As travellers in the Philippines get smarter and savvier about online travel, they are starting to shift from direct to indirect, said Richard Kua, regional director Asia Pacific for Amsterdam-based Travix which runs CheapTickets as well as BudgetAir in the region.
“They see a $200 flight on Cebu Pacific and then they will check other OTAs for cheaper fares,” said the Philippine-born executive who moved into travel and Singapore last year, after working in the innovation lab of National Bank of Australia, based in Melbourne.
Of the markets in Asia where Travix operates BudgetAir, Kua said the Philippines was showing the strongest growth. “We are seeing triple digit growth and we are seeing high repeats among travellers to the US or within Asia.”
Travix, which is owned by BCD Travel, has had fits and starts in its attempts to expand into Asia and the appointment of Kua last year marks a renewed effort to grow its online presence in the region. Its two brands are present in 14 markets in Asia Pacific, with five more coming online.
It operates CheapTickets in Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore and BudgetAir everywhere else, the latter clearly being the growth brand that it is focusing on. Asked why it doesn’t just rationalise and operate one brand, given how expensive brand building is, Kua put it down to “history and internal structures”.
With no travel experience behind him, Kua has used the past year to learn about the industry and sees many opportunities to improve travel. “It’s a really fragmented market, and there are still lots of inefficiencies – for example, you still see the black screen in the GDSes. There are so many opportunities to consolidate the market too, be in it mobility or tours and activities.”
The biggest change has been in fintech, which was what he was involved in at the National Bank of Ausralia. “I think there was a hand on top to lure me to travel. Look at how travel payments have changed, Alipay is now stock standard but when I started, there was no such thing. Alipay recognized Chinese travellers needed help and did something about it. In India, Paytm offers flights and in the area of instalments, there is still room for growth.”
Last year’s WiT Singapore startup winner, Split, wants to give travellers in South-east Asia an opportunity to pay in instalments and Kua said he was exploring this avenue as well as other forms of enabling customers to pay “beyond debit and credit”.
In a crowded marketplace, Kua said Travix’s differentiation is its longhaul product. “We are seeing more travellers in Asia go longhaul to Europe, US, Middle East and Afica.”
Asked what he thought of virtual interlining, which is what sites like Kiwi.com are offering, Kua called it a great development. “Kiwi.com has opened up the market and another set of possibilities for travellers to explore different carriers and different options. I have seen friends in Australia do this.”
Kua is also taking an active interest in NDC (New Distribution Capability) developments in Asia Pacific, following the global agreement signed between Travix and Amadeus in May this year.
The two companies extended their partnership with a new global distribution deal, which would provide Travix’s online website and travel operators in more than 50 markets with access to the content offered by the Amadeus Travel Platform.
Amadeus said the agreement marked a milestone in its NDC-X programme, and that Travix has had live NDC bookings in production since late last year.
That same month, Travix also became the first third party seller of air tickets to sign up to Lufthansa Group’s NDC Smart Offer system and will spearhead its Partner Programme. Brands featured in the deal include the group’s family of brands, CheapTickets, Vliegwin-kel, BudgetAir, Flugladen and Vayama.
• Featured image credit: Dovidovich/Getty Images
