Vista Rooms: Making affordable stays predictable

The team at Vista Rooms knows a thing or two about the bare necessities of travel life and that’s why predictability is the unusual buzzword that drives their product. The online branded accommodation generator (a curated version of a booking engine, in laymen speak) was founded by entrepreneurs that understand that travellers have three fundamental needs when it comes to their accommodation – cleanliness, safety and comfort – and has focused business towards ensuring that’s exactly what they get.

Based on the idea that travellers want to sample the experience of staying at a room before they actually arrive, Vista audits every single branded room for quality and the sort of amenities that can mean the difference between an awful, average or excellent stay. Well sized and comfortable beds, clean washrooms, free WiFi, air conditioning and breakfast are a given at any Vista stay. 

The company launched in Sri Lanka in 2016 and began establishing a presence in a still quite uncompetitive market for the type of service it provides. With a focus on generating growth in Sri Lanka and making sure it stays here, Vista Rooms Sri Lanka’s Non-Executive Director Dimitri Sheriff is keen on the company’s 2017 prospects and hopes to triple the daily booking rate by the end of 2018. 

Sheriff is an investor with an eye for companies that cater to a growing market of tech-savvy young customers. He invested in fast delivery solutions provider Quickee.lk in 2015 and now holds the position of Non-Executive Director there, alongside another similar post at Silkroute Foods. Sheriff is joined in Sri Lanka by Mahesh and Rakhil Hirdramani and together, they plan to build the largest network of branded, quality-assured stays in Sri Lanka. 

Following are excerpts of an interview with Sheriff:

Q: What makes Vista Rooms different to most booking engines?

A: 80% of guests in Sri Lanka stay at two or three star hotels. This is our market, and this is the audience we want to engage. This is also an audience that has been largely ignored by the booking sector. The budget traveller is here to stay but they want clean, safe and comfortable rooms for their money. Every Vista branded room comes with guaranteed amenities such as clean bathrooms and sheets, free Wifi etc. So there is very little risk when it comes to booking a room and our clients have peace of mind when travelling.

Vista also has its own booking agency. What this means is that there is full capability for customers to login and make a booking, and when it comes to our hotel portfolio we use guest pictures from other booking engines as well so our customers really know what they’re getting.

Q: How successful has Vista been in Sri Lanka so far? Have targets been met?

A: Very successful. We’re making 30-35 new bookings every day, and clocking in Rs. 10 million in revenue each month. Our partner network is currently at 300 hotels in 30 cities and counting and we’ve only been in Sri Lanka for a year. What we are excited about is the rising domestic travel market. More and more Sri Lankans want to get out for long weekends with their friends and families and Vista serves as an ideal choice wherever and for whatever reason they may travel.

Q: What impact has Vista Rooms had on the market – on customers and property owners? 

A: For customers, it’s all about the experience of knowing exactly what to expect when you book a room. The average price of a Vista stay typically ranges Rs. 3,000-6,000 per night – these can be boutique hotels, service apartments, private villas and even homestays. Across the board bed and breakfast, clean rooms and washrooms and free WiFi have been a constant. 

Our partner network trusts us with their business. We are the sole partner for the entire inventory of 15% of the hotels we partner with. Our hotels also understand that we are more than just sales partners. Our complete focus is on making affordable stays predictable and we are working closely with our partner hotels to bring standardisation to this segment of hotels as well as ensuring that these properties are registered with the SLTDA. We also offer partners an opportunity to market and sell their inventory globally through online travel agencies such as Expedia, and local travel agents in key markets such as India and China. In addition we offer to equip these properties with proprietary technology free of charge.

Q: What market trends have you identified and how are you catering to this? 

A: Well the major trend is towards affordable stays. The industry is looking towards expanding the high-end segment but the fact remains that more and more travellers coming to Sri Lanka are looking at low rates – but they want quality as well. So for 2017 our focus is really on targeting those travellers who arrive in Sri Lanka. 

We’re also very positive on the corporate bookings market, which we began focusing on last year and have supported companies such as MAS, Dialog and IWS Holdings manage their corporate bookings. The standard practice is for companies to give their employee a stipend, and they – or Admin – have to go through many sites to figure out a room that fits in with the budget. We can do this for them quite easily and they only have to deal with one vendor. Vista is able to streamline a company’s bookings on one system, meaning we can simplify and cut costs by up to 20% when it comes to corporate booking procedures. We’ve already got a number of major corporate clients onboard and will build on this by focusing on what we can do to improve our business in this area in 2017.

The other major trend is the growth of companies like Air BnB which have changed how this sector works. Vista is tackling this by including homestays in our partner network – this is really the ideal way for customers to ensure that even homestays – which usually carry the negative connotations of uncertainty when it comes to standardised rooms – meet the basic standards they expect from accommodation. 

Q: What can we expect from Vista in the coming years? 

A: The target is a network of 1000 Vista-partner properties across the island, and 100 room rentals per night by the end of 2018. We’d also like to expand our partner network to 1000. If the corporate bookings segment records the growth that we expect, this is likelier to improve further. We strongly believe that the brand of services that Vista offers is the future of the tourism sector, and that this element of predictability will set us apart from our international competitors. I’d also like to add that our focus is on making sure that all the revenue is generated and stays in Sri Lanka. From our team to investors, all of us are keen on making sure that everything is Sri Lanka-centric.