Juan Diego Zapata, director for Colombia of PriceTravel in an interview with REPORTUR.coHe commented on the challenges he has in this new position, on the balance of the first semester, the connectivity of the country, as well as the arrival of Jetsmart and the effect of the dollar that is falling, among other topics.
REPORTUR.co: What are your three challenges in your new position as director of PriceTravel Colombia?
JUAN DIEGO ZAPATA: The company, in its solid commitment to the Colombian travel and tourism sector, has relied on my experience within the industry, the same in which I have developed for more than two decades, through commercial strategies applied in Colombia and for the rest of Latinamerica.
Together with the professional team of PriceTravel Holding, we will strengthen the company’s growth plans. We will implement new strategies that generate more and more value in the face of the current tourism ecosystem in the region. We will promote the achievements that the company has achieved so far, such as consolidating itself as the most important tourism group in Latin America, through its multi-channel business model.
We will make PriceTravel Holding Colombia grow in synergy with the new needs of the global market and respond to the new areas of opportunity that the travel industry presents, being one of the most prosperous and dynamic. In this way, we are sure that we will achieve our main objective: to provide in quantity and quality, travel options for all our clients and their multiple needs and expectations. (PriceTravel signs former Avianca and Latam as director in Colombia).
A.: What is the current balance of the OTA in Colombia for the first half of the year and/or second quarter?
JDZ: We have had a very good semester of 2023 with double-digit growth. We continue to reinforce our distribution strategy and invest and incorporate state-of-the-art technology, in order to reach more markets and more customers.
We managed to triple the hotel offer to bring more and better options to our users from the different lines of business. Today we have more than 500 thousand hotel options in more than 120 destinations around the world, 30,000 of these with direct contracting, which leads to bringing our clients a greater offer and better rates.
Our participation in the main tourism fairs, such as Anato in Colombia, and others abroad such as: Tianguis Turístico, FITUR, IPW, TRAVEL GATE X, DATE, WTM LATAM, to mention a few, have given us the opportunity to get closer to the main partners in the industry, to close new business and of course to continue motivating ourselves to consolidate the distribution strategy, with the aim of reaching more and more markets and thus more customers can have the opportunity to travel.
It is important to mention that today we are already in the United States with our PriceAgencies brand, which gives us great pleasure. Explore new markets, and above all ensure that more and more customers can travel to Colombia, Mexico and Latin America.
And we are also back with our Caravans, accompanied by our main partners, to reach more and more travel agents, present them with the news of our platform and those of our commercial partners, in order to facilitate sales closings by knowing these products. In the past caravans we managed to reach 2,000 agents and in those about to start in September, we will achieve a similar number.
A.: How has connectivity affected the PriceTravel operation? And by how much has airfare increased?
JDZ: At PriceTravel we continue to operate as normal. Fortunately, thanks to our highly trained work team and our strategic commercial relationships with airlines, we continue to grow this year.
Regarding air transport prices, we maintain our commitment to offer the most flexible and attractive rates, which is why we continue to serve more and more travelers.
A.: Do you think that Avianca, Wingo, Latam and Clic have supplied the demand left by Viva and Ultra’s exit from the market?
J.D.Z: Well, every company in the travel and tourism sector plays an important role, especially at this time when the sector is recovering. Given this, we observe and appreciate that these airlines are working successfully to respond to the growing demand for national and international passengers.
A.: Where do Colombians travel the most?
JDZ: The preference for national destinations continues to be shown; although the traveler already travels even more to international markets.
The national beach destinations with the highest number of reservations are Cartagena, Santa Marta and San Andrés, while the city destinations are: Medellín Bogotá and Barranquilla.
In international destinations, there have been a greater number of reservations in key destinations for the industry, such as: Cancun, Punta Cana, Mexico City, Madrid and Florida.
We see very positive figures and that motivates us to keep going, contributing to the sector and its growth.
A.: How has the strengthening of the peso against the dollar helped or affected the finances of the OTA in Colombia?
JDZ: We are optimistic and we hope that the development that Colombia has in this and other sectors will continue to favor the economic and social development of this very important country.
A.: What is your analysis regarding the advantages and disadvantages of JetSMART’s entry into the Colombian domestic market for the aeronautical sector and for the final consumer?
JDZ: There is not a downside at all. The issue of connectivity is essential for the tourism sector to continue to prosper and represent greater opportunities for those of us who are part of it, as well as for travelers.
A.: Within the plans of the OTA in Colombia was the implementation of the receptive, how is this business unit doing? Will they finally implement it? What are the biggest difficulties in doing so?
JDZ: Given the dynamism of this sector, we have given higher priority to the development and improvement of our current business units, which are growing at double digits, and in which we continue to invest in technology, training, and innovation.
A.: With regard to the associated agencies, what are the novelties?
JDZ: We continue to strengthen our value proposition for affiliated travel agencies. We have invested in technology so that they can have more and better functionalities and tools that allow them to close their sales faster.
On the other hand, we continue to reach different cities with our caravans, accompanied by exclusive suppliers who carry all the news of their product.
Of course, we continue to consent to the agencies and we carry out different familiarization trips both nationally and internationally; for example, they were recently in New York.
A.: What are the next projects to develop in Colombia?
JDZ: For now we are focusing on working hand in hand with the main players in the travel industry at a national and international level, facilitating strategic alliances.
On the other hand, we will continue promoting our product and promoting Colombian tourism.
In addition, we will continue to refine our procedures with innovation and technology; as well as constant training for our work team.
