Michel Lhuillier, owner of M. Lhuillier pawnshops, (second from left) and Mark Kenneth Calog (3rd from left), who is one of the co-founders of Air You Go Travels, lead the signing of the partnership agreement of the two companies. (CDN PHOTO/Christian Maningo)
Cebu-based travel agency Air You Go Travels Philippines has signed an agreement to allow payment for booked packages at M. Lhuillier pawnshops.
Air You Go Travels operations manager Rhamric Simpron said M. Lhuillier’s huge network of 1,910 branches nationwide will help them provide better service to their customers.
A service fee of P20 will be charged per P50,000 transaction. Michel Lhuillier, who signed the agreement together with M. Lhuillier Financial Services, Inc. district manager Cecilia B. Lumapas, said the partnership will benefit both companies.
M. Lhuillier will be adding more branches, especially in Mindanao, within the year.
“We will be ending the year with 2,050 branches. Nowadays, we realized that you have to be quick and that you have to be where your customers are that is why we are bringing our business closer to them,” he said.
Air You Go was started three years ago by Simpron and Mark Kenneth Calog who created a Facebook page.
They now have an office located at Benley Building at the North Reclamation Area and a booking outlet at the SM Travellers Lounge.
“We now also have 29 contact center agents that takes care of bookings from our customers,” said Simpron.
Eighteen more will be hired. The Facebook page now has 550,000 likes and receives over 2,000 messages everyday.
“From that number of inquiries, 10 to 15 translates to actual bookings,” he said.
Simpron said they are planning to open an office in Manila within the year because most of their customers are from Luzon.
“Our top domestic packages are Boracay, Puerto Princesa and Cebu. For our international packages, the top destination now is Hong Kong,” he said.