The Isle of Man’s leading travel company has made history once again by allowing inbound ferry crossings and accommodation to be booked together on one portal for the first time. This development also marks Mann Link Travel’s re-entry in to the Island’s inbound travel market after an absence of more than 25 years.
The customer-facing booking system on www.manxferries.com, which is owned and operated by the award-winning travel company, has been developed in conjunction with the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company to facilitate this landmark. It hopes this will encourage more inbound travel to the Island thanks to the ease with which visitors can now book their trip; www.manxferries.com means passengers do not need to book their ferry trip on one site and then spend time searching through various other sites to then book their accommodation.
Development work has taken more than 18 months and required substantial financial investment by Mann Link Travel and its parent company, Online Regional Travel Group, which is the largest online and offline travel group operating in the British Isles. The company employs more than 60 staff across its bases in the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey, and has roots dating back more than 250 years. The back-office booking system is also now being used to facilitate travel bookings on two other inbound tour websites for the Isle of Man, www.manxtreme.com and www.motorcycleadventures.im.
Frequent worldwide travellers, Trevor and Janet Hemingway, used www.manxferries.com to book a recent trip to the Island and stayed at the Empress Hotel on Douglas Promenade. Janet commented: “I have used the Manx Ferries website a number of times to book our trips and was really surprised this time to find I could book our ferry and hotel together. This was really easy and convenient for me as it saved me a lot of time trying to find somewhere for us to stay. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to visit the Isle of Man.”
Brian Kelly, Chief Executive of the Online Regional Travel Group, commented:
“The ability to book inbound ferry travel and accommodation to the Isle of Man on one site has never been achieved before and is a testament to our technical ability to develop and launch new travel technology that is long overdue.
“Our new online booking engine now allows visitors looking to travel to the Island the ability to also search and book flights and accommodation together, as well as ferry travel, all within a secure local website that’s supported by local call centre staff. It’s very exciting that two external organisations are also utilising our development work for the benefit of their visitors and partners.
“When I started Mann Link Travel in 1982 we became a major player in bringing visitors to the Island. To return to the inbound travel market 25 years later using the very latest technology, some of which we have developed in-house through our five strong IT team, is very exciting.”
Head of Tourism in the Isle of Man, Angela Byrne, said:
”Many of today’s travellers expect to be able to book the majority of their travel arrangements online and through one website. Mann Link Travel has enabled incoming visitors from across the world to do this, and I am confident this will play its part in helping to encourage more people to visit the Island in the future.”
Brian Keenan, General Manager of the Empress Hotel in Douglas, believes this is a positive development for the Isle of Man’s economy: ”I am very confident that Mann Link Travel’s development work will help to encourage more people to visit the Island from around the world thanks to how easy it is for them to book their travel but also look at the excellent range of accommodation available for them to choose from. In today’s 24/7 society, many people don’t have a lot of time to spend searching for a trip away and so I really believe this will have a positive long-term effect on inbound tourism.”
Photo (l-r) Brian Kelly, CEO of Mann Link Travel, presents Trevor and Janet Hemingway with champagne and a bouquet of flowers to celebrate them being the first passengers to book their ferry and travel accommodation together using Mann Link’s www.manxferries.com website. They are pictured outside the Empress Hotel in Douglas where the couple stayed during their visit. On the right of the photo is Empress Hotel Manager, Brian Keenan.
