KKday Marketplace Expands Footprint in Southeast Asia

Helping Travel Merchants to Seize the Business Opportunities of International Tourism

TAIPEI, June 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- KKday, Asia's leading travel experiences platform, is committed to promoting the digital transformation of Asian travel merchants with the official launch of "KKday Marketplace" in Southeast Asia. The move comes as the company expects international tourism to rebound in 2023, following a record-high global revenue in 2022. "KKday Marketplace" is designed to help local merchants develop e-commerce operations and expand the service capacity of international travelers while sharing KKday's global network traffic. The first wave of the campaign targets water and outdoor activities operators, offering early bird commission discounts. The goal is to reach 2,000 merchants worldwide in 2023 while expanding cross-border travel opportunities in the post-pandemic era. 

The Southeast Asian market is the driving force behind the quick rebound in tourism in Asia, but according to KKday's local observations in Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia, at least 90% of Southeast Asian travel experience merchants have not made the digital transition yet. On the other hand, more than 85% of travelers who use KKday place orders via mobile devices and are used to digital browsing, online booking, online payment, and instant customer service interaction.

Aiming at digital tourism and contactless service opportunities, after launching the rezio booking system in 2020, which has served more than 5.1 million travelers worldwide, KKday launched the "KKday Marketplace" service at the end of 2021 to help travel suppliers establish their e-commerce brands.

"KKday Marketplace" features six major advantages, through which merchants can set up their stores quickly, list their products independently, price their products flexibly, control their inventory accurately, respond to orders instantly, and access the KKday platform's global traffic. At present, "KKday Marketplace" has more than 1,000 merchants globally, including water and outdoor activities operators, cultural experiences providers, and traditional agencies. In anticipation of the post-pandemic boom in the Southeast Asian tourism market, "KKday Marketplace" aims to expand its local presence in this market.

KKday noted that although many small merchants that focus on Southeast Asian travel experiences have survived the pandemic and have established basic digital operations, such as websites and social media platforms, their ability to attract overseas traffic and international travelers is still limited in the wake of the recovery of international travel. Presently, Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese merchants are using KKday Marketplace's multilingual services to capitalize on the rebounding of cross-border travel. For example, a small local ATV operator in Hualien, Taiwan, MK ATV, has received orders from tourists from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and even Germany and North America after joining "KKday Marketplace," driving a revenue growth of more than 30%. Similarly, OrengeBus, a Japanese travel agency, has introduced multilingual services and enjoyed overseas traffic after becoming a "KKday Marketplace" merchant, generating 12 million yen in revenue within a month, and its business continues to grow with the arrival of the peak travel season.

Southeast Asia has always been an exploration paradise for global independent travelers, and its unique, sophisticated, and exclusive local experience tours are extremely attractive to travelers. To promote business in the Southeast Asian market, "KKday Marketplace" will target small, non-franchise merchants with less than 10 employees and a capital of less than USD10,000, who serve a single city or island, willing to take on casual travelers, with Chinese or English language skills, and services that focus on in-depth day tours and half-day tours experiences.

KKday added that due to the rich and diverse tourism resources and language advantages in Southeast Asia, small-scale local tourism operators will have great potential in the post-pandemic era. In this initial phase, "KKday Marketplace" is targeting water and outdoor activities operators, offering early bird commission discounts, to help businesses establish their brand on e-commerce platforms to seize business opportunities in the upcoming summer travel season. For more information, please visit the KKday Marketplace website. 

(For more news photos of KKday Marketplace, please visit this file link)

About KKday

Founded in 2014, KKday is Asia's leading travel experiences platform with millions of users and 12 offices across the Asia Pacific. Today, the platform offers more than 300,000 unique experiences in over 550 cities and 92 countries. KKday aims to provide users with seamless access to endless lifestyle experiences, from local theme parks and top restaurants to staycations and multi-day hiking trips. 

About KKday Marketplace

At the end of 2021, KKday Marketplace was launched as an open platform, where travel merchants can establish their own ecommerce brands, independently list and manage travel products, and reach KKday consumers first-hand for instant digital order-taking and digital transformation. With the recovery of international tourism, merchants can also reach out to global travelers through the KKday Marketplace multilingual system and grow their travel business. Welcome to access the KKday Marketplace website for more information.

CONTACT: KKday Press Contact, PR Manager, Dennis Lin｜+886-989-528-298｜[email protected]; PR Assistant Manager, Sheena Yang | +886-938-891-682 | [email protected]; KKday Marketplace Contact, Marketplace Director, Clement Wen｜+886-920-646-971｜[email protected]; Product Manager, Stanley Li | +886-911-116-808 | [email protected]

SOURCE KKday