Company type:DMC
Company location:Bangkok, Thailand
One of the reasons we chose Lemax is its high level of automation! You have a lot of automatic actions you trigger – auto-confirmations to suppliers, auto-invoices, auto-itineraries, you name it! There is a wide range of automatic actions in your system.
Challenge: quoting 90% of FIT tours in Excel due to a non-satisfying internally developed system
Founded in 1999, Asian Trails prides itself on its extensive specialized knowledge and expertise. Their services range from tailor-made and wholesale leisure programs, MICE and corporate travel planning, to a wide variety of theme-based programs throughout Asia, ranging from art, history to adventure. We talked to Marcel Grifoll, Group CFO at AsianTrails, who shared their journey to finding the best solution for their needs.
Asian Trails had an internally developed integrated system for reservations and accounting. The main problem was that the system didn’t address functionally what they needed. It was concerning in terms of stability, and they couldn’t leverage it the way they wanted. Things were not moving fast enough, so they started to search for a 3rd party system.
As Marcel stated, before Lemax, they used to quote 90% of FIT tours in Excel – out of the system.
“I’ve seen very few tour operators or DMCs that have come up with their own internal system; it is difficult to do that in-house. Get it from the outside, implement it rather than re-invent the wheel, and stick to your core business – travel.” Marcel Grifoll, Group CFO
Solution: fully-loaded product database, FIT itineraries, and functional operations
Speaking of the significant benefits and solutions that Lemax brought, we should name a few of them. For now, most of these relate to FIT, as Groups are yet to come.
- One thing is that they had automated things from their old back-end system – supplier data, customer data, bookings, etc. – coming from two
different systems into Lemax. That was a huge effort, migration was a huge challenge, and they did it with the help of Lemax’s implementation team. - They were able to create a fully loaded database in the system, to have all of their products in Lemax (hotels, transfers, excursions, packages). They didn’t have to create hotel products; they were migrated, which was a significant advantage.
- With all the products and content imported, they got the ability to build itineraries for FIT tours quickly!
- Now they have functional operations that address their needs – transfers, excursions, private services, and coaches.
“What has really been a game-changer for Asian Trails since day one is the ability to have a competent counterpart who understands our requirements, has an efficient functional system, is constantly keen to improve it, and is also working closely with us to meet our needs.”
Marcel Grifoll, Group CFO
Impact: with highly automated processes and central product inventory they gained efficiency for booking and quoting
As Marcel stated, they were quoting in Excel with their old system 90% of the time! Now they have more than half of FIT bookings made and moved to Lemax; the process is straightforward, everything is harmonized – creating a booking and quote is the same process; once they create a quote and want to confirm it, they can change the status with one click.
Marcel emphasized that once you have the database with all the products, you can leverage it in the booking process, easily search the products, find them, book, and materialize the booking.
What he especially emphasized as one of the reasons for choosing Lemax is a high level of automation!
“There is a lot of automatic actions you trigger – auto-confirmations to suppliers, auto-invoices, auto-itineraries, you name it! There is a wide range of automated actions in your system.” Marcel Grifoll, Group CFO
Lemax brings high level of automation
Group CFO
Asian Trails, Bangkok, Thailand