INTRODUCTION

Travelling internationally used to be an arduous task that required meticulous planning and involved many financial transactions. Thanks to digitization, many aspects of travel planning have become simpler than ever. Ticketing and hotel booking startups have come up with creative ways to streamline the process while enticing potential consumers with bargains and services. With trip planning applications, hotel booking apps, flight booking apps, and travel review apps, Travel sector start-ups have influenced the tourism industry. These applications and websites, as well as travel diary apps, show how technology is revolutionising the worldwide travel sector. Recent innovations enable travellers to design economical all-inclusive trips without having to sweat the small stuff.

Travel space is expanding throughout Southeast Asia, offering people with comfortable and easy-to-plan holidays. The growth of Travel Tech start-ups in the area has been enabled by growing wealth and an expanding network of consultants, VCs, accelerators, and tech incubators. Many software start-ups have sprung up in countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand to address the booming tourism demand. Travelling nowadays is 10 times simpler than it was twenty years ago, thanks to various applications and start-ups. Here are a few of prominent Tech start-ups in tourism that are revolutionising Southeast Asian travel.

1. Traveloka: One of Indonesia’s “unicorn startups,” Traveloka is an app that can be used for travel, and help people find adventures close to home. Brought to life in 2012, Traveloka can help you discover a new hair salon, plan a great trip, or find something fun to do on the weekend. It is different from other companies because, while it helps travellers from all over the world, it also pays a lot of attention to the needs of people from the SEA region. Other companies see Asia as a place for Westerners to visit, but Traveloka caters to both tourists and people who live there. Traveloka makes travel much easier by letting you book flights, find hotels and restaurants, rent cars, and even figure out how to get around in the area. It’s great for DIY vacation planning that won’t break the bank.
2. Capital A: The biggest airline in Asia was started with the idea that everyone should be able to fly. Since 2001, AirAsia has quickly changed the way people travel, and become the best in the world. Headquartered in Malaysia, AirAsia’s route network reaches over 20 countries, and the company continues to lead the way for low-cost air travel with new ideas, efficient processes, and a passion for business. AirAsia, along with its partner companies AirAsia X, Thai AirAsia, Indonesia AirAsia, Philippines’ AirAsia Inc, and AirAsia Japan, is ready to take low-cost flying to a whole new level.
3. Aviasales: Aviasales is the most popular travel metasearch engine in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It lets people look for flights, hotels, and rental cars. In 2021, the company had a gross merchandise value (GMV) of more than $1.6 billion and sold almost 20% of all air tickets in Russia. In the same year, iTech Capital and Elbrus Capital put $43 million into the company as part of a Series B investment round. Since it was started in 2007, the company’s main offices in Thailand and Russia now have about 500 employees. In addition to its main brand, Aviasales, the company has a B2B travel technology offering called Travelpayouts, which is a platform for partnerships, and Aviastats, which is a statistical tool (revenue optimization data for airlines).
4. VNLIFE: VNLIFE is a Vietnam-based technology company that builds a digital ecosystem for the tourism, logistics, and business sectors. It lets these industries offer a full suite of digital products to consumers on their payment and service platforms. Since being founded in 2007, the company’s goal is to help startups by giving them technical expertise and business advice, build networks, and generate more money. This will give startups a chance they’ve never had before to grow their products and services on the domestic market and compete on a global scale.
5. Mystifly: Mystifly is a Singapore-based B2B application programming interface that lets end-users buy tickets, shop for airlines, and get help after they’ve bought tickets. It basically works as a global airfare marketplace with prices from 900+ airlines, multi-GDS, and 170+ low-cost carriers (LCCs), as well as 70+ points of sale in the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. The company has been trying to change the way people travel by air since 2009 – by using the right mix of technology and creative thinking.
6. Vntrip: Vntrip is an ecommerce company whose goal is to build Vietnam’s largest and most modern online tourism portal. Incepted in 2014, Vntrip is also a “close friend” of the hotel. It provides hotels with software solutions that have great features and are at the forefront of technology. The business works to make a big change in the travel industry by taking a new approach to how we use and develop technology. We will maximise revenue and improve how hotels sell things online. Vntrip is also a great way to promote the hotel’s image by attracting customers based on objective criteria and giving them the most honest view of the hotel. At the same time, the name of the hotel goes above and beyond what people expect.
7. VeXeRe.com: VeXeRe.com is a Vietnamese website where you can book bus tickets online. It works with many different transportation companies. Since its start in 2013, VeXeRe.com has grown to become Vietnam’s largest online bus ticket platform. They make it easy for people to book bus tickets thanks to their network of more than 1,000 bus companies. This network covers trips within Vietnam as well as trips from Vietnam to neighbouring countries. Their payment options include paying online, paying at convenience stores that are open 24/7, bank transfers, and other options that make it easy for customers to book.
8. Smoove Xperience: Smoove Xperience is an AI-powered travel app that helps you plan your dream vacation while saving you time, money, and stress. Research shows that the average traveller spends more than 10 hours going to more than 38 different websites just to plan a trip. Smoove Xperience has everything you need, from travel guides and an itinerary planner to deals on flights, hotels, attractions, and more! To be exact, there are 160 countries, 40,000 places to visit, a million hotel rooms, and 80,000 tours and activities. Your dream vacation is just a few taps away with this Singapore-based AI trip planner.
9. Goers: Goers is an app for young smartphone users that helps them find fun things to do in their area and book them right from the app. The daily going-out app was conceptualized in 2015, and the company’s main value proposition has to do with finding exciting activities to do nearby – mainly in cities around Southeast Asia. It also offers users the convenience of booking straight from the application. Goers is based in Jakarta and Bandung, and was founded by Sammy Ramadhan, Niki Tsuraya Yaumi & Anselmus Krisna A.K.
10. Agoda: Agoda is an online service for booking hotel rooms that claims to guarantee the best prices, looking for deals on hotels in Singapore and around the world. The website has a list of the finest places to visit in the world and a search directory. Agoda.com can be seen in more than 20 countries and in 38 different languages. One of the oldest companies in this list, the business was founded in 2005 and has its headquarters in Singapore. Its main offices are in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, Sydney, Hong Kong, and Budapest. It also has a presence in other major cities in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas. Booking Holdings Inc. owns Agoda and runs it as a subsidiary.

CONCLUSION

In the Southeast Asian area, the travel business has a lot of promise. The SEA Region boasts a plethora of tourist attractions – the majority of which are year-round or seasonal. This industry is always expanding, and there is still a lot of room for growth. Though the travel and tourism sector suffered a massive hit during COVID as a result of travel restrictions, the situation is slowly easing back to normal. Most of the businesses have recovered from the crisis, and travel is once again on the upswing. Startups in this market should focus on leveraging technology to reimagine travel and stay ahead of the curve. Moreover, startups can research the existing gaps in the travel industry and plan their business offerings accordingly.