This is an article from China Travel Daily.It appears as part of the tnooz sponsored content initiative.

Taiwan-based travel-experience platform KKday has raised $10.5 million in funding.

The round was  led by Japanese travel company H.I.S. with existing investor MindWorks Ventures also partcipating.

The funding will go towards expansion for KKday in the region as well as further improve its product offerings to travelers.

KKday is one of Asia’s largest online travel experience platforms, curating more than 10,000 unique experiences from more than 500 cities and 80 countries with more than four million unique visitors.

Research by Phocuswright projects that the travel tours and activities industry will reach$183 billion by 2020 from $135 billion in 2016. With such a large market, KKday is applying big data analytics to drive business decisions and to refine current offerings in pursuit of curating the optimal customer experience.

Headquartered in Tokyo, H.I.S. has offices located in more than 130 cities around the world. It also has a network of offline resources and organises packages and group tours among other activities.

KKday CEO Ming Chen says:

“H.I.S. is not just a financial investor, but is valued as a strategic investor. By utilizing H.I.S.’s global resources and integrating it with KKday’s strong marketing and big data programs, we will be able to change the in-destination travel operations model.”

This strategic alliance creates many opportunities to explore synergies. Chen adds:

“KKday will be focusing on improving the customer experience and strengthening our relationship with our suppliers. These two strategies are highly related. You can’t improve customer experience without having an amicable relationship with the supplier.”

As the in-destination travel industry is fragmented, managing supply chain is a major challenge. KKday focuses on developing a strong supply chain management system that allows all types of suppliers, big or small, to easily communicate with customers and manage orders without any IT investment.

KKday’s system includes the usage of QR code redemption, and API integration of larger tour providers onto the KKday platform, thereby streamlining the user experience. With a complete technology solution, customers can receive booking confirmation and updates in a timely manner while suppliers can manage their business efficiently.

In addition to growing its operations across Asia, KKday will further improve its position in China as well as expand into the Asia travel segment of both US and European travelers. KKday will also look to enrich current product offerings, offer personalized itineraries, and improve its end-to-end customer experience.

KKday raised $4.5 million in a Series A round in March 2016 and received $7 million in further funding in December 2016.

This is an article from China Travel Daily.It appears as part of the tnooz sponsored content initiative.