Catch a glimpse of Tiket’s new chapter at TIA Jakarta 2017

All of us love a good travel deal. We treat finding the cheapest hotel options, flights, and leisure activities as exercises in diligence, patience, and even luck. Technology has certainly made the entire process of travel planning a lot easier, removing the middleman and bringing back power to the consumer.

Recently, Indonesian e-commerce giant Blibli acquired top travel booking site Tiket in order to power-up the former’s travel services. The coming together of the two may be an indicator of the continuing demand for seamless travel e-commerce platforms in Indonesia and in Southeast Asia—as the region’s online travel industry’s value is predicted to grow to US$90 billion by 2025, according to Google and Temasek Holdings’ study.

At the forefront of Tiket’s new chapter is its newly minted CEO, George Hendrata—who previously worked as Business Director of one of Indonesia’s top tobacco company, Djarum and the chairman of BMJ, the world’s third largest specialty paper in the world.

The acquisition in a nutshell

Both platforms have been around since 2011— with Blibli’s strong suit in providing customers with personalized shopping and sharing experiences and Tiket arming itself with a diverse travel inventory by locking-in partnerships with multiple international and domestic airlines and hotels.

Late 2016 marked Blibli’s entrance in the travel space by introducing Blibli Travel. On the other hand, Tiket offers arguably one of the largest local inventories in flights, train travel, hotel accommodations, car rental, and events and entertainment.

Currently, both platforms still operate as two distinct brands— testing out which approach will work best. Beyond utility, the Tiket’s acquisition was also hinged on a similarity in company cultures and values with Blibli.

Sharpening focus on local travel e-commerce growth

As one of Asia’s largest mobile first nations, Indonesia has certainly been hit with the travel e-commerce bug. In fact, research shows that majority of Indonesians primarily use e-commerce platforms for airline ticket reservations, or tour/hotel reservations.

Data from Statista also points to a lucrative local online travel booking industry, with revenues pegged at nearly $2.5 billion this 2017. These impressive numbers and insights add up to a robust travel e-commerce landscape that is arguably projected to grow in the coming years.

Apart from this, digital start-ups such as Tiket is also seen as key forces in Indonesia’s tourism growth. With the Ministry of Tourism targeting to attract 20 million tourists by 2019, it would be interesting to see where Tiket and Blibli can help boost the country’s tourism rates.

What’s next for Tiket?

There’s probably a lot of whys and hows looming in our minds as we think about Tiket’s new chapter. Questions about platform improvements, approach to customer engagement, or even consumer exposure to more quality deals.

Luckily, you may be able to get these answers straight from Tiket’s CEO himself! Catch George Hendrata on Tech in Asia Jakarta’s Main Stage this November 2, and learn more about what can be the future of an industry that helps connect us with our thirst for new experiences.