Travel Tech Talks – interview with Enver Mehmeti, CEO of VAS GROUP

We wanted to see how the Albanian travel market has been doing in the past months to at least try to envision the future development of travel businesses in the Balkan area. We invited Mr. Enver Mehmeti the CEO of Vas Group for an in-depth talk about last year’s activity and ongoing plans. Vas Group is one of the leaders in the Albanian tourism sector with an extraordinary experience in the travel industry of more than 26 years.

Claudia wbe.travel: Can you introduce VASDream to us and tell us about your travel tech experience?

Enver Mehmeti Vas Group: Thank you for the opportunity!
VasDream has one of the most advanced travel technology offered in the Balkan region for the last five years. The presentation of the fresh technologies was quite a challenge as all travel professionals in this area are focused on B2C service through small travel agencies with high competition.

The launch of VasDream in the market was not only an ONLINE opportunity but a truly added value for the travel industry in the Balkan area, offering the most powerful actors in the bed bank sector very competitive pricing listings, putting in this way B2C service highly defied by back-office service.
To advance this service even further, the B2B collaboration and the response time are one of our main advantages and also our everyday goals.

We have organized many sessions of training to increase the product knowledge of B2B members and we have also been working very hard with our suppliers to offer the best rates, great availability and flexibility. These are just some of our major allies in the challenge of having OTA operations in the market.

Our vision was to offer a user-friendly technology that would be immediately accepted by the B2B members thus we had to arrange a careful selection of travel software companies that could meet our criteria. This is how we ended up choosing wbe.travel as our partner, to offer us a stable, robust software suite with a great user experience and to fit perfectly to our specific needs.

 

Claudia wbe.travel: What makes VASDream unique in the travel market? Any particularities that are important for your partners?

Enver Mehmeti Vas Group: After 5 years of existence in the market, we can proudly say that VASDream is a solid brand among its competitors in the region. Part of this success is our close collaboration with our partners, with whom we have a long story or co-working as a Tour Operator.

When we launched VASDream we aimed at just one main goal, quality of the service, the thing that couldn’t be materialized without a good team of consultants, combined with operational flexibility, made us believe that we are on the right path to having the leading product in the region.
The company’s financial stability, its background in the travel industry, our dedication to service and careful analyses of the product make VADream a trusted partner for everyone and also a strong competitor in what the market offers in general.

 

Claudia wbe.travel: What services is or will be VAS Dream brand most famous for?

Enver Mehmeti Vas Group: Back-Office quality of service. We strongly believe and invest in this type of solution. Careful study of the market and offering a unique product makes sound grounds for VASDream to lead the market.

 

Claudia wbe.travel: Why did you choose wbe.travel software services? And what software products did you acquire from wbe.travel?

Enver Mehmeti Vas Group: That’s quite a sensitive question. We are working very closely with wbe.travel, almost every day we share our experiences and always seek for improvements from both parts. Despite that, we believe that choosing wbe.travel was the right decision and a very good option.
Their technology is the most advanced, user-friendly and the company is driven by the ambition to be a leader in this field which is also our aim, making thus wbe.travel a good “companion” for our mutual challenge.

 

Claudia wbe.travel: How did you cope with Coronavirus affecting your business and how do you see the impact of the previous year on the future business?

Enver Mehmeti Vas Group: 2020 was an extremely difficult year, a very challenging one. It all happened in the middle of the project, in a moment that we considered as the start of a promising development. Now we are concentrating most of our efforts on being close to the market but the downfall is pretty high to almost 90%.
We are hopping on a positive trend and really counting on our collaboration with wbe.travel’s to lead the travel industry market.

 

Claudia wbe.travel: What are your plans for the near future of your business? What problems or gaps you would like to solve for your clients in the near future?

Enver Mehmeti Vas Group: Our ambitions on growing and the evaluation of upcoming travel technology developments are quite high, but there is no doubt that we will concentrate on being closer to our clients, the B2B travel agencies.
The way to pursue our vision and goals is a long one and full of challenges but we are counting on our partnership based philosophy and on our collaborators; on wbe.travel in this case.

 

Claudia wbe.travel: Do you have any advice for the travel businesses that are just starting their business?

Enver Mehmeti Vas Group: I believe that a deep knowledge of the travel industry’s reality is a great potential and also an excellent opportunity for a new travel business to be a successful OTA service provider.
We, as a service provider in an industry where the competition is very high, have many enthusiastic new suppliers coming up every day, therefore, in my opinion, we need very skilled and experienced travel partners, with vast knowledge not only on the geography of the destinations but also on the technology and particularities of the travel industry.

 

About Vas Group

Vas Group has more than 26 years of experience in the tourism sector, being the leader in the Albanian market.Vas Group delivers its services through multiple companies: VAS Tour Operator, Albtours D – Incoming Tour Operator, Adrian Albania, Vasdream.com, Radio Travel, Alitalia GSA, I Travel  & Albtours D Retail Offices and Premium Beach Hotel.

The group has multiple offices in Albania – Tirana, Kosovo – Pristina, North Macedonia – Skopje, Austria – Viena, Montenegro – Podgorica, United Arab Emirates – Dubai and Mexico.

About VasDream

VASDREAM is an Online wholesaler with representatives in over 10 countries. VASDREAM  has its offices in Austria, Albania, Mexico, Kosovo, Macedonia and Dubai.

Offering 24-hour online access to the lowest hotel rates enabling travel agents and tour operators to book significantly discounted accommodation at more than 200,000 hotels in over 190 countries. VasDream covers over 11,000 destination cities across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, the USA & Canada. VASDream designs and delivers travel services to companies (Travel agencies, Tour operators and Corporates) across the globe.

If you would like to know more about VASDream or simply want to integrate them into your booking system, send us an e-mail at sales@wbe.travel.