About HotelOnline

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page” is a popular quote that reminds us that traveling opens new doors, new experiences, and new opportunities. Fortunately, since the early 2000s, the Internet has redefined the travel and hospitality experiences for both travelers and service providers. But as with several sectors in other emerging markets, many hotels in Africa could not keep pace to fully embrace the digital transformation sweeping the global travel industry. 

HotelOnline, founded in 2014, stepped in to change that. The company provides a range of services including innovative revenue management solutions, seamless booking experiences, and lodge management tailored to the unique needs of its customers – hoteliers and travelers. Ten years later and with a strong focus on making travel more convenient for guests and increasing profitability for hotels, HotelOnline has established itself as a leader in the industry. Flutterwave is proud to be part of HotelOnline’s journey to make it easier for hotels to adapt to the changes in the industry. This will also make traveling smoother for people all around the world.

The Challenge

As HotelOnline continued its mission to simplify travel for guests while helping hotels optimize their revenue. The company connects independent hotels in Africa with global Online Travel Agents (OTAs) and assists luxury hotel chains in digitizing their operations. However, as it grew, the complexities of managing payments across various channels and countries began to surface. 

With thousands of hotels and hundreds of thousands of guests relying on its platform across a diverse market such as Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Rwanda, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Nigeria, and Ghana, addressing the payment complexities became critical to increasing customer satisfaction and maintaining growth. Recognizing this, HotelOnline sought a partner that could streamline payment processes and ensure secure transactions for both hotels and guests. One that would not just support diverse payment methods native to over 30 African countries but also had the drive and capacity to scale with them across the continent and beyond. 

The Solution

• Payment Collections from guests via Cards and mobile money, in multiple currencies.
• Payouts to Hoteliers via Bank Transfer and mobile money.

In September 2017, convinced by Flutterwave’s vision to connect the continent by making paying and getting paid seamless, HotelOnline chose Flutterwave to address its payment processing challenges.  Flutterwave provides a comprehensive suite of solutions tailored to meet the specific needs of HotelOnline, its partners, and guests. HotelOnline seamlessly collects payments from guests across multiple currencies via cards and mobile money. 

HotelOnline is also able to make payouts to its partners via bank transfers and mobile money from the same dashboard. In addition to seamless payment collections and payouts, Flutterwave’s infrastructure is built on Microsoft Azure–which powers global businesses like Adobe, eBay, and Samsung, and was designed to grow with HotelOnline, ensuring that as transaction volumes increase, the payment system remains efficient, cost-effective and secure. 

Promise Kept

At Flutterwave, we take pride in our ability to support both new and existing partners, such as HotelOnline, which has been with us almost since the beginning of our journey to make Africa seem like one in terms of payments. Our collaboration and payment integration with HotelOnline allowed the company to focus on its day-to-day operations while we handled the payment process. 

With Flutterwave, it doesn’t matter whether guests want to pay HotelOnline with bank transfer or mobile money in West and East Africa, respectively, they will enjoy a more connected and seamless payment experience wherever their journey takes them. Also, regardless of how hotels want to be paid, they are assured of a timely settlement process. 

From 2021 to 2023, Flutterwave successfully processed thousands of transactions worth millions of dollars for HotelOnline. Notably, the total payments processed during the same period witnessed an average growth rate of 65%. Indeed, this partnership reinforces the power of collaboration and innovation in driving digital transformation and business growth across diverse industries in Africa.

Testimonial

“To achieve our mission of revolutionizing African hospitality with world-class digital solutions, a seamless payment experience is essential. From our first encounter with the team a year after they started, we knew Flutterwave shared our values. They have been an invaluable partner, providing secure, reliable, and scalable payment solutions across multiple markets. We look forward to continuing our collaboration, as we remain committed to enhancing the travel experience for guests and empowering hotels to embrace the next chapter of digital transformation for their businesses.” said Purity Karanja Finance & Administration, HotelOnline.

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