Tripcarte Asia plans foray into Asean market

> Company aims to be largest online ticketing platform in Southeast Asia within three years

KUALA LUMPUR: Tripcarte Asia, a homegrown travel online platform that lets travellers discover and book things to do, is looking to expand its service into the Asean market, including Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand or Vietnam by end of 2019.

Currently, the startup only has a presence in Malaysia, offering about 90 tours and attractions from Johor, Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi, Port Dickson, Ipoh, Malacca and Penang.

Previously known as MyLangkawiTours.com, Tripcarte Asia provides an online ticketing service that allows travellers to book a single e-ticket that “bundles together” admission to many attractions, allowing individuals to skip the queue at the venue.

Founded and launched in 2015, Tripcarte Asia aims to consolidate the tours and activities market by providing a single online destination to discover and book in-destination activities.

In a recent interview with SunBiz, its founder and CEO Parthiven Shan ( pix) said the company is targeting to be the largest online ticketing platform in Southeast Asia within the next three years.

“There are a few strategies that we are looking at, it is either through partnerships with local company abroad, or we can work from our office here.

“We are looking into the best ways to penetrate this market depending on the countries, the difficulties and the challenges.”

“Currently, we are in talks with a company to set up some sort of operation in Indonesia. Our next immediate destination is going to be Indonesia,” he added.

In addition, Parthiven said the company is also targeting to increase its offering to around 1,000 activities and attractions within the first two years of its three-year plan.

In terms of its revenue target, he said the company is looking to hit RM7 million to RM8 million this year, compared with RM1.6 million in 2017, driven by the increase in number of destinations.

“We have moved to other destinations in other states and we are expanding to all over the country,” he said.

On the funding front, this year, Parthiven said the company is seeking to raise up to RM1 million to scale up its current operations, which is in line with its market expansion plan.

“There are a few venture capital funds that we have lined up to present to over the next few months.

“Previously, we got a direct grant from Cradle Fund, totalling about RM300,000, which was basically used for our business expansion,” he added.