The tourism industry in Indonesia has been negatively impacted as a result of mandatory travel restrictions and the consequent slump in business and consumer demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The gross market value of the online travel business in South East Asia has been reduced by more than 50% year-on-year and now totals USD 14 B at end-2020. As a major player in this category, Traveloka suffered significant revenue losses - especially in the second quarter of 2020.
Facing widespread cancellations across their entire customer base, the company took remedial actions to manage liquidity and to confront the various operational challenges.
The main area of focus was in customer service, given the high level of refund claims. This also enabled Traveloka to observe the changing needs of their customers and to introduce new service innovations in line with the evolving market conditions.
Traveloka saw that domestic travel was picking up as mandatory restrictions were relaxed, which in turn aligned with the company's market positioning as a leading in-country travel provider.
Traveloka is now back on a growth trajectory across all the core lines of business. Newly-raised funding of USD 250 M during the pandemic is proof of the positive investor sentiment that the company enjoys. The fund is being deployed in order to develop a more robust and integrated travel portfolio in key market segments.