the Web sites, responding promptly to bookings and passing these on to the respective accommodation providers, costs are low enough that smaller hotels and guesthouses can afford internet marketing.
The benefits of the accommodation websites include enabling independent travelers to book a much wider range of accommodation, creating local booking office jobs, helping the locally-owned accommodation sector to grow, and keeping more tourism income in the community. In the Mekong Region, where some of the sites were initially launched with hotel associations, the chance to market over the Internet helped attract association members.
WHL’s roles include central coordination, technology development/support, web marketing, hosting, and setting up online payment gateways. The company is now operating in over 14 countries (22 destinations), with a further 16 destinations under construction. By the end of 2006, WHL expects to have set up some 80 to 100 sites worldwide, including expansion into Africa. By having more WHL sites set up worldwide, MPDF expects that Mekong region hotels will get increasing business from cross referrals.
