The benefits and special rates offered by the Despegar Passport

Digital transformation is a constant process that has taken over all sectors of the economy to offer more and more alternatives and solutions that facilitate processes within the company and, in turn, to customers. In the case of the tourism industry, digital platforms have ventured into prioritizing investment in optimization of its interfaces in order to facilitate the search for hotels, tickets or tourist packages.

(See: The requirements that you must meet to enter the United Kingdom).

Because of this, Despegar has chosen to launch the Despegar Passport in Colombia, with which through cumulative points, buyers will be able to access special rates and redeem points when purchasing a tourist product in the context of reactivation of the sector due to the effects of the pandemic.

For Inés Hochstadter, country manager of Despegar Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, The company is currently betting on innovation, which is why, hand in hand with the passport, they also launched the Temporary Rental service, the business vertical that was born in response to new travel habits such as the Anywhere Office.

“Currently, our offer reaches almost 420,000 properties around the world, of which 68,000 are in Latin America, a number that has almost tripled so far in 2022 and that is projected to accelerate even more in the coming months with the expansion of Stays. net to the whole region“, said.

In order to respond to this constant growing supply, Despegar plans to consolidate the Despegar Passport in Colombia by 2023, so that more and more travelers can earn points and make their dream trip come true.

“This program has already been present since 2019 in Brazil, 2020 in Argentina, 2021 in Mexico and for a few months in Ecuador, and currently has more than 9 million travelers registered in the program. More than 50% of the purchases made on Despegar are made by the millions of passport members“, said.

(See: Avianca speeds up engines to the United Kingdom due to visa removal).

A general level, in take off, during the second quarter of 2022 it exceeded one trillion dollars in gross reserves, This is represented by a year-on-year increase of 129%, levels similar to those of the pre-pandemic.

“This is the third consecutive positive quarter, demonstrating increased travel demand across the region”, he acknowledged.

According to the country manager in the country, the company It is already at levels above pre-pandemic, This is due to the fact that so far this year, searches have increased 47% compared to 2019.

“Regarding destinations, Neiva, Pasto, Cúcuta and Pereira already exceed the figures for 2019 by more than 100%. Beach and rest destinations, such as Cartagena, San Andrés and Santa Marta have not been left behind either and are already growing above 30% versus 2019. Internationally, Punta Cana has become one of the most sought after by Colombians, growing more than 200%“said the executive.

(See: Airline will reward those who reserve middle seats: what it offers).

As for destinations, the most sought after by Colombians to spend this season are those places with beach and sun that are the protagonists. For national trips, Cartagena leads, followed by Santa Marta and San Andrés and in international destinations, searches top Punta Cana, New York and Madrid.

“At a general level, the demand for tourist services continues to grow. During the second quarter of the year our transactions showed an increase of 65% year-on-year, reaching 90% of the volume of the same period of 2019”, concluded Hochstadter.

According to multiple studies, the company estimates that the online market for Vacation Rentals experience 40% growth between 2019 and 2024, reaching 17% in accommodation.

(See: These are the air routes that have been canceled in the country in 2022).

PAULA GALEANO BALAGUERA
Journalist Portfolio