Luxury vacation marketplace Rizort has closed a seed round of funding of $2.9 million from a variety of angel investors. The company that launched in March with a focus on destinations in Southeast Asia, such as Bali, raised this round of investment from Blume Ventures, Dream Incubators Japan, and a few others.

The company leverages virtual reality content for Oculus Rift or Oculus Go devices to showcase the destination resorts along with artificial intelligence to generate recommendations that are relevant to a traveller’s interests. A travellers can then explore their room and other experiences provided by their destination resorts, which helps Rizort understand their travel preferences, and book vacation packages accordingly.

Rizort allows travellers to design their own itineraries, based on their travel intent and preferences

Rizort believes in letting travellers design and build their own itinerary based on their intentions and interests. They offer the flexibility to either start from a recommended collection and add/modify experiences to it or build entire itinerary from scratch.

The company also has a Rizort Concierge App that acts as a personal concierge allowing visitors to access their collection details, scheduled experiences, reminders and notifications while exploring additional experiences around them. It also acts as a local guide and support for all things that they may require during the vacation.

Watch the video below to understand how the platform works –

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Asia Pacific (APAC) is a growth engine of the global travel industry, with travel gross bookings projected to hit US$392 billion in 2017. Southeast Asia accounts for just 11% of that, but the region’s growing economies and burgeoning middle class populations make it a key area of focus for forward-thinking online travel agencies (OTAs), investors, startups and suppliers.

Much of the appeal is Southeast Asia’s upside. Its online