Starting with 2023, Coral Travel enters the Romanian market, part a Coral Travel Group (OTI Holding), a new tour operator travel agency. With over 30 years of experience in the global hospitality market, Coral Travel Group (OTI Holding) operates in various sectors such as tour operator operations, travel agency chain, accommodation, inbound services, destination management center, security consultancy , information technology. During all these years, Coral Travel Group companies have organized vacations for more than 30 million tourists, satisfying the most diverse expectations.
About Coral Travel services, history, objectives and, implicitly, the expectations from the Romanian market, the Airlinestravel team spoke with Tetiana Prokopenko – Deputy General Manager.
You have been with Coral Travel for 15 years, let's talk about the evolution of the company in recent years from your perspective.
I have been working for Coral Group for more than 15 years and I started in Ukraine. At that time, the company was just established, I was the first employee. Later, we became one of the largest tour operators in Ukraine, with almost 400.000 customers a year.
All these years we have contributed to the creation of new innovative products and services, we have assisted in the opening of branches in new countries and destinations, we have developed the largest franchise network of sales offices. I have organized various special events, participated in numerous tourism fairs. At Coral Travel we never stop strengthening our position as much as possible, both in terms of digital and offline products.
The world is constantly changing, at an accelerated pace. It is very important to effectively adapt the company's strategy to market trends and do everything necessary to reorient the company in an innovative direction. If you don't adapt to change, you'll be stuck in the past. It is important to be open to changes, to analyze trends, to think one step ahead, to assess risks.
At this moment, I am proud of my company's achievements, because its vision and philosophy are very close to me, and I am proud to be part of the most stable and reliable company for customers, business partners and team.
Between 23.02-26.02.2023, the Romanian Tourism Fair 2023 took place - the biggest event in the tourism industry. We know that Coral Travel also participated for the first time at our Travel Fair.
Coral Travel Romania started its activity in Romania this year and it is our first tourism fair that we participated in locally. We are mainly focused on the B2B sector, so our main objective at the fair was to present our product to travel agencies.
In addition, we organized a seminar dedicated to tourism specialists, during which we presented the advantages of the partnership, the main destinations of the "Summer 2023" Season and organized a raffle with many gifts and free stays.
At our stand, we invited 20 hotels from the main summer destinations: Turkey, Greece and Egypt. For next year, we intend to invite more hotels to join our stand for a better promotion on the Romanian market.
We also organized the Grand Opening Party and celebrated together with our new partners the beginning of the summer season and the launch of Coral Travel in Romania. The Grand Gala Opening Party took place at the Face Convention Center.
The event program included company presentations, incendiary shows by international stars, gourmet food, premium drinks, entertainment program, prize draw, DJ music.
We enjoyed the presence of more than 380 guests at the party, including the best travel agencies, bloggers, hoteliers, business partners, airline representatives, members of diplomatic corps, etc. 11 valuable gifts were given to the agencies by drawing lots.
Your brand has a long tradition of excellence in tourism. Tell us more about it, the history behind it, the reputation.
Coral Travel is part of Coral Travel Group (OTI Holding) and currently operates in 13 countries.
The first company within the Coral Travel Group was established in 1992, as an incoming operator in Turkey – Odeon Tours. Now, Coral Travel Group is one of the largest international companies in the global hospitality industry, which has 37 companies in 22 countries, with a team of 4.300 employees of 25 nationalities.
Last year, Coral Travel Group (OTI Holding) celebrated its 30th anniversary. It is a group of companies operating in all sectors of the hospitality industry and serving all branches of tourism, such as tour-operating, chain travel agencies, accommodation, inbound services, full destination management services, security consulting, technology Informatics.
It serves more than 3 million tourists in a year and about 30 million tourists in 30 years. The main philosophy of Coral Travel Group is to provide high quality service to all our customers for any budget, it doesn't matter whether it is budget, standard or luxury holidays, without making any compromise on the quality of service.
What makes Coral Travel different from other brands?
The main difference is that we are both an incoming tour operator and an outgoing tour operator. Therefore, we advise our clients from the beginning of their holiday search. We pay special attention to the quality of our services.
