Last Minute: Mara

HusseinTRAVEL

New Booking Portal Makes High-End Maasai Mara Lodges Affordable For Last Minute Travel

Last Minute Mara is a new travel platform enabling travelers to seamlessly book all-inclusive package deals to the leading lodges in Kenya’s Maasai Mara at the best possible value, for travel within 30 days. In a first for the country, the platform aims to ensure steady demand for the Mara’s best lodges year-round and is aimed at East African residents or those who are visiting Kenya for business and would like to include some last-minute leisure travel plans.

“The platform uses custom-built technology to pull live room availability and flight connectivity, subject to certain restrictions, making some of the best properties in the Mara accessible to price-sensitive travelers who are willing to sacrifice booking far in advance in exchange for better value,” says Nicole Hankar, General Manager of Last Minute Mara.

Handpicked accommodation partners with deals on Last Minute Mara include:

  • Angama Mara,
  • Alex Walker’s Serian,
  • Asilia,
  • Saruni,
  • Kicheche Camps and
  • Speke’s Camp.

To make these lodges easily accessible, Last Minute Mara has also partnered with airlines such as Air Kenya, Safarilink and Mombasa Air Safari, allowing users to easily book flights between Nairobi and the Maasai Mara at the click of a button.

“Taking a spontaneous break and escaping the hustle and bustle of the city for the vast open plains of the Mara has never been easier or more affordable,” concludes Hankar.

Overview

The Maasai Mara is a unique wildlife destination, unquestionably one of the greatest game reserves on the continent, and the only one with such quick access from a major urban city. It is home to many lodges and camps of vastly differing standards and subject to shifting seasonal demand, to some degree driven by traditional weather patterns and the timing of when the animals of the Great Migration are in the reserve.

High-end lodges and camps rely predominantly on long-lead-time bookings from foreign tourists, often through a highly-intermediated travel distribution network. The result is that the local market of affluent residents in Nairobi is poorly served, as market pricing is relatively expensive, only adapting informally with limited referral-only type access to resident rates, segregated resident / non-resident pricing, or a reactive approach to inquiries, so as not to upset their traditional trade partners.

Last Minute Mara is a new booking platform that seeks to serve this market, using custom-developed technology to seamlessly connect high-end lodges and camps that suffer from seasonal shifts in demand, with the local market who are price-sensitive and willing to sacrifice the certainty of booking far in advance in exchange for better value. This market includes affluent Nairobi residents, Kenyan citizens, and expatriates, as well as transient visitors such as conference delegates and last-minute business travelers.

Last Minute Mara is the first of its kind to deliver an end-to-end online booking process for this sector, including return flights on multiple airlines from Nairobi and accommodation at high-end lodges and camps in the Maasai Mara. It does this by linking directly into the airlines’ and lodges and camps’ bookings systems, making complete travel packages to the Mara – or at the very least flights, transfers & accommodation – available in just a few clicks.

For Properties

The platform aims to provide properties with a new channel to a new market, which won’t be cannibalizing existing business because of the strict 30-day lead time requirements. Through an extensive technology system, it grants absolute control to set the terms on which properties engage, based on a number of factors including the lead time, number of guests traveling and length of stay, as well as analytical reports and the flexibility to change the offered terms in real-time. This could be an effective yield-management tool for properties who are seeking ways to actively fill unsold inventory, often in the loss-leading off-peak months. In time, further development may enhance the ability to offer more complex pricing including children and alternative room-sharing configurations.

For Airlines

The platform aims to provide airlines with an efficient new channel to reach the last-minute market, which could be yielded to fill seats on non-full flying routes.

For Travellers

The platform aims to provide travelers with access to high-end lodges and camps at prices which are a fraction of published and available rates, offering excellent value

Sharing is Caring :)