Easter is believed to be a Christian festival which marks the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As ironic as it may seem, this festival hasn’t been a preserve of only Christians in recent years as many people join in the celebration.

Every festival in Ghana no matter the history behind it is celebrated with fun fair and excitement with Easter being no exception. Easter is usually accompanied by a long weekend with Good Friday and Easter Monday sandwiching the Holy Saturday and Resurrection Sunday.

The long weekend gives many people the rare opportunity to take time away from their regular activities and spend quality time with friends and family. A brief time of the year when school and work are put on hold. For many, travelling is the best option as they easily get tired of their usual environments.

Hotels and flights are usual requirements for travel and with the shift to online bookings, Easter may have a new meaning this year. Jumia Travel, Africa’s leading online travel website examines what the true meaning of Easter could be.

Ease - Hotel and flight bookings have long been at their peaks during festive seasons and Easter is no exception. The world is gradually veering to a completely digital space and online bookings are associated with so much ease. What does ease mean to the online customer? Online booking websites have made securing a room and flightless stressful and effortless. You just go to the website, fill in your preferred destinations and dates, enter your personal details and boom! You are good to go. How easier does it get? Previously, hotel and flight bookings were challenging and stressful with less information available anywhere for proper comparison. Now, you can sit in the convenience of your home or office and with a few clicks, your whole travel is booked.

Availability - In Ghana, the Kwahu Easter festival is one of the biggest in the country at the moment.Each year, many individuals from all over the country and the diaspora trickle into Kwahu to have fun. One vital element that always causes a threat to this fun and enjoyment is accommodation. Getting a comfortable but affordable place to stay during this period in Kwahu is sometimes very challenging. The issue is not that there are not many hotels or guesthouses in this area. The main issue here is often how to find them and even when you do, availability becomes an issue. With online travel portals, you can browse through a wide range of hotels, view their rooms as well as facilities and book in advance. You can know right away whether there are rooms available at your prefered hotels or not. Don’t get there before realizing that it is fully booked. You may end up spoiling your own fun.

Safety - In all spheres of human life, safety is deemed paramount. No matter what we do in life, we always aim to come through unscathed. When we talk about hotels and flights, arriving at the final destination in one piece is always what many people consider. The real issue here is actually how safe the system of booking is. Sometime back, may Ghanaians didn’t trust online bookings as well as online payments. Being sure that the booking made online is real and that a room is made available is one thing while trusting that the money paid will reach the flight company or hotel is another. How safe are hotels booked online because you may not know where you are going and what awaits you there. With trained professionals handling the entire process as well as various checks and balances, you can rest assured that all bookings and transactions are safe for you.

Timeliness - One of the biggest benefits of online bookings is that it helps save time. When you walk into a hotel or airline company to make enquiries or book, you may spend time in traffic and at the reception trying to get your information. Even when you decide to book, you may have to go back and forth a couple of times before you get it done eventually. With online bookings, you can get all the information you need in a few minutes while bookings can be done and confirmed with a few clicks. For business personnel who don’t have much time, booking on impulse is quite frequent. For such people, they require timely service and that is exactly what online booking offers.

Economic - Money! Mankind’s most sought-after item. Nearly everything we do is the aimed at acquiring wealth or saving money. However, booking hotels and flights the old way may just be more expensive that doing it online. Flight tickets and hotel rooms are often cheaper during festive seasons because of discounts and other reductions. Comparing room rates of various hotels or flight quotes from different airlines gives you the freedom to choose your preferred hotel or flight at the price that best suits your budget. The economic impact is that you get to save more. Without being online, you can maybe visit 3 or 4 hotels in a day before you compare. Online, you can check out hundreds of hotels by just a few clicks. It is only when you see the price you want that you book.

Reliable -  If you are looking for a system that you can trust, it’s probably the online booking system. Even with all the fears and setbacks faced in the past, online bookings are reliable because you can immediately get confirmations about your bookings while you also get immediate reminders and updates about cancellations or changes. Also, online bookings are reliable because you get consistency in the quality of service and you mostly have control over your bookings. You can make your own changes and cancel at your own convenience. You may not have to wait for anyone to confirm or cancel your bookings. What’s more? You get real-time updates in the form of emails and notifications. You always know what’s going on and the status of your booking.

Easter may have a religious meaning but to many online bookers, EASTER means enjoying an easy, available, safe, timely, economic and reliable online booking experience.