CEO Traveloka: We want to create the best products with innovative technology

Mr. Alfan Hendro NVCC

From a search engine, Traveloka has developed into Southeast Asia’s leading Super App for travel and lifestyle with more than 20 products and services in three main segments: travel, local services and financial services. . We had an exchange with Mr. Alfan Hendro on the occasion of the CEO of the technology “unicorn” to Vietnam.

* Why did you choose Vietnam as a stopover when opening the border? How do you assess the market potential here?

– Mr. Alfan Hendro: Vietnam is one of Traveloka’s strategic markets in the region, especially with its rapid recovery from the pandemic, and the government is also focusing on revitalizing domestic tourism. Positive signs of bookings on Traveloka show a bright future for the industry Vietnam tourism, especially domestic tourism. The number of tourists to domestic destinations is gradually increasing. Specifically, luxury hotels from 4 to 5 stars in Ho Tram, Vung Tau, Nha Trang, Da Lat, Phu Quoc, and Sapa are all fully booked even though the prices are significantly higher than usual. In addition to tourism service providers, recent surveys by the Tourism Advisory Board (TAB) also show that self-sufficient travel is increasingly popular. According to a survey conducted in 2021, booking tours to Vietnam through online services has increased and accounted for an outstanding proportion.

* Two years Covid brings huge challenges to the global economy, especially the tourism sector. How did Traveloka overcome difficulties?

– It is undeniable that the pandemic has had a heavy impact on the global tourism industry. Similar to other markets, we also noticed changes in factors affecting the decision of Vietnamese customers as users tend to pay more attention to hygiene and protection issues. health. This change has prompted Traveloka to bring new initiatives focusing on flexibility such as: free cancellation, pay at check-in, hotel vouchers (prepaid, stay later), free flight booking, Easy refund and reschedule…

* You can share the significant change in trend of Traveloka users before and after Covid-19? Traveloka in particular and the tourism industry in general have now caught up with the end of 2019?

– Post-Covid-19 consumers Our company is now more and more interested in health protection. Whenever they plan to travel, they need to make sure that they are choosing partners who strictly follow health and hygiene regulations.

With the increasing coverage of vaccines and the opening of tourism in many countries, activities business Our travel is slowly recovering to pre-Covid levels. The level of recovery in many segments of Traveloka’s travel business has already reached pre-Covid levels and some of our segments are even beyond 2019.

Recognizing strong customer demand, we are optimistic about the pace of recovery in the travel and tourism industry.

* Can you share some impressive numbers that Traveloka has achieved?

– Traveloka is present in six countries, the app has over 100 million downloads and has approximately 40 million monthly active users (MAUs). We offer more than 20 lifestyle products with over 30 different payment methods, including Traveloka PayLater. Traveloka offers a unique combination of travel services, local services and financial services in one app, which is the largest booking app in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. We are also the first (technology) company to introduce Virtual PayLater Number in Southeast Asia, a trusted innovative online payment method with additional layers of protection to prevent fraud and other frauds. unauthorized transactions.

* Finally, what do you think about Vietnam’s Gen Z generation, who like to use technology to prepare for their trip?

– As a technology company with a strong belief in Industry 4.0, we are optimistic and expect that Vietnam’s Gen Z generation will promote and develop the trend of using technology in Vietnam.