Walkers Galaxy, a subsidiary of Walker Tours Ltd., launched in September 1996, the first ever online hotels reservation system – the fastest means bywhich any traveller wanting a hotel room worldwide could book it on the Galaxy’s computer, pay for it in rupees, collect the pre-paid voucher and check in at the hotel of his choice without making any payment abroad.
All that a traveller has to do is to contact us regarding his destination and we will provide him with a list of 6000 hotels in 1,000 cities in 60 countries. Once he has chosen his hotel we will book his room and confirm the reservation immediately, said Rohan Siriwardena, Director, Walker Tours Ltd., (Airline Division)
He said his company, a member of the John Keells Group, had obtained the franchise for this facility two months ago but that they had deferred launching this product until they had researched its viability. Also, the feedback was most encouraging.
“Galaxy does not focus on a particular hotel or hotels but sells the full spectrum from the cheapest to the most expensive and also provides a wealth of information. on these hotels and their available facilities.”
Siriwardena said booking a room via this information highway was much cheaper than if an individual were to book one direct.
Roshanie Jayasundera Moraes, Manager Ticketing and Reservations Walker Tours Ltd. says that anyone in Singapore or Hong Kong could also book a hotel room in Sri Lanka since this is a two-way system.
“So far people could only book airline tickets. Now they have instant access to booking rooms”, she said.
