In a collaboration that is set to benefit many accommodation providers, the Indian Railways has confirmed a two-way connection with leading cloud-based hospitality distribution platform, STAAH. The partnership enables STAAH’s huge partner network of more than 100 hospitality chains, including more than 2,500 hotel partners, to expand their reach via the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism (IRCTC) website, which processes more than half a million bookings every day – arguably India’s most booked website.
IRCTC is a Public Sector Unit of Indian Railways and handles catering, tourism, Rail and Flight online ticketing operations.
“We are absolutely thrilled to complete our connection with Indian Railways IRCTC, the backbone for travel within the Indian subcontinent,” says Tarun Joukani, Commercial Director for STAAH. “The limitless array of booking options that are now available to consumers has borne a rising trend of travelers who are looking to their preferred travel suppliers. For India, the rail-travel is the perfect fit here. By making accommodation available on their booking platform, it helps consumers complete their itinerary and escaping browser fatigue.”
He added that consumers typically book their railway tickets first, but there is a growing appetite for them to book their accommodation at the same time, or even before their journey on IRCTC rail and air ticketing websites. “By offering a broader suite of accommodation to complement their rail and air travel through Indian Railways IRCTC website, consumers can be confident they are receiving the best package,” he says.
Domestic travel in India is slowly opening up in face of the global pandemic with people looking at getaways, especially to tourist towns near metros. Already properties in these towns are reporting occupancy rates that are higher than 80%. “The desire to travel – especially domestic – is strong. This collaboration places Indian Railways IRCTC well placed to continue servicing the needs of consumers while presenting properties around the country with a unique opportunity to expand their reach.
The two-way XML connection between the IRCTC website (hotel.irctctourism.com) and STAAH channel manager will now be live with all hotels and accommodations choosing STAAH technology to boost their revenue.
We use STAAH for all our distribution needs, so we are very thrilled to have the Indian Railways IRCTC connection added to our product offering,” says Mandeep Singh Gandhi, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Le Roi Hotels and Resorts, who has been instrumental in taking the STAAH-IRCTC association forward. “Through this partnership, we now have the ability to distribute our inventory to millions of Indian travelers.”
The option to connect to the IRCTC website is available to all STAAH partners via their channel manager dashboard. The STAAH partner services team is available to enable this connection where needed.
About IRCTC
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC) is a “Mini Ratna (Category-I)” Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Railways, Government of India. IRCTC was incorporated on 27th September, 1999 as an extended arm of the Indian Railways to upgrade, professionalise and manage the catering and hospitality services at stations, on trains, and other locations and to promote domestic and international tourism through the development of budget hotels, special tour packages, information and commercial publicity and global reservation systems.
Its travel portals, irctctourism.com, irctc.co.in andair.irctc.co.in process more than half a million bookings every day, ranging from rail travel, air travel, packages, Tourist trains to cruise bookings.
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