Traveloka (<a href="http://www.traveloka.com" target="_blank">www.traveloka.com</a>), one of Southeast Asia's leading flight and hotel booking platforms, is aiming to strengthen its presence in Thailand through Line and Facebook, a company executive said.
The Jakarta-based company was founded in 2012 by three former Silicon Valley engineers, and first entered Thailand in 2015.
This year, Traveloka will rely on social media advertising to further penetrate the Thai market, said Tee Chayakul, country manager of Traveloka Thailand.
"Thais are among the most social media savvy consumers in Asia, so a strategy that emphasises those channels will be effective," he said.
Mr Tee said the company is one of the top TV and out-of-home media ad spenders in the country. Placing advertisement in the right places will bring the right consumers to the company.
Traveloka has recently placed plenty of advertisements on TV and on BTS bogies. The company is in the process of expanding into online channels, aiming at specific markets, including millennials.
"We are targeting channels that truly fascinate the people that use our service," said Mr Tee, adding that Traveloka's emphasis on Line and Facebook will allow them to communicate with customers when they are facing the problems and or have questions.
Traveloka is targeting millennials because they are open to try new things and experiences. "Thanks in part to Traveloka, this sector will go out and explore the world more," said Mr Tee.
At the moment, the company's platform uses four main channels to communicate with customers: a desktop website, a mobile website, iOS and Android applications, and direct calling.
Calling is still the most popular channel in Thailand, as Thai consumers prefer to talk through their problems. Social media is the second most utilised contact option.
Mr Tee said the company expects strong growth this year thanks to a simplified platform. "We expect growth to continue over the next two or three years."
Traveloka is building on that momentum to focus on simplifying the use of services like flight rescheduling. The company also offers 24-hour customer services in Vietnamese, Bahasa Malaysia and Indonesia, Thai and English.
Traveloka is already one of the easiest to use platforms in the market. For example, it allows customers to book flights within two minutes.
The company partners with over 85 international and local airlines, said Mr Tee. It also partners with over 100,000 hotels across Asia, including 10,000 in Thailand, where it hopes to double its presence.
Traveloka has offices in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and The Philippines, but it is looking to further expand its footprint in the region.
Southeast Asia tourism spending is expected to grow 500% in the next eight years, and expenditures in Thailand will represent 20% of share of the growth, said Mr Tee.
