Indonesian unicorn Traveloka plans to launch financial services in Vietnam and Thailand

Indonesian online travel startup Traveloka is considering an IPO as it plans to launch financial services in Thailand and Vietnam, according to foreign media reports.

It is reported that after the COVID-19 pandemic brought a huge impact on the tourism industry, Traveloka's business has rebounded strongly. In an interview, Caesar Indra, president of Traveloka, said that Traveloka's business volume in Vietnam has exceeded the level before the epidemic, and its business in Thailand has almost returned to normal levels.

He stressed that the worst may be over and we are now ready for 2021, with domestic tourism driving the industry's recovery.

Indra also said that Traveloka's travel business had returned to profitability at the end of 2020, and it is now planning to invest heavily in fintech to allow more tourists to travel in Southeast Asia.

It is understood that the "backers" behind Traveloka include Expedia, China's JD.com Group, Singapore's Government Investment Corporation and Indonesia's East Venture.

Indra revealed that Traveloka is establishing fintech partnerships with Thailand’s largest banks and is in talks with some potential partners in Vietnam, hoping to go public in the United States.

Traveloka, which has 40 million monthly users on its app, is launching a buy now, pay later service in two markets, Vietnam and Thailand. Last year, Traveloka launched a “Paylater” credit card with some Indonesian lenders and offers insurance and wealth management services.

Indonesia is the largest economy in Southeast Asia, but only 6% of its population has credit cards, so it has huge business potential.

Looking back throughout 2020, Traveloka had to deal with turmoil when the global travel and hotel industries came to a standstill.

Traveloka CEO Fery Unardi told Bloomberg in January that business had resumed and that the company had held discussions with several companies, including newly formed firms such as Bridgetown Holdings, which is backed by Peter Thiel and Richard Li.

In fact, in Southeast Asia, it is not only Traveloka that is preparing for an IPO. There have also been reports that unicorns such as Grab, Gojek and Tokopedia will be IPOing or listing. This reflects the interest of other technology giants in investing in Southeast Asian companies and also indirectly indicates the development potential of the Southeast Asian market.

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