Asia’s tours and activities platform, KKday has raised an impressive US$10.5 million in Series B funding, led by Japanese travel agent H.I.S., and current investor MindWorks Ventures (a Hong Kong-based venture capital firm) in participation. KKday previously raised US$4.5 million in series A funding in 2016.
Commenting on the partnership, KKday CEO Ming Chen stated, “H.I.S. is not just a financial investor, but is valued as a strategic investor. By utilizing H.I.S.’s global resources and integrating it with KKday’s strong marketing and big data programs, we will be able to change the in-destination travel operations model.”
The investment is a significant marker of the continued growth of the tours and activities segment in online travel, especially in Asia. According to Phocuswright, the travel tours and activities industry will reach US$183B by 2020 from an already sizeable US$135B in 2016.
The funding will be used to expand the KKday’s regional and global profile, on top of its already strong presence in key Asia markets. The company has rested its sights on augmenting its presence in China, and investing in efforts to target USA and European travellers in Asia. The money raised will also be used to help KKday boost its quality and range of product offerings to consumers. The company aims to do this by developing tools that help tours and activities merchants communicate with their customers more easily, without them having to invest in IT.
The company’s CEO, Ming Chen commented, “KKday will be focusing on improving the customer experience and strengthening our relationship with our suppliers. These two strategies are highly related. You can’t improve customer experience without having an amicable relationship with the supplier.”
To do this, KKday has developed a Supply Chain Management (SCM) channel to connect merchants and their customers. The system includes QR code redemptions, and API integration of larger tour providers onto the same platform, to streamline the user experience. It is seen as one step towards sealing the cracks between the notoriously fragmented tours and activities industry.
On the B2C front, KKday plans to enrich is current product offerings through personalised itineraries and improving its end-to-end customer experience. Launched in 2015, KKday has already strengthened its reputation in Asia as one of the largest travel-experience ecommerce platforms. It curates more than 10,000 unique experiences from over 500 cities and 80 countries. KKDay reports having over 4 million unique visitors and serves a few hundred thousand travellers each month.
