NusaTrip, Indonesia’s online travel agency (OTA) and the travel vertical of Nasdaq-listed Society Pass Incorporated (SoPa), has on Monday announced the opening of an office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
This represented its third Southeast Asian (SEA) regional office outside of Jakarta, following the opening of its offices in Singapore and Manila earlier this year, SoPa said in a statement.
Post the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam reopened its doors to international travelers back in March 2022, and since then domestic tourism has seen a strong recovery, receiving about 4 million international travelers last year.
According to ASEANFocus, 16 million international tourists and 80 million domestic travelers are projected to spend US$34 billion total travel revenue from 2024 to 2026.
In addition, Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam also expects a full travel recovery by December 2023 with around 34 million passengers from Vietnam expected to travel internationally, tripling the travel volume from 2022.
With the aim of increasing its service portfolio across SEA as well as boosting tourism in Vietnam, SoPa said NusaTrip is well-positioned to grasp the huge market potential and serve additional communities in the region.
NusaTrip regional offices focus on creating more variety of marketing initiatives and managing existing business relationships with airlines, hotels and tourism promotion board as partners.
NusaTrip Chief Executive Officer Johanes (Joe) Chang said the opening of the group’s office in Vietnam reaffirms its commitment to bring the unparalleled travel experience to more customers in one of the fastest growing regions throughout SEA.
“NusaTrip will continue to enhance its service portfolio and innovate to cater to changing customer behaviors and fuel growth in the region,
“Considering the market potential, NusaTrip also plans to open more offices across SEA to bring customers an intimate and one-stop booking experience,” he said.
Leveraging the upbeat momentum of the travel and tourism industry post-COVID-19 pandemic, NusaTrip is striving to expand its service offerings in the travel market.
“We are beyond excited to welcome domestic and international travelers onboard our NusaTrip platform. With revenge travel in full swing, this additional choice for consumers is highly timely, especially for those who intend on visiting some of the 3,000 over beautiful islands in Vietnam,
“SEA is a dynamic and diverse engine of growth for NusaTrip. As recovery continues, we are optimistic towards the market in Vietnam,” said Ngo Thi Cham, SoPa Vietnam Country Manager.
Last year, SoPa acquired NusaTrip, a Jakarta-based online travel agency to foray into the travel business in SEA.
The deal also marked SoPa’s entry into Indonesia as well as to its growing ecosystem of technology-enabled companies located in Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
Founded in 2013, NusaTrip is an IATA-licensed online travel agency that serves both local and global customers and partners by optimizing cutting-edge technology and providing 24/7 customer-centric support team-as-a-service.
The firm is now an integral member of SoPa ecosystem.
SoPa was founded in 2018 as a data-driven loyalty, fintech and e-commerce ecosystem in the fast-growing markets of Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, which account for more than 80 percent of the SEA population. The firm has offices located in Angeles, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Manila, and Singapore.
SoPa is an acquisition-focused holding company operating six interconnected verticals (loyalty, digital media, travel, telecoms, lifestyle, and food and beverage), which seamlessly connects millions of registered consumers and hundreds of thousands of registered merchants/brands across multiple product and service categories throughout SEA.
SoPa completed an initial public offering and began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker SOPA in November 2021. Its shares were added to the Russell 2000 index in December 2021.
SoPa acquires fast growing e-commerce companies and expands its user base across a robust product and service ecosystem.
The firm integrates these complementary businesses through its signature Society Pass fintech platform and circulation of its universal loyalty points or Society Points, which has entered beta testing and is expected to launch broadly at the beginning of 2023.
SoPa loyalty program members earn and redeem Society Points and receive personalised promotions based on SoPa’s data capabilities and understanding of consumer shopping behaviour.
SoPa has amassed more than 3.3 million registered consumers and over 205,000 registered merchants and brands. It has invested 2+ years building proprietary information technology (IT) architecture to effectively scale and support its consumers, merchants, and acquisitions.
SoPa leverages technology to tailor a more personalised experience for customers in the purchase journey and to transform the entire retail value chain in SEA.
It operates Thoughtful Media Group, a Thailand-based, a social commerce-focused, premium digital video multi-platform network; NusaTrip, an Indonesia-based online travel agency; Gorilla Networks, a Singapore-based, web3-enabled mobile blockchain network operator; Leflair.com, Vietnam’s lifestyle e-commerce platform; Pushkart.ph, a popular grocery delivery company in Philippines; Handycart.vn, an online restaurant delivery service based in Vietnam; and Mangan.ph, a local restaurant delivery service in Philippines.