ERIC GNOCK FAH

COO AND CO-FOUNDER, KLOOK

Before the pandemic, few Hongkongers knew the word “staycation”. Why stay in the city when the rest of Asia was just a short flight away? The travel and leisure booking app Klook, established in 2014 by Eric Gnock Fah, Bernie Xiong and Ethan Lin, spread from Hong Kong, through Asia then to the wider world, offering competitively priced accommodation and experiences. But after Covid-19 mushroomed, the platform’s future hung in the balance.

In early 2020, Gnock Fah had a brainwave. “People hadn’t lost the travel bug and still wanted to explore locally. We were really privileged to be at the forefront of this to reinvent what travel means, even when borders are closed.”

Klook began offering staycation deals that packaged hotel stays with dining and experiences; once the model proved popular, it began adding “petcations” and “seacations” (cruises that stay within Hong Kong waters), capitalising on the need for original things to do as residents were becoming bored of endless hiking.

The company is well-positioned to take advantage of Asia’s borders reopening, whenever that will be. “We’re much more optimistic [for next year],” Gnock Fah says. “We are ready to bring joy back to people’s lives as they remember the experience and the joy of travelling, discovering new cultures, new cuisines and new languages.”