From the airport of departure, transfer and meeting with our customers, in the airport of arrival. We consider all the details. We pay attention to all these nuances and it is easy to control every step if we are in the same group of companies, the same management, the same standards and the same team.
Coral Travel has two unique concepts: Sun Family Club and Coral Elite Service.
For holidays with children, the choice of hotel is very important. Family concepts must take into account a lot of important nuances. Firstly, to be part of this concept, hotels must strictly adhere to Coral Travel standards. Here we talk about the quality of the food, because we want to offer healthy food for children, but also about the standards for entertainment places, starting from eco-friendly carpets and toys, to swimming pools and other outdoor playgrounds that must be covered with tents, because in summer destinations it is very hot and children need to be protected. We take into account all the details.
We are also considering a 14-day entertainment program for different age groups, where we have divided the children into four age groups and where professional pedagogues with special education take care of them.
We have a unique 14-day program for children from 6 months to 16-year-old teenagers, which combines educational and entertainment activities - every day they have different play and entertainment themes and learn something new. The symbol of the Sun Family Club is Sunny the squirrel that everyone got to see at the Tourism Fair.
Within the Coral Elite Service concept, we offer a collection of luxury hotels, namely 402 hotels in 14 countries. This concept includes a special type of transfer, an individual office at the airport and an individual approach to our guests.
Regarding our differences from others, I would also like to mention that we have our own incoming company, our own guides, our own transport fleet (coaches, minibuses and cars), our own operating system, refer to the organization of excursions, the call center system for customers, etc.
Everything is under our control. It is a significant benefit for customers and resellers. In addition, our incoming company in Turkey - Odeon Tours - has obtained many quality certificates, for example ISO 10002 Customer Satisfaction Management System, ISO 39001 Road Traffic Safety Management System and others proving that we offer high quality services our customers.
What is your plan for Romania...
In this first year, we will organize tour packages for four main summer destinations – Turkey (Antalya, Bodrum), Greece (Heraklion, Rhodes), Egypt (Hurghada, Sharm-El-Sheikh), Tunisia (Enfida).
Coral Travel will have charter flights from Bucharest and 6 large cities – Cluj, Timișoara, Craiova, Oradea, Suceava and Iasi. There will be ongoing support for agents from our experienced team at the head office in Bucharest and representatives in the regions.
We make available to our customers Coral Group hotels and resorts that are managed by Coral Travel Group. These are our own hotels and hotels that operate according to standards, these being a large number of exclusive hotels of different categories and holiday concepts.
We also have many quality hotels at good prices thanks to the power generated by Coral Travel Group and the overall sales volume to get the best contractual terms and added value for our customers in every country.
Last month we opened sales to agencies. We offer special conditions for payments: the first payment is only 20% of the total price. For the destination Turkey, we will offer the possibility to book business class packages. Two airports in Bucharest will be available, Băneasa – Aurel Vlaicu and Otopeni – Henri Coandă, to be able to choose the most suitable flight. During the season, we will make available even more possibilities. For now, we have already offered the 2+2 =2 promotion and the Coral Elite bonuses.
I would also like to mention that 90% of the software we use is made by our own IT company. We are always flexible and development-oriented in the field of IT. We intend to offer the possibility to our distributors and customers to book combined packages i.e. GDS flights plus different hotels around the world. We have integrated large international hubs such as Hotelbeds, Expedia, etc. Therefore, it will be a great opportunity to create online any tourist package in more than 90 destinations in the world.
Very soon we will present our special offer - Summer Collection - which will include the best hotels and special conditions that agencies and clients will benefit from. Also, a lot of attractive offers and promotional campaigns will be launched this season. Please follow our website https://www.coraltravel.ro/, social media pages and book your summer vacation with Coral Travel.
Coral Travel contact details
Our contacts:
- Goal. for Customers: +40 (31) 490 50 50, www.coraltravel.ro
- Goal. for Partners: +40 (31) 490 50 55, partner.coraltravel.ro
Presentța on Social Media
- Facebook B2B (Channel for agencies. Dedicated information for B2B)
- Facebook B2C Coral Travel Romania (Tourist Channel)
- Instagram Coral Travel Romania
- YouTube Coral Travel Romania
- TikTok
Headquarters: Global City Business Park, 10 Bucharest Nord Street, O23 Building, Bucharest