‘Nation’ launches leisure and travel search engine

About Twendetwende

• A travel search engine, it offers users the freedom and choice to find the best fares and pricing for flights and hotels.
• Provides a platform through which travellers can locate the best deals on flights and accommodation.
• On the site, users can view hotels on a map which allows them to choose hotels close to an airport or near a business district.

The Nation Media Group has added a new offering to its broad digital portfolio with the launch of twendetwende.co.ke, a powerful search engine targeting travellers seeking flight and hotel bookings.

The search engine is a first for the region; it has been designed to simplify the process of finding the best travel deals for both business travellers and holiday makers.

“We are pleased to announce this new development which is in line with a key element of our digital strategy; that of harnessing our significant online audiences and enabling them to transact online in a safe environment,” said Ann Gitao-Kinyua, the group’s marketing director, on the launch of the Web site.

NMG has some of the most visited Web sites in Africa, drawing close to 50 million page views and five million unique users per month.

“Internet access is growing by the day and we therefore expect that twendetwende will be of tremendous value to those who are online but have had limited opportunities to transact,” said Ms Gitao-Kinyua.

Twendetwende offers users the freedom and choice to search for the best fares and pricing for flights and hotels.

Twendetwende, which loosely translates to “Let’s Go Let’s Go” in Kiswahili, will provide an ideal platform through which travellers in the region can locate the best deals on flights and accommodation to suit their budgets and needs, whether for business or leisure.

The site uses a meta search engine which queries different search engines and combines the results from all of them, thus optimising the search process.

Commenting on the site’s potential, Ian Fernandes, the managing director of the Nation Digital Division said: “International air traffic to and from the continent has been growing at about six per cent year on year over the last decade, while domestic traffic has been growing at 12 per cent”.

International travel to and from Africa comprises 45 per cent of total travel, with travel within Africa accounting for 22 per cent and domestic travel (within a particular country) making up the balance of 33 per cent.

Freedom of choice

“This is therefore the right time to launch a travel product that gives users the freedom of choice and saves them money,” said Mr Fernandes.

A search on twendetwende will yield results from over 700 online travel agents (OTAs) Web sites and over 300 hotel inventory Web sites. The results are placed on a single page, making it comprehensive and user-friendly.

Users can view hotels on a map which gives them the ability to choose hotels that are close to an airport or near a business district.

Users can also filter results by the type of hotel, say five star or budget. The pricing on twendetwende is dynamic, with the user getting the most updated rates; there is, therefore, no need to open multiple Web sites in search of the best rates. Think of it like searching from one place on Google+, Yahoo, and Bing.