Wotif ‚Äúlousy” at selling to Asia, admits CEO

Wotif ‚Äúlousy” at selling to Asia, admits CEO
By admin


Wotif chief executive Scott Blume has accused the company of doing a "lousy" job of promoting short haul markets to Australians as he addressed the firm's sharp decline in Asian revenue.

Blume, who took over as CEO from Robbie Cooke in January, admitted the company needed to step up its game to halt the slide.

While revenue from its Australia and New Zealand accommodation climbed 1% in the six months to December 31, revenue from Asia and the rest of the world fell 19%.

Asked at the No Vacancy conference in Sydney what he attributed the decline to, Blume said bluntly: "We have not got our fair share of domestic customers going out of Australia to short haul markets. We've done a lousy job of that."

"We have an unbelievable, fantastically successful brand but we have done a pretty average job of promoting [short haul markets]".

Wotif needs to ensure its "five million eyeballs" are made fully aware it sells international product, he said.

"It is something we can improve on greatly," he told a panel discussion.

Blume insisted however that he had inherited a "fantastic team, a fantastic culture, a fantastic business and seven million room nights".

He also highlighted the growth of Wotif's flight business and confirmed plans to launch packages mid year.

"The flight business continues to power along…so we now have a relevant flight business that expanded by 11% last year," Blume said. "I think there is a good opportunity for us to morph that into the packaging business.

"We will be launching that mid year and while I see packaging as a niche opportunity it's certainly an opportunity for hotels and airlines to talk to us about packages as well.

Meanwhile, the former Zuji chief executive confirmed commission rates charged to hoteliers will rise to 12 % from January 1 2014 following the increase from 10% to 11% this year.

Wotif has traditionally adopted a low cost model, something Blume said will not change.

"There is significant advantages in terms of being a low commission model. Our position as a company has been historically that and I don't see that significantly changing."

He declined to comment on whether the additional revenue that will flow from the commission increase will be reinvested in the brand."

"We are in various stages of formulating the strategy for reinvestment but we are just not ready to talk about that yet," he said.

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