Product Overview: Rakuten Travel
Rakuten Travel is a comprehensive online travel booking platform that caters to both domestic and international travelers, particularly focusing on the Japanese market while also serving global users. Here’s an overview of what the product does and its key features:
Core Functionality
- Accommodation Bookings: Rakuten Travel allows users to make reservations for a wide range of accommodations, including business hotels, budget hotels, guesthouses, and traditional Japanese inns (ryokans) around the world.
Key Features
- Diverse Accommodation Options: The platform offers various plans for different types of accommodations, ensuring users can find the best fit for their needs.
- Quality Assurance: Rakuten Travel has implemented a ‘Japan quality’ badge system, which helps users identify hotels that meet high standards, ensuring a quality stay.
Additional Services
- Car Rental Service: Recently introduced, this service allows international visitors to Japan to book rental cars from approximately 3,000 stores across Japan. The interface is user-friendly, featuring search functionality, icons for easy navigation, and the ability to refine searches by vehicle conditions and type.
User Experience Enhancements
- Authentic Japanese Experiences: The platform goes beyond regular hotel stays by offering authentic Japanese experiences, including traditional ryokans, hot springs, and unique culinary adventures. This provides rich content and images, giving global travelers a deeper insight into Japanese culture.
- Promotion of Hidden Gems: To address concerns about overtourism, Rakuten Travel promotes lesser-known locales in Japan, helping to disperse demand to secondary cities and other hidden gems.
Technology and Support
- Leveraging AI and Automation: The platform uses AI tools to enhance hotel efficiency and productivity, such as faster plan creation and automated query translation. This technology also supports robust global customer service systems with multilingual support, ensuring smooth communication between travelers and hotels.
- Customer Support: Rakuten Travel offers customer service in local languages for key markets, along with local call numbers, making it convenient and accessible for international users.
Loyalty and Rewards
- Mileage Accrual: For ANA Mileage Club members, Rakuten Travel offers mileage accrual on eligible hotel reservations. Users can earn 1 mile for every JPY 200 spent, with miles credited to their account approximately 3-4 months after the stay.
Booking and Management
- User-Friendly Interface: The platform provides a clean and easy-to-use booking experience, with features like one-screen viewing of all supply, 24×7 customer support, and the ability to view rates in various currencies and make payments via credit card or a funded wallet account.
- Travel Agent Portal: Rakuten Travel Xchange offers a travel agent portal that integrates existing supply, displays the best rates, and tracks user behavior to improve the booking process. This portal is particularly useful for travel agencies, allowing them to manage bookings, financial details, and team access permissions efficiently.
Accessibility and Convenience
- Multi-Language Support: The car rental service, for example, is supported in English, Korean, and Traditional Chinese (Taiwan), making it accessible to a broader audience.
In summary, Rakuten Travel is a robust travel booking platform that offers a wide range of accommodation and transport options, enhanced by cutting-edge technology, quality assurance measures, and a commitment to promoting authentic Japanese experiences and lesser-known destinations.