The food delivery platform Robinhood is expanding into tourism with a new one-stop online travel agent (OTA) called Robinhood Travel that boasts a zero gross profit policy, like its initial app.
Srihanath Lamsam, managing director of Purple Ventures, said the new app slated for January eliminates commission fees for hoteliers, the same concept as its food delivery app.
Purple Ventures is a subsidiary of Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) and the operator of Robinhood, which has 2 million users in Bangkok, 130,000 restaurants and 26,000 delivery drivers.
Mr Srihanath said Robinhood Travel also offers flights, car rentals, tours and activities, to support tourism operators such as local airlines, local car rentals and tour guides.
"Apart from hotel bookings, Robinhood Travel aims to be a super app which helps connect customer journeys with multiple activities on local tours or foods," he said.
Phongsak Trintawat, strategic partner director of Purple Ventures, said the app's key advantage is operators can receive payment up to one hour after the guest checks out, as the company works under SCB.
Even though Robinhood Travel does not collect commission fees or cost of visibility boosts like other foreign OTAs, hoteliers can increase visibility by offering guests packages or promotions such as dinners or spa visits.
However, hoteliers still have to pay other costs, such as processing fees from transactions made within the app.
During the first stage, only legal hotels can join the app, but non-registered hotels will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Mr Phongsak said Robinhood Travel is targeting domestic tourism, which should restart by early next year, but international travel might take longer to return, based on the current pandemic situation.
Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, president of the Thai Hotels Association, said with the market slowdown, some hotels have been offering advance packages for 2022 to increase liquidity.
Hotels in Thailand had an average occupancy of only 12.2% during the first half, she said.
