In many respects the impact of Covid-19 to the tourism industry is evident and undoubtedly transforming. With travel restrictions in effect all over the world and most of the tourism attractions being shut down, COVID-19 has dealt a devastating blow to the industry. However, pivoting or adapting in order to survive is one effort to stay in business and will involve the use of technology which could bring a positive boost to startups engaged in travel tech as part of the road to recovery.
Tixcarte Group Sdn Bhd (TixCarte) a Malaysian based travel technology startup today announced partnership with Tiqets for the provision of inventory for attractions via their Automated Programming Interface (API) integration solution. The cloud-based technology platform offers a distribution system that connects travel platform partners directly to a host of attractions and inventory. Via Tixcarte’s tech tools and APIs, attractions and activities would be able to increase sales by automatically accessing various reseller and distribution channels rather than depending only on their conventional travel agents.
Headquartered in Amsterdam, Tiqets raised USD60million in Series C financing which was led by Airbnb. To date Tiqets have more than 1 million app downloads with more than 10 million tickets sold to more than 2,000 venues.
"Tiqets has always focussed on the use of technology to deliver the best & safest service to our customers around the world. With the embedded API from Tixcarte, we are able to bring even more ticket flexibility as well as push for real time availability for many of our venue partners in the market. Tixcarte's solution will be of great benefit as the market slowly opens up with limited capacity across attractions and tours & activities." said Maarten Raaijmakers, Chief Supply Officer of Tiqets.
TixCarte offers an inventory-less ticketing model to over 3,500 attractions and activities in South East Asia. Via their tech tools and Automated Programming Interface (APIs), attractions and activities would be able to increase sales by automatically accessing various reseller and distribution channels rather than depending only on their conventional travel agents. Clearly, Platforms and the API combo are driving the next phase of growth in the travel industry.
“Using technology to create a better experience for travellers is at the heart of what we do at Tixcarte. The development roadmap is based around travellers’ experience and understanding what travel merchants needs and requirements are. Our partnership with Tiqets presents a huge opportunity for us to tap into each others’ market. As certain countries are opening their tourism businesses, the situation enables us to penetrate markets beyond our shores that are operating within the strict SOP requirements.” said Parthiven Shan, CEO & Founder of Tixcarte.
“Looking at the trend and the current pandemic situation, it is clear that leading travel companies are looking towards a vehicle to transition from building their own products and services to just linking seamlessly with an ecosystem of attractions and activities.” added Parthiven.
Currently partnering with AirAsia, Malindo Airlines, Boost and Wechat Pay, Tixcarte targets a gross merchandise value (GMV) of RM50 million towards 2022. With the onboarding of more partners and merchants onto the platform, Tixcarte is bullish with the projection and has a positive outlook for the partners to grow their businesses together.
This content is provided by Hazel Ventures.
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