This article originally appeared on e27, by Shagun Karki.
The travel industry is far from a full recovery. But Traveloka has already seen a demand in travel and staycation bookings.
As the global health crisis hits the travel and tourism industries hard, travels have become driven more and more by necessity –instead of pleasure. With this as a background, travel tech giant Traveloka believes that more people are changing their behaviour due to the “hygiene factor.”
The Indonesian unicorn says that getting tested before moving locations and being mindful of hygiene are the most important things that one can do if they must travel during COVID-19.
Identifying this pattern, the company launched a new feature within its current app where users can book and schedule rapid COVID-19 tests. The idea is that receiving easy access to COVID-19 tests will become extremely crucial in the future for travel companies.
This feature is located in the Traveloka experience page, under the travel essentials. It showcases a range of prices available depending on the kind of service required, which varies from blood tests to swab tests.
Currently, it has partnered with four clinics and hospitals and has made its service available to 44 cities and regencies across Indonesia. Without any subjection, the service is currently not just subjected to travellers but has also been made available to the general public.
This is one of the ways that Traveloka has made a pivot ever since COVID-19 has hit the industry.
Travel trends
Despite having the new service on board, it does not mean that Traveloka is shifting its focus from travel and tourism to healthcare services. This step is taken as an innovation in a time of crisis.
In an interview with e27, Andhini Putri, Head of Marketing, Transport, Traveloka said that despite the impact caused by the virus, it is always important to identify customer pain points and try to solve them.
Domestic travel in Indonesia has already resumed and the company’s goal is to seize this opportunity even further –by providing ease and convenience of access to the mandatory travel requirements set by the government.
“We are very optimistic and we believe that overall the travel industry naturally is very resilient. We are certain that it’s going to bounce back and bounce back even stronger,” she stressed.
“While we are waiting on this situation to recover, our focus is really to work together with the government and all stakeholders in supporting the recovery of this industry.”
According to Putri, Traveloka has already seen a demand for travel and staycation from countries that have ended their lockdown. Even though the industry is far from total recovery, revival is slowly crawling up.
“In Bangkok, people have already started to go on vacation to nearby areas such as Pattaya which are around two to three hours distance from Bangkok. We have also seen a demand for staycation where people are staying in hotels in their city for two to three days in some regions across Southeast Asia.”
Doubling down on these trends, Putri said that the company is offering “clean badges” to hotels and flight partners who they believe are meeting the cleanliness standards. This step is also taken to ensure Traveloka users that safety standards are met by travel and tourism services on the Traveloka platform.
They are also offering customers the option of flexible travel where they can cancel their trip or booking anytime they want.
It is important to note that even while some seem to be celebrating the re-opening of lockdowns, most are still wary of it.
“This pandemic impacts all lines of the travel business. I am afraid that I couldn’t speak about the severity of each partner. In general, since the industry is taking the hit, I think all layers of the industries almost have the same impacts to the businesses” she concluded.
