WTM 2017: Peakwork tech powering a new dynamic package holiday market

Tech firm says market on cusp of an explosion in competitiveness Continue reading →

German travel technology firm Peakwork says the package holiday market is on the cusp of an explosion in competitiveness as some of the biggest names in travel and on the web target the sector.

Peakwork was recently brought in to help Ryanair develop its package proposition and it is also working with Google, which has dipped a toe in packages, and is partnering with meta search sites like Priceline-owned KAYAK and Momondo.

It is also working with Thomas Cook-owned German airline Condor on its holiday proposition, OTA Otravo, which is based in the Netherlands, and is in talks with other lowcost airlines in India and Asia, where it has just signed its first deal. Peakwork’s technology is also being used by Facebook as the social media giant develops its dynamic ads capability for travel and using Messenger to deliver hotel ads.

Head of global sales Tony Marshall said many players who were not in packages previously are trying to break in to the sector and even traditional pre-package providers are looking to use technology to give them modern dynamic packaging capabilities to allow them to compete.

“It’s making it much more competitive for the consumer because there is so much more choice now because they are all getting into the package market. Speed equals conversion. We find with some partners once they use our technology conversions can go up four to five point and sales up 25%.

“One of the major trends we are seeing is book on meta, that’s really starting to take off, a lot of people are asking about that now. It’s the one question we always get. The consumer does not really care what sort of site they are on, they just want a great deal and choice.”

Marshall said with meta driving such huge volumes of traffic to travel websites Peakwork’s ‘player hub’ caching technology is being used like a firewall to protect their systems from the deluge. And because it can deliver results as such high speed customers are able to offer more complex and lucrative package product put together on the fly with additional ancillaries.

Marshall said Peakwork’s growth remains strong with the number of markets it now works in up to 35 globally and partners up to 350 from 28 and 220 respectively from when he joined the business in 2015. In China it has agreed a deal with Lucky Trip to be its General Sales Agent.

The firm has recruited a team of six sales executives for its regions globally and it now has bases in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, New Delhi, Buenos Aires and Denver as well as its core European operation.

A recent shake-up at management level reflects Peakwork’s switch from being project based to one that sells solutions, said Marshall. “In the past we sold player hub components now we are selling solutions,” he said. “Player hub is still inside the product, it’s still crucial to everything we do.”