Is online travel booking the next big thing in Africa? Africa is fast becoming a major global travel
destination as the continent offers lots of holiday and business prospects.
While African airlines accounted for a mere 2% of global air traffic due to a
market that is still regarded as underdeveloped, the continent is now on a good
trajectory due to multiple factors. There is for example a fast growing African
middle class together with the need to travel more within the continent as more
African nations trade with each other. The last three years have also seen some
tremendous investments in broadband infrastructure. This mean Africans are traveling more while at the same time they are logged on to their devices.
This has as a result created a huge demand for online travel service on the
continent.
Online Booking in Africa
Currently, online booking is still dominated by many
airlines through their websites. Almost all of the major Africa carriers now
offer travelers online booking service through the corporate website. These
normally offer discounted flights to get customers off the queues and away from
the travel agents in order to embrace the convenience of internet booking. Additionally, there is an emerging trend of
online travel agents that are now establishing operations in Africa. The most
successful online travel agency so far in establishing Pan African operations
is Travelstart that currently offers African travelers localized online travel
booking platforms in the key markets of Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.
Which markets dominate online booking?
Currently, South Africa offers the most vibrant online
travel market in Africa with several players jostling for the millions of travelers
who visit from abroad or travel within the country. Other major online travel
market are Kenya, Egypt, Morocco and Nigeria. However, these countries do not
have serious competition in the online travel niche.
Local versus global online travel agencies
As more local online travel solutions emerge, Africans will
be faced with the choice on whether to book flights with local online travel agencies like
Travelstart or opt for the old players like Expedia and Priceline. Local
definitely has significant advantages in terms of excellent local customer
support, flexible modes of payment and good and firsthand knowledge of the
local market. It will be interesting watching how the competition unfolds as
more Africans log on to the internet to catch the next flights or book hotel
rooms.
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