Takaya’s second coming pauses for take-off
LOOKING in the rear-view mirror can reveal much about the future. Scrutinise the past performance of Japan’s Takaya Shinozuka and you see a young tech entrepreneur who won WIT’s very first start up in Japan in 2013, earning him a place in WIT history.
The triumph didn’t come without question marks from some of those who chose Relux – a membership-based accommodation booking site – as the first WIT champion. Scalability and execution were some of the concerns raised.
Clearly, Takaya managed to scale enough. So much so, KDDI Open Innovation Fund, one of Japan’s three largest mobile carriers, acquired the business in 2017. Takaya then raised US$4.5 million funding, and before that, US$3.1 million from Recruit Holdings.
Now, Takaya has flipped from inbound to outbound with his new venture, Reiwa Travel, which aims to change the way holiday packages are designed and managed. Even his supporters see this as a brave move during a pandemic, and Takaya himself describes the road ahead as “challenging”.
Not challenging enough for some deep pockets, though. Backers have pumped US$20 million into the Reiwa Travel business.
“If you look back in 30 years’ time at the current situation, I believe people will see it as the best time to start an international travel business,” he says. “The demographics have been reset, making it difficult for competitors to invest in this area. And on the client side, hotel and airlines are having trouble finding enough customers.”
Takaya says his second attempt at being an entrepreneur raised the barrier well above his first effort.
“The second [venture] had to be bigger, a bigger vision than before. And to do that we needed to invest more. As well, I realised that the job of CEO must focus on four points. First, human resources. Second, product. The third is finance. And the fourth is governance.
“Many successful CEOs rarely focus on product at the beginning. We don’t have time to focus on product, but I realised that if I could hire a CFO at the beginning, it would allow me to invest my time to product.”
Another hurdle for Takaya has been Japan’s focus on economy-boosting domestic travel at a time when outbound has been floored by Covid. He accepts the situation but hopes that countries won’t give up on marketing themselves to Japanese consumers.
“The important thing is for governments in each country to properly promote safety and security for Japanese people, to take the initiative in marketing.
“Okay, the Japanese government doesn’t want people to go to other countries right now, but people want to travel abroad. It’s a very good time for countries to promote their destinations in Japan.”
Takaya concedes the overseas travel market is difficult for start-ups, but he has no regrets. Neither does he feel challenged by running a B2B model alongside B2C model.
“We have to connect with airlines, GDS, our hotels, activity companies and car rentals. Plus, there are tonnes of channel managers all over the world. Also, we need to have a Customer Support Centre in some countries. So, really, I think b2b or b2c doesn’t matter.
“There’s also a lot of competitors, like JTB, Booking.com and Expedia but we don’t want to compete. We just want to differentiate from them. If you’ve ever brought mineral water from a convenience store or a supermarket you know they all taste the same. Same in travel.
“Our difference will be how easily and cheaply it is to book travel. We want to be as accessible as possible. Affordable as possible.”
Takaya says he doesn’t see a massive change in customer behaviour, although more people will want to visit places where they feel safe and are well informed. Demand for premium travel is growing, he says, although his focus will stay on low-cost, value packages.
“Yes, outbound is much, much more difficult than I expected, but I am up and running. Right?”
Right, Takaya.
* Watch the full interview here.
