Taiwanese travel firm pledges to drive $100m for Vietnam’s travel industry

Taiwan-based travel platform KKday announced it will double down on Vietnam, aiming to drive over US$100 million in revenue for the country’s tourism industry by 2023.

KKday founder and CEO Ming Chen during an MOU signing ceremony with FLC Group / Photo credit: KKday

The company said it will work with local merchants to launch digital campaigns and expand distribution channels across key cities, including Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, Da Nang, and Phu Quoc. It also plans to triple its team in the country with a focus on business development and marketing roles.

KKday said that its Vietnam business grew 20x amid the pandemic and exceeded pre-Covid-19 levels. As borders now reopen and international travel resumes, the firm expects its revenues to continue to soar.

The company predicts that there will be over 20 million trips taken in and out of Vietnam by 2023. In addition, it expects tourist numbers in the country to log a 50% year-over-year growth in 2022.

KKday also sees a strong opportunity to capitalize on the rising demand for digital transformation from local merchants. Since the start of this year, the company has onboarded over 1,200 new travel operators and aims to double the number of tours and activities in Vietnam on its platform over the next 12 months.

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As part of the expansion, KKday also entered partnerships with four Vietnamese firms, namely theme park developers SunWorld Holdings and VinWonders, airline and hotel operator FLC Group, and online booking platform BestPrice. This will allow the companies to leverage each other’s strengths to bring in more visitors, especially those from Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia.

KKday was founded in 2014 by Ming Chen and has operations in over 90 countries worldwide. The announcement comes after its series C+ round last month, which brought the firm’s total series C funding to US$95 million.