Milestones

At the forefront of online travel distribution since 1993, Asia Web Direct (AWD) provides web-based hotel reservations, travel information and related services to travellers worldwide – one of the first companies in Southeast Asia to venture into this new realm of travel that would change the face of the industry forever. A small Phuket-based team launched our first dedicated destination portal, Phuket.com in 1995, with little more than a vision to excel, and an unshakable commitment to set new parameters. And so they did, by becoming pioneers in online travel distribution.

Through the years AWD offices were opened in Bangkok, Samui, Krabi, Kuala Lumpur and – most recently – London to serve our growing number of customers and business partners alike. We’ve been continuously adding new websites to our portfolio, covering destinations all over Southeast Asia, while the very popular reservation portals LateStays.com and SmartStays.com signaled a new era of global expansion. Currently there are more than 100 websites in our stable, and they attract a staggering three million visitors monthly. Our partners number more than 50,000 hotels and resorts worldwide. In 2007 we sold in excess of 450,000 room nights . A 40% year-on-year sustained growth rate overall since 2000 is further evidence of our enviable performance as the region’s leading online travel services provider.

In February 2008 we took another step towards global expansion by accepting Australian-based Wotif.com Holdings Limited’s offer to purchase AWD. Wotif.com Holdings Limited is the parent company of the leading accommodation website in Australia and New Zealand. AWD and Wotif.com Holdings have similar stories and visions for the future and joining the two companies has been extremely smooth. Combined, the companies offer our hotel partners exposure to a global audience and offers consumers great rates and reliable and fast service through our five global reservation portals.

At the core of these successes lie a number of key factors that have shaped the company’s future. First and foremost, we foster a service-driven culture. A world-class service meets the needs and aspirations of travellers seeking local-knowledge travel information, a comprehensive hotels database with competitive deals, together with related travel and tour services. This same philosophy of service excellence is extended to our hotel and business partners, for whom we have created the perfect online tools and platforms to promote their properties and services to a massive, ever-growing global audience.

Benchmark, user-friendly technologies – the likes of sophisticated booking platforms, ‘Extranet’ inventory management and instant room availability – have furthermore combined with outstanding search engine rankings to set us apart in this highly competitive marketplace.

The rest, as they say, is history.