• Group Chairman, John Adebanjo, opens up on previously unknown unique opportunities for travelers

Everyone loves to travel. Nowadays, the number of travelers has increased tremendously. While the initial thought of a journey arise in the mind, African Tourism Corporate Travel (ATCT) has launched Eazi Travel, an Online Travel Agency (OTA), a web-based marketplace that would reach out to more travelers globally.

ATCT is ensuring that the traditional model of making a personal visit to any of the travel agencies and placing the booking has totally changed. All the bookings happen online on Eazi Travel as the firm’s travel portal is technologically advanced to meet the needs and preferences of clients.

Director, of Eazi Travel Nigeria, Mr. Claud Batohi at the Lagos Continental Hotel venue of the launch of Eazi Travels said ATCT was excited to launch this unique one-of-a-kind OTA designed for the dynamic travel market.

“Most OTA’s focus on traditional travel services, but Eazi travel went beyond. While you can still book, pay and compare airline, hotel, and ground transfer content we also found a way to bring offline travel products online to ensure Eazi Travel is able to cater to all travel needs”.

Looking for support for medical travel, he said, “Eazi Care have you covered; looking for cargo support, that’s Eazi with Eazi cargo, needs payment. Eazi Pay has a plan for that too, visa and travel information…Eazi have you covered all in one place making it Eazi for you”.

Chairman ATCT Group, Chief John Adebanjo said with Eazi Travel, there is also a hotel bouquet added to this and other packages.

“We are associating with the global brand, Golden treasure. We are also associating with Tourvest. They have a massive inventory. Not just that, Expedia has been knocking on our door, knowing full well who we are and what we are capable of achieving. That is why we are well positioned. We started early so we are just starting to wrap it up.

“The Destination is still far. We haven’t gone there yet. It is the way you enjoy what you do and if your focus is based on providing solutions. We sit down. We re-engineer the travel industry that is exactly what we are doing. We are doing something that has been put in place but in a better format that is why we are here. It is not just for us to benefit from it, it is the travelers that will surely benefit from it,” he said.

On the travel now and pay later scheme, Adebanjo said, “Travel now and pay later means that we should be able to trust each other. It is the element of trust. If you go abroad you will see why people buy homes, buy cars without having the money. If they can do it and pay after, we can replicate the same thing here.

“All Nigerians are not defrauders or scammers. They are some Nigerians that are working hard but they can’t afford to buy a ticket. One million naira ticket, how much is their salary? Maybe 300k. Why don’t we put something in place that will enable them to fulfill their dreams for us to be able to do that we’ve got banks that are ready to support us. So it is good for them to afford things easily. We are trying to build that trust. If we trust you, we will give you a ticket. The trust that you will pay us back is what we are relying on.”

Adebanjo said he was excited that the demand for air travel is still very high amid the global recession and high costs of air tickets.

“I just got back from South Africa just some hours ago and I can tell you that it was a full flight. Six days ago, I was coming from the UK. I will tell you that no empty seats on that flight, people are buying. All we need to do is ensure we speak to the government to give these airlines the money they owe them. If we do that, you will be amazed that Emirates will put back their two flights. Nigerians are ready to fly. We are just making things difficult for ourselves. What I will appeal to the government is to pay them so that we can assist the travel industry.”