Malaysia-based Tourplus, which matches travellers with driver/guides and personalized itineraries, was on the road to moderate success when Covid brought inbound business to a screeching halt.
In September last year it raised US$400,000, which allowed it to gain customer traction and it saw business grow 30% month-on-month between September and February. From March, revenues evaporated when borders closed.
Yet, the company started in 2015 by entrepreneur Rickson Goh managed to raise another US$1 million last week from investors including Malaysian business angel Jin Hui Wong, GT-MAX and Chinese accelerator SSOV.
“We developed a new business plan, went to investors and told them we could generate traffic and profit within 12-18 months,” said Goh. “They also know our ability to execute fast.”
The new business plan involves launching an enhanced version of Tourplus, which moves it from a transaction model to a content-led model, and one that’s aimed at the domestic market. Planned to launch November 16, the new app will offer social content to allow domestic travellers in South-east Asia to read reviews and find nearby merchants.
Goh’s aspirations is for it to be the TripAdvisor or Dianping for South-east Asia, with localised reviews for now, while preparing for post-Covid when cross-border travel restarts.
“Right now, there is no demand to book driver/guides because domestic travellers won’t use guides. That’s why we are providing this enhanced content feature.”
To tide things over during this period, it is also offering toll-free airport transfers from RM60.
“Luckily, because of our raise last September, we had cash flow and we needed to do something to survive. We just can’t wait for things to come back,” said Goh.
According to Goh, the company has served 10,000 travellers within South-east Asia since its launch. Travellers book the customised tours within the app, select the car type and the booking is then open to its 3,000 driver/guides to bid for the job.
Goh, who studied IT and business and worked in Maybank to transform the bank’s internal group structure, said he saw a problem to be solved in the last mile of travel – to empower driver/guides with technology and digitise that final stretch. “People want to hire a driver who can take them around, and we can help transform drivers into guides with tech and personalised itineraries.”
He believes that post-Covid, private tours will become a big trend. “We saw that on 10.10 in China and they are predicting that private tours will grow by three times. These families and small groups are also willing to pay more.”
The biggest challenge he faces is educating travellers on how to use the product. He also knows how hard it is to build a consumer brand in today’s market which is why it acts as a supplier to online travel brands such as Traveloka and Klook. “We are like the ‘Grab’ for driver/guides. When people book our product, our drivers bid for it.”
Goh said the $1m new funding will go towards product and content development, as well as pushing social engagement on platforms such as Facebook or with bloggers. It has also been using livestreaming on weekends to keep its community engaged with campaigns.
