Chief John Adebanjo, Chairman ATCT Group, in this Interview with newsmen at the launch of Eazi Travels at the Lagos Continental Hotel, speaks on how and why people can, with the scheme, travel now and pay later. Platforms Africa’s Ganiyu Amodu was there. Excerpts;
First tell us this Eazi travels, what is it all about and what value is it adding to travel locally and international?
Thanks for having me here, we believe that Eazi travels is here to solve a problem. What are the problems? It fall out in the recent times most of this online travel agencies (OTA) that we have are not performing as what is expected of them or what is expected of an international OTA. We have done so many OTA around the world and we belong to a part of the OTA that American Express are in charge which is the biggest travel company in the world at present, we hold the brand. We got our partners also in South Africa, the Tourvest, what they are doing. We could possibly replicate exactly what they are doing. This could reduce the cost of the travels, our rate will be cheaper. We have the power and the number to negotiate with the airlines to get the reduced rate. These are the things we are going to bring to the market. So whether you are travelling in Local or International it is sure you are getting a reduced rate.
There is also a hotel bouquet added to this and other packages, can you throw more light on it?
We are associating with the global brand, Golden Treasure. We are also associating with Tourvest. They have a massive inventory. Not just that, Expedia have been knocking on our door, knowing fully 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.
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Apart from all the things you have mention sir, what was the motivation, what was the dream, where is the destination?
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 base on providing solutions. We sit down. We reengineer the travel industry that is exactly what we are doing. We are doing something that have 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 travellers that will surely benefit from it.
I heard a slogan saying Travel now and pay later. Could you throw more light on it?
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 do 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 and 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 that is what we are doing
Coming out with this at this point in time, does it mean that the demand for travelling is still very much high?
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 seat on that flight, people are buying. All we need to do is ensure we speak to the government to give this 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.
