Kenya Airways adds hotel inventory to travel offerings

Other local websites, such as Twende Twende, work as search engines by collating flight information across various sites and providing a link to the airline with the best deal.

Goingsafari.com currently allows online payment through credit cards although it intends to add mobile payment options by the end of August this year.

The Kenyan market is, however, known for its reluctance to engage in e-commerce because of fears that local sites may not be as secure as they would want.

Sharma is hopeful about the growth of confidence in the credit card business. He sees MasterCard’s establishment of their head office for East Africa in Nairobi as an indication that Kenya is primed to benefit from global best practices in payment technologies, online data security solutions and types of card fraud.

At first glance, it may seem like goingsafari.com is in direct competition with local agents and operators, but by incorporating an administrative module, it allows tour operators to market their packages and travel agents to manage their bookings therefore doubling as a facility which markets Kenya to the world.

So next time you are travelling, the only reason for a sleepless night should be the business deal you intend to close the next day and not where you will stay when you get there.