KKday’s Thailand roll-out aims to boost Asia growth

KKday, Asia’s leading travel e-commerce platform, yesterday made its official service debut in Thailand, with the aim of strengthening its stake in the Asian region.

Chief executive Ming Chen said KKday’s presence in Thailand will help the Taiwanbased company expand its Asian platform after establishing successful footprints in Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore and at home.

“After our launch in Singapore, we believed we could attract more foreign independent travellers (Fits) to Thailand, which offers a lot of fun activities and memorable sightseeing trips,” he said.

Generally, Fits look for potential online travel experts with local knowledge to help them book trips.

Local travel experts for their part tend to be keen on booking flights and accommodations, as well as helping travellers explore local cultures and off-the-beatentrack destinations.

Mr Chen said the launch of KKday in Thailand is part of broader plans to support e-commerce growth in the country, as an online travel experience platform is suitable for Thais.

He said tourists today want more authentic experiences, so KKday is tapping into this quest for localised, customised travel.

“Thais are renowned for their hospitality and this openness extends to a genuine interest in other cultures and a love of travel,” he said.

The Thai branch is projected t o strengthen KKday’s business, while monthly page views are also forecast to soar.

KKday Thailand expects to have 1 million views per month in three-years’ time, along with 600,000 Facebook fans and at least 300,000 members.

The expansion to Thailand comes after two rounds of funding in 2015 and 2016, totalling 405.9 million baht, for KKday’s future expansion.

Those funding efforts were led by Singapore-based venture capitalists, Monk’s Hill Ventures and AppWorks, the largest start-up accelerator in Asia.

In Thailand, the company has partnered with DTAC Rewards, Eatigo, Tourkrub, Show DC (Lotte) and Nokscoot.

Mr Chen said the next branches of KKday will be opened in Europe and North America.

KKday offers over 6,000 travel experiences in 25 different categories, 174 cities and 54 countries worldwide.