As countries across the Asia Pacific reopen borders to international travellers, Agoda extends its ‘Welcome Back’ campaign by adding content to improve accessibility and travel efficiency. 

Better autonomy over quarantine stays

Agoda is now expanding its alternative state quarantine packages for travellers looking to book accommodation for their mandatory quarantine needs across Asia.

Repatriates and inbound travellers can now search availability, room type, and pricing in real-time and pick from over 600 government-approved hotels worldwide, including new locations in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Taiwan, and the Philippines, with more market options expected to join the programme in the coming months.

By simplifying the search and booking process participating hotels will also benefit from Agoda’s extensive international reach to drive higher exposure and conversion for travellers looking for a broader selection of quarantine hotels as countries reopen. 

“As international travel remains complex, it is not enough to have good supply and price. We want to give customers autonomy and flexibility over quarantine stays, clarity on which type of rates they need to book, and what requirements and restrictions exist for their travel route,” said Agoda regional vice president partner services Southeast Asia and Oceania, Enric Casals.

Navigating through Covid-19 restrictions 

Agoda has partnered with Sherpa, a digital solutions provider, to build a travel restrictions world map explorer (www.agoda.com/travelmapadvisor).

The interactive map housed on Agoda’s platform will detail entry restrictions and Covid-19 documentation, testing requirement, quarantine protocols and more – for destinations worldwide. The web-based widget pulls together the latest data and information in real-time via an interactive map for easy navigation. 

Travellers can choose a country or territory on the map to identify what restrictions are in place before inputting their passport issuing country, origin and destination country, and vaccination status. 

Agoda is building country and city guides are starting with Thailand due to launch the first week of December, followed by other destinations such as the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, France, US, UAE, South Korea, Japan, and Singapore by year-end. 

Agoda’s recently launched ‘Welcome Back’ promotions will promote international travel via a large marketing campaign across multiple platforms with a promise of lower rates. 

Upcoming products in the pipeline include new Vaccination Badges, which will showcase the vaccination status of hotel staff, with further information on the safety and hygiene standards of each property. This aims to help more conscious travellers gain the confidence/assurance needed in their travel decisions. The travel platform is also working with third-party providers for Covid testing capabilities in key regions. If successful in its test markets, Agoda plans to scale this service globally with other services like Covid-related insurance plans and rapid test kits. 

“These products add to an ever-expanding repertoire of integrated marketing campaigns that have been recently rolled for our partners. Our recent GoLocal and Vaxxed To Go initiatives have proven successful in driving traffic to properties by leveraging Agoda’s various marketing touchpoints and property badges for easy filtered searching. We want to continue building on this to help stimulate both domestic and international tourism,” adds Casals.