Go Zayaan: Feeding the wanderlust of Bangladeshi travellers

Who does not love to travel? And when the travel is financed and guided, it doubles the joy. To feed the wanderlust of the travellers and to make travel affordable and easier, Go Zayaan has recently launched travel loan with EMI facility in association with IPDC Finance Ltd.

From now on, travellers can make their trips on credit. They can avail up to Tk2 lakh as a travel loan with up to 18-month EMI facility using their salary account.

The loan remains valid for three months from the date of issuance and it takes only three days to process the loan after having approval from IPDC.

Anyone with a monthly salary of Tk20,000 or more can avail the loan. All they need is a National Identity Card (NID) and an active salary account. What's more interesting is that one can avail the loan with zero percent interest if the loan is repaid within six months.

Talking in details, Sharara said, "Once the loan is approved, Go Zayaan reaches out to the customer and assists on purchases of travel products like tour packages, flights, and hotels. The loan will be activated once the purchase has been made. Multiple purchases can be made with this loan within three months from the issuance date."

She said they started the loan facility for the young corporates who either do not have a credit card or do not have enough limit on their cards.

"In the peak travel season, we serve around 10,000 people monthly. As a data-driven company, our analysts found that people within the average age of 21 to 25 visit our website the most. But the purchases are made by people over that age range."

Go Zayaan launched the loan to turn the dream of travelling of the young people into a reality, she added.

The company also provides 24/7 customer support through chatbot, query agents and customer experience to help travellers round the clock.

The chatbot never misses a chance to provide the customers with every detail they ask for. It understands the urgency of the clients and can take necessary actions to fulfil their needs.

Shamim Ahmed (pseudonym), a government official, urgently required an Australian visa within three days. But he was facing problems to find some help from any agency as two of the days were government holidays. As a last resort, he texted to Go Zayaan's official website.

As it was a case that needed serious attention, Go Zayaan's chatbot instantly replied, "May I transfer you to one of my best agents?"

Go Zayaan has separate team for different services - customer care team, visa team and reservation team. A total of 50 staffs are employed in the venture to serve their customers.

However, the bot transferred his call to an agent of the company and within a few minutes, the agent referred him to the visa team for further steps.

 "Our visa team took the challenge and worked on the off days - Friday and Saturday - as well to prepare all the documents. They completed the whole application process within the deadline. On Sunday, that client (Shamim) got his visa," said Sharara Zaheen, team leader of brand communications at Go Zayaan.

"Our first and foremost preference is the comfort of our clients. They must feel free and cosy to share their problems with us. We provide them with proper information and organise things according to their preferences," she added.

"So, we want to be a platform where all the travel related services will be available – from preparing a visa to hotel booking to providing with any sort of guidance," said Imamul Islam, chief marketing officer of the company.

Started off in 2017, the company has served more than 30,000 customers through their online and offline platform.

"The company has seen a growth of around 97 percent from late 2018 to 2019," says Sharara.

Go Zaayan's officials said that more than 20 percent of the beneficiaries of their website has turned into their regular customers.

In its inventory, the company has flights to all the major destinations from Bangladesh. The company is linked to over 100 airlines and offers visa assistance for over 30 countries.