As part of Wotif.com's acquisition of his company, Asia Web Direct President Neil Cumming received an appointment to Wotif.com's board of directors. He spoke to Phuket Post about the takeover and about joining the board of Australia and New Zealand's largest accommodations booking company.

How does it feel to be a part of Wotif.com?
Wotif.com and Asia Web Direct (AWD) are very similar companies. We both pioneered the selling of accommodation online in our markets, we both had very humble beginnings of only a couple of people and have both grown into successful business through providing a reliable and efficient service. I am therefore excited to be part of Wotif.com, who I believe will work with our existing team to help us achieve the goal of becoming the leading accommodation website in the Asia-Pacific region.

What made the deal attractive to you?
The strengths of Wotif.com and AWD's booking platforms, Latestays.com and Smartstays.com, complement each other nicely. Wotif.com is the leading accommodation website in Australia and New Zealand, and Latestays.com and Smartstays.com are both strong brands in Asian countries. By combining the two companies, it gives us the ability to leverage off each other's strengths. It will allow us to achieve great results as a company, and this made the deal very attractive to me.

What does this takeover signify for tourism on Phuket?
Since Wotif.com is the leading brand in Australia and New Zealand and a popular site in some countries in Asia, affiliation gives the Phuket hotels and resorts listed on Wotif.com, Latestays.com and Smartstays.com access to a wider variety of customers looking to book in the region and is sure to have a positive effect on tourism in the region.

How does this change or add to your scope and responsibilities?
This change allows me to step back from the day-to-day tasks of the business and focus on guiding the overall strategic direction of the company. It increases my scope, as I will be involved in decision making for the global aspects of the company along with the rest of the board. However, my focus will still be from an Asian perspective.

How Phuket-focused will your work be in the future?
As a resident, I am always very focused on Phuket, and I will continue to reside and work here in the future. I don't think you can help being slightly biased to your home town.

How exactly do Wotif and AWD work together?
Wotif.com and AWD are currently in the process of integration. This will take a while and will be done in phases. However in the future we hope that all of our sites and teams will be integrated without disturbing the experience of the customer at all.

Biggest impediments in a merger like this?
The biggest impediments are time and geography. With Wotif.com's head office in Brisbane and AWD's in Thailand, there is a lot of travel required. Fortunately for us, we are in the right business to accommodate world travellers.