WorldHotel-Link

Worldhotel-link.com Limited (trading as WHL or whl.travel) is an online travel-services (accommodation and tour) booking network. The company is incorporated in Hong Kong and has offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Prague, Cape Town, Belo Horizonte, Sydney and Miami.

Background

WHL started in 2002 as a project of the Mekong Private Sector Development Facility (MPDF) which is the technical advisory services arm of the International Finance Corporation (IFC, part of the World Bank Group) in the region covering Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Given the skills gaps, language difficulties and Internet access problems facing travel service providers in destinations in the developing world, a new online accommodation booking model was needed which bridged the last mile and allowed locally owned travel product to be connected and sold to the global market.

The approach adopted by the WHL project team was to separate all those things that needed to be done locally (i.e. identifying and negotiating contracts with the local travel service providers or processing the booking) from those best done centrally and which the WHL team managed. Local partners, called e-marketplace operators (MPOs), became responsible for collecting and loading local digital content onto the web and keeping it up to date, as well as acting as the interface between travellers and accommodation providers when questions were asked, bookings made etc. The WHL team focused on the technology platform for content management and booking management, as well as global Internet marketing, provision of payment gateways, and management and technical support.

The first pilot site was established in 2002 in Siem Reap, Cambodia, site of the famous Angkor Wat temple complex. The pilot was done with the cooperation of the Siem Reap Angkor Hotel & Guesthouse Association and early success in Siem Reap led to requests for replication from hotel associations, first in Phnom Penh and then in Vientiane, Lao PDR. Sites were also established in Vietnam and, in 2005, WHL started adding destinations outside the Mekong, in Vanuatu, Samoa and Fiji to test the model in other environments. After successful pilots in these countries it was decided to spin the project off from the IFC to allow the model to be moved to the global market. On March 31st, 2006, Worldhotel-link.com Limited was officially made a private company.

The interesting point of departure for WHL from more traditional online tourism bookings businesses is the unique online/offline franchise business model that has been developed out of necessity in order to service the business. The MPO not only owns and operates that actual online booking business in their country, but also has the opportunity to network with other like-minded tourism professionals in other destinations around the world. This local connection network creates a space where an interesting confluence of social networking and business development come together to share best business practices with previously disparate colleagues.

Current Status

After spinning off from the IFC, WHL added tour bookings to the accommodation booking functionality, as well as instant bookings (booking from allotment), last-minute bookings and packaged accommodations and tours. At the end of 2008 WHL had 150 destination sites live in 60 countries. Projections are that by end March 2009 there will be 200 destinations live in 83 countries. WHL continues to work closely with development agencies such as the IFC, World Bank, IADB and USAID in launching destinations sites in many poor and conflict-affected countries/regions around the world.

To undertake consulting and training work associated with tourism development in developing countries WHL launched a consulting business, WHL Consulting, in July 2008 in a joint venture with Geosavvy Development LLC in the USA. WHL has also developed a program called Caring for the Destination as a means to encourage the adoption of sustainable tourism by accommodation and tour providers.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/

World Plus

World Plus was an airline ticket brokerage operated by one RaeJean S. Bonham and based in Fairbanks, Alaska. The World Plus business model has been described as a Ponzi scheme, and as the largest investment scam in Alaska history.

History

Born RaeJean Franklin in 1950, she moved with her husband Steve Bonham to rural Alaska in the early 1970s. RaeJean served as the postmaster of Chatanika, a small town north of Fairbanks, until 1977 when she was convicted of embezzlement and postal money order fraud.

She moved to Fairbanks and founded World Plus, Inc. in 1983. The travel agency engaged in the black market purchase and sale of frequent flyer miles. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Bonham's World Plus became a Ponzi scheme in 1989, when she began soliciting larger investments in order to repay previous smaller investments. Over the next six years, the number of investors grew to roughly 1,200. Total contributions have been estimated between $15.3 million and $50 million.

