JAKARTA, 4 August 2020: Traveloka has gained USD250 million in new capital from a funding round led by a global financial institution the Asia-wide tourism and hospitality booking site confirmed at the weekend.
Together with participation from some existing investors, the new capital is expected to strengthen further Traveloka’s balance sheet the company reported.
Funds will be used to deepen Traveloka’s offerings in select priority areas. This will include building a more robust and integrated travel and lifestyle portfolio in key markets.
“This virus crisis is a game reset that has forced businesses to rethink their plans and the model. The leadership team has taken difficult yet commendable measures, including restructuring to minimise financial risks,” said EV Growth managing partner, Willson Cuaca, an existing investor who participated in the latest funding round.
In the statement, Traveloka claimed it has seen encouraging recovery across key markets.
“Our business in Vietnam is approaching steady pre-Covid-19 levels, and Thailand business is on its way to surpassing 50%. Indonesia and Malaysia are still in the early stage, but they continue to demonstrate promising momentum with big week-to-week improvement.”
Traveloka’s statements appear to be over-optimistic when compared with the actual situation on the ground in these countries. They remain shut to international leisure travellers, but there is evidence of an increase in domestic travel in the four countries identified by Traveloka.
“We acknowledge that the sector may go through further turbulence as it navigates new waves, but we feel we are prepared to take on the challenge and emerge on the right side of it,” stated Traveloka co-founder and CEO, Ferry Unardi.
Traveloka’s partners across transport, accommodation, activities, and dining also experienced significant disruption to their business – there was feeble demand for transportation with the contrasting escalation of refund requests; hotels saw the lowest occupancy ever; several domestic and regional activities and dining partners chose to shut their doors temporarily due to high uncertainty.
Traveloka implemented measures to conserve capital and refocused its efforts in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam where Traveloka has seen a resurgence of domestic, short-distance travel.
Still waiting for a refund for a flight cancelled in April. Traveloka has been very unprofessional, first promising a refund, then not giving it, then confusing the issue with poor English. I thought it would be a true travel agent.