intoegypt.com is turning former doubters into believers CAIRO: Intoegypt.com, Egypt's first Internet booking engine and travel portal, has been selected as a model of e-commerce companies in the MENA region following a series of studies on e-commerce companies worldwide by Meditorst Project, an affiliate organization of the European Union, in association with the Egyptian cabinet of ministries. The study, which was published in their book titled "Rising to the Digital Challenge Lessons from Mediterranean Enterprises, to cover the findings of their worldwide research, hailed intoegypt.com as a model of success, to be followed by others in e-commerce in the region. A pioneer in e-tourism in the region, intoegypt.com entered the Egyptian tourism market in 2001, in the wake of September 11th. At a time when foreign tourists were hesitant to visit Arab nations, the company focused its efforts locally, attracting tourists from within the country. "We started with local travel, which we believe is the backbone of every industry, says Tariq Howeidy, CEO of intoegypt.com. "The fact of the matter is, that if I cannot depend on my own [people], then I have an extremely fragile industry. Despite the backlash the tourism industry in the region witnessed in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the United States, the company had bigger challenges to face, if possible. As the first and only Internet e-tourism company in the country, intoegypt.com was received by skepticism by its critics, both in and outside the industry, who believed that the only way to sell and market destinations was face-to-face. "Many people in the industry scoffed at the idea of online travel. For them, it was unfathomable that Egyptians would ever book or even inquire about destinations and travel packages online. From the start, we were dealing with a cultural block, explains Howeidy. To gain a competitive advantage, intoegypt.com started printing prices for various packages, something unheard of in the past. "This was very hard to get around because competing hotels and resorts do not want to publish their prices, he says. Also, the travel industry in Egypt has many brackets in terms of travel prices. Each nationality gets a different rate, with the exception of Middle Easterners, who get the same rate - incidentally, also the highest rate, as the industry tries to reap profits from rich gulf nations. Even then, the advantage of having prices in print backfired. "Hotels and bookers would give us a rate, but then would give customers a different rate when they went to pay, sometimes even lowering the prices, he says. However, Howeidy concedes that the company, and the industry, has come a long way since then. "That used to be the condition, but now it's the exception, he adds. According to Howeidy, the real competitive advantages of the company were in the range of products and packages they advertised. "The whole concept of variety is important to us. We gave birth to a different variety, and we gave prices with it, he says. "We wanted to show that Egypt is more than just the pyramids and the sphinx. It's more diverse than that. At the end of the day, you're selling an experience, not a product. Intoegypt.com also caters to tourists with budgets on both ends of the spectrum, albeit within the A class bracket, because there aren't many local travelers, according to Howeidy. "We started promoting three and four star hotels, and later incorporated diving and safari vacations, as well as Nile cruises, says Howeidy. "When you have variety, . that's the main reason for success. According to Howeidy, most companies sell the same experience and offer the same tours. However, culturally and financially, people want different things and intoegypt.com has capitalized on that. Within a span of two and a half years, the company began to flourish. Currently, intoegypt.com, which at its start was marketing a mere 10 hotels, now markets 160 hotels to more than 2,500 customers. The company has been acknowledged by many international organizations, such as the World Tourism Organization (WTO), International Federation for IT & Tourism (IFITT), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the European Union (EU), for their efforts on the tourism front in the MENA region. The company currently has deals with Vodafone and MobiNil, covering the marketing for their suppliers in four different mediums that include television, print and telecommunications. "Now a lot of travel agencies come to us, says Howeidy. The company has also launched intodevelopment.com, an intoegypt.com affiliate that helps those in the tourism industry to develop and properly market e-products and services. "We are not trying to monopolize the market. We are trying to assist and aid the tourism sector in developing to meet a new generation of e-consumers, which we have done through intodevelopment.com, states Howeidy. While intoegypt.com has made good on a risky gamble, the company, and the industry, still faces many challenges, according to Howeidy. "International travel agencies and tourist operators are the ones who sell Egypt. Eighty to 90 percent of the business in Egypt is derived from their efforts, explains Howeidy. "We need to step up our efforts on the local front. All we do is pick up tourists from the airport, take them to see the pyramids and the bazaars, and drop them off at the airport at the end of their visit. According to Howeidy, Egypt is a prime location for travelers of all budgets due to its feasibility. "There is a well known proverb within the Egyptian tourism industry that says, an Italian goes up the hill to a travel shop and he has to choose between buying a shoe or visiting Egypt, says Howeidy. "That's how easy and inexpensive it is to come to Egypt. Other obstacles include online payments. While intoegypt.com does not offer online payments, Howeidy states that bank charges and hotels rates must be stabilized and a commitment to the number of rooms reserved for online bookings must be solid. The country also lacks organization. "The industry is under chaotic organization. Anything electronic used must be systematic; people here have to learn how to do business on an international scale, he adds. As for those critics who look at e-commerce companies unfavorably due to an instilled believe that technology equals a loss of jobs, Howeidy states that intoegypt.com and its likes do not threaten the employment status of Egyptians. "The Internet is just a tool; it cannot be a substitute for human beings. You still need people to confirm and update rates, pick people up from the airport, help them plan an elaborate vacation that includes many stops and excursions and so forth. In fact, companies such as ours only serve to garner a higher turnover for the industry, he says. And if that's not enough, Howeidy cites the example of Gatwick airport in England. "Gatwick decided to add an extra runway. For one additional runway, they stated they needed a population of 200,000. Because, at the end of the day, we are a service industry, and that requires a lot of people, he says.
