Travel-booking platform Klook is looking to grow its 1,200-person workforce to over 2,500 in more than 30 offices by 2020 in a bid to bolster its international presence across Asia Pacific and Europe.
The announcement comes on the heels of Klook’s fifth anniversary today.
Photo credit: Klook
“Asia Pacific and Europe are both extremely diverse and interconnected,” said Klook chief operating officer and co-founder Eric Gnock Fah. For the Europe expansion plans, the exec said that the company aims to replicate its “strong growth in Asia Pacific,” which he attributed to “adopting a hyper-localized go-to-market strategy.”
To date, the company claims to have over 100,000 activities and services in more than 350 locations offered on its platform through direct partnerships with local operators.
Currently, Klook offers localized services in nine languages and supports 41 currencies and multiple payment methods. In line with its planned Western expansion, it looks to support additional languages including French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, and German in the coming months.
The company said it will continue to invest in Asia Pacific – touted as the world’s fastest-growing market for tourism – by advancing its platform’s capability to provide better recommendations for travelers.
Klook is also looking to further support its local operators, with plans to optimize operational procedures from booking and redemption to post-experience reviews. The startup is also expanding its innovation capabilities to Singapore, focusing on connectivity integration and data science, to complement its current engineering hub in Shenzhen, China.
Last week, Klook introduced China Rail, a standalone rail interface – a move that aligns with its expansion plans in the transit sector. The company aims to launch point-to-point train tickets and passes for the world’s major rail networks, according to a statement.
Earlier this year, Klook raised US$225 million in a series D+ round led by SoftBank Vision Fund, bumping up its total series D funding to US$425 million. In addition, it plans to ramp up investments in Tokyo ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Editing by Charmaine de Lazo
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