Karhoo, the world’s largest marketplace and tech platform for taxis and private-hire services, has launched in the UAE with its exclusive representation partner dnata Representation Services.

 

Part of the Renault Group, Karhoo brings licensed fleets around the world together with travel and hospitality businesses to offer smart mobility solutions to travellers. The company’s Mobility Exchange platform provides simple products and integration options allowing partners to natively offer mobility on their websites and mobile apps through a marketplace connecting millions of travellers and drivers worldwide.

 

The partnership will see dnata Representation Services offer travel agents access to Karhoo’s innovative services, enabling them to seamlessly book reliable airport transfers and offer travellers a truly door-to-door experience. dnata Representation Services will also support partners in integrating Karhoo’s Mobility Exchange platform into their website and mobile app to help them further improve customer experience and generate additional ancillary revenues.

 

Welcoming VIP Travel Trade at the launch, Sebastien Doussin - Vice President Ground Services, dnata, said: “A few months ago when Karhoo approached us to launch the product in the region, it was an opportunity we couldn’t turn down. The product is really second to none - something we have not seen yet. We all know that travel goes beyond just the flight and hotel, and this is what Karhoo has realised and completely understood, offering mobility and flexibility to customers and to trade whether it is by geographical cover, whether it’s by diversified content and also all the different demands of travel as it comes together."

 

“It’s not only about the transfer anymore, it’s all about ensuring the experience. It’s about giving choice to not just the customer but also to the travel trade.”

 

Vanessa Heydorff, Senior Vice President, and CCO of Karhoo, said: “Our mission is simple. We have to connect hundreds of companies to their millions of customers with millions of travellers around the world. We are here to offer national fleets in a single platform. This platform not only gives you the ability to present transportation to your final consumer, but also makes it very easy by centralising all contractual payments and receipts and consumer service. The partnership signed with dnata is a milestone for Karhoo in the GCC. We are all here to alight our objectives, together with dnata, we are here to better the digital mobility in the region to ensure and enhance the experience of your consumers. It is crucial to engage and beat the future and be in the right place now.”

 

Mohammed Radi, Vice President, Karhoo, explains how Karhoo works: “It took us almost four years to develop this platform. Why is Karhoo unique? We have aggregated 1,000’s of fleets individually into an API integration. This uses a system called dispatch management system, we go to the fleet, and we integrate with their DPR which means we are connected directly in real time to every fleet in the world. We reconsolidate the demand partners to the supply partners. For example, if you go on booking.com and use their taxi button on their app, this is powered mostly by Karhoo. On the other side, you have the fleet supply like Careem here in Dubai and in smaller cities like in the south of France where you don’t have Uber, Lift or one transport companies, Karhoo has many local fleets as part of their supply chain, all the brands under one roof and for the travel trade, it is the one-stop shop for mobility no matter where your customers travel to. We have more than 2.4 million vehicles worldwide."

 

"Karhoo brings a digital experience to you and your agents and simplifies the way you book on behalf of your customers."

 

"Once you book, you receive a confirmation and this can be shared with the personal assistance, with the family, and you as the travel agent to track your clients’ transport in real time to ensure they have been picked up and dropped off safely and securely. No other transportation company offers you, the agent and your client real time movement. From the customers’ side, they will receive an email when the booking is accepted and confirmed, and the customer can also track the driver through a clickable link on the email. When there is a cancelation by the driver or the customer, you and the customer are also notified. If cancelation is done on the driver’s side (accident or breakdown) the system automatically finds another driver in the area (so limited waiting time) with the same specifications, i.e. luxury, limo, etc."

 

"The Karhoo API allows partners to integrate different functionalities that include creating trips, managing and tracking trips and generating reports. With a couple of clicks, you can receive all of the information you need. You can get the different fares before payment so you can choose pre-book ride, ASAP or defer payment for later. The whole solution is included in the API. This all connects to your existing systems, so you have nothing to change and in most cases, this will only take a few days to configure our API," he said. - TradeArabia News Service