Web Applications UK’s clients have recession busting month

There’s no doubt that tour operators are riding through some rough seas these days, and there’s been no shortage of casualties, but it’s not all been doom and gloom. Richard Carrick, Chief Executive of Hoseasons is feeling rather upbeat, “The economy is worsening but people still want to go on holiday. The weakening pound is causing them to look a bit closer to home, where we’re ideally placed to show them that there are great holidays to be had on their doorstep. 2009 is a golden opportunity for the domestic tourism industry, and we’re seeing 25% growth in UK based holidays.”

“Of course, there’s an element of being in the right place at the right time, and being the leading self-catering specialist with over 12,000 places within driving range of UK customers means we’re ideally placed to supply the increase in demand. Connecting that supply with our customers is the key to our success, and having the right systems in place to make that connection is essential.”

“That’s why we’re glad we partnered with Web Applications UK Ltd back in 2005. A technology partner is more than just a systems provider they’re a critical part of the way you shape your strategy. Choosing the wrong partner limits your ability to flex to meet the changing market conditions. Web Applications UK deliver the systems that allow us to achieve sustainable growth and the flexibility to meet challenges head on.”

“Their solutions have cut costs in our call centres and operations, by being easy to use and train, but most importantly they have opened up our low cost web channels, which have driven booking volume through the roof. With margins constantly under pressure, it’s nice to work with a partner that is driving cost savings.”

January has been a busy month for Web Applications clients as it’s the peak booking period for many tour operators. With web booking volumes up across the board, it’s refreshing for them to have got to the end of the month with their websites having delivered flawlessly.

Chris Read, Head of I.T. at Hoseasons continues, “We have seen a huge surge in demand for availability, quotes and bookings through our web sites since the start of the year. Even though we have added extra processing to each availability request, to build in all the various offers applicable to the holiday, the performance of our Tr@veller database, which drives our websites, has exceeded our expectations. We are now delivering 250-500 thousand availability requests per day with no degradation in performance!”

“Working with Web Applications UK continues to be an enjoyable experience, safe in the knowledge that there’s a team of dedicated I.T. professionals that always get things done.”

Craig Dean, C.E.O. of Web Applications UK, “We work hard to build relationships with our customers so that we’re working as partners rather than just suppliers. When they have a bad day, we have a bad day, and we take it personally. January is such a key month for so many of our clients that we spent a lot of time at the end of last year testing and re-testing to ensure that our systems would deliver, so we were really confident As the month progressed we were regularly checking the various key performance indicators and the volumes we were seeing across the board were surprising, but the systems barely seemed to notice the additional load. Even though we were confident, it’s gratifying that things went so well, and that so many of our clients saw such growth.”

About Web Applications: Web Applications is a leading I.T. solutions provider catering to the Travel industry. Through their core products, Tr@veller and Babel, they provider easily customisable reservations systems that can drive online and offline bookings, and provide robust, secure and scalable integration solutions.
Web Applications clients include Hoseasons, Holidaybreak, Parkdean Holidays, Leger Holidays, David Urquhart Travel, Peregrine Adventure Holidays, Riviera Travel and the river cruise line to name a few.

Contact Kamal Choudhury for more information on +44(0)161 682 6565, [email protected]