In December 1995, World Plus was shut down by United States bankruptcy court, which appointed trustee Larry D. Compton to investigate Bonham's transactions. Compton subpoenaed bank records to determine the extent of the rather secretive pyramid scheme, which had spread primarily by word of mouth. Upon arrival in Fairbanks, Compton claimed to have received death threats from some of the more successful investors.

In United States v. Bonham (1998), Bonham pled guilty to federal charges of mail fraud and money laundering. For these, she was sentenced in 1999 to two concurrent sentences of five years (two suspended) plus ten years of probation.

During Bonham's Federal sentence, the State of Alaska filed additional charges of perjury and securities fraud. Bonham successfully argued that these should be dismissed on the basis that they constituted double jeopardy, but this decision was appealed by the State and overturned in 2001.

Recovery

As of early 2008, Compton had filed 618 lawsuits against investors who had profited from their transactions with World Plus, recovering a total $18.2 million. From this sum he redistributed partial reimbursements to 697 known investors on whom Bonham had defaulted.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/

WhiteTie

WhiteTie is a concierge services, private membership club, online marketing company and travel agency based in Seattle, WA, USA and Hong Kong, China that provides extremely high end concierge services for customers world wide. The company provides premiere access to accommodations, shows, restaurants, entertainment and attractions throughout the world.

The company officially began selling services in April 2004. In January 2007 WhiteTie launched as the official concierge provider of Northwest Airlines.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/

WEXAS

WEXAS is a travel company in the form of a multinational travel club. It was founded in 1970 as a travel club for student and expeditionary travel, the acronym WEXAS standing for World Expeditionary Association. WEXAS specializes in business and individual tailor-made travel and holidays worldwide.

WEXAS sells many travel publications, offers travel advice on the strength of their industry experience, significant discounts on airfares, holidays, cruises as well as other travel services and further benefits including a VIP airport lounge service. The Traveller’s Handbook is an all purpose directory for travelers of all ages, including advice on many aspects of travel, such as airfare discounts, off-road driving, traveling in a Muslim country and receiving tropical disease.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/

Viagens Abreu

Viagens Abreu is the world’s oldest travel agency, as well as the largest travel organization in Portugal. The current headquarters are in Porto, with the main office in Linda–a–Velha, a suburb of Lisbon, in a spacious office building. Abreu has offices throughout Portugal, with over 120 retail locations in the mainland, and the islands of Madeira and the Azores.

History

The Abreu Agency was established in Porto in 1840 by Bernardo Abreu. At the time, emigration from northern Portugal and Galicia to Brazil and Venezuela was significant, and Abreu, a noted businessman in Porto, opened his agency to offer passport and visa services, as well as sales of train tickets to Lisbon and ship passages to and from South America.

Thus the oldest travel agency in the world was created from the close ties Portugal and Brazil still enjoy. After World War II, as the growth of commercial aviation shortened the distances between continents and international tourism expanded, Abreu developed into its current organization.

Five generations later, the company is still owned by the same family and their direct descendants.

Viagens Abreu today

Viagens Abreu offers an integrated service, with specialized departments covering all the major areas of the business (B2C and B2B, inbound and outbound): Leisure Travel, Corporate Travel, Youth Travel, Senior Travel, Tour Operation, Destination Management, congresses, groups and incentives, fairs, and exhibitions.

A steady growth in the Portuguese market lead to the expansion of the company to international locations, with the opening of companies in Brazil, Spain, England, and the United States.

The company owns one of the main tour operator companies in Portugal, Club 1840, which operates Long Haul and Medium Haul charter operations, Scheduled flights operations, Escorted Tours in Europe, and all around the world, Cruises, Theme Parks, Winter holidays, etc.

Viagens Abreu also owns Abreu Carga, a cargo company that operates air, land, and ocean freight from, to, and within Portugal.

Viagens Abreu has a stake in Pousadas de Portugal.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/