Klook is a Hong Kong based travel activity booking platform. This is a one-stop shop for booking amazing travel experiences. This is an online and mobile platform for travelers to discover and book experiences and attraction tickets. Klook has launched activities in a handful of the most popular destinations in Asia and also expanding to rest of APAC soon. You have booked your flight, then your hotel, so what is the next? There are endless options for things to do at a destination and itineraries you could plan.
The idea for Klook was to facilitate a booking system that would allow people to plan before they go away or when they have arrived at their destination. The name Klook, being an abbreviation of “keep looking” was launched in September 2014. It was founded by Eric Gnock Fah, Ethan Lin, and Bernie Xiong who are the three wander lusters with impressive domain experience. Before jumping into the entrepreneurial realm, Gnock Fah was an analyst in consumer retail and China-focused public equities while Lin brings investment banking advisory know-how for the hospitality and real estate sectors. As the technical co-founder, Xiong has years of mobile development experience for both a startup and an R&D lab under his belt.
Klook offers a selection of expertly curated experiences, as well as some basic necessities of travel like airport transfer and tickets to major attractions. The Klook’s innovative mobile booking platform has been designed to assist travelers in planning and booking their trip before they go. The platform gives travelers the option to book more than 1200 activities at discounts of up to 50 percent. Travelers can book activities in 11 countries and territories in both English and Chinese including top tourist attractions such as Hong Kong’s Ocean Park and Disneyland.
Ethan Lin who is a co-founder of Klook said, “Five out of the top 10 most visited cities in the world are in Asia: Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, and Bangkok. As a Hong Kong-based start-up, Klook is at the epicenter of Asia travel and is well positioned to leverage its geographical advantage to transform into a global travel brand”.
Klook offers tried and tested activities and tickets to attractions in Asia to more than 5, 00,000 users. And also drew investment from China Growth Capital and Hong Kong’s “father of the red chips” Francis Leung Pak-to the chairman for Greater China of CVC Capital Partners. Klook told that they use this money to increase its portfolio of activities and destinations & also enhancing its technology.
Wang Huadong who is a partner at Matrix Partners said, “Travel e-commerce is particularly prone to winner takes all market dynamics arising from networking effects which lead to significant cost advantages. It has emerged as a clear market leader in the travel activities space, way ahead of peers in this region”.
According to Asian brokerage CLSA, the company is planning to tap demand for unique experiences from the growing number of outbound Chinese tourists. The number hit 109 million in 2014 and is expected to reach 200 million by 2020. Klook is set to open its regional headquarters for Southeast Asia in Singapore soon and is considering bases in other Asian locations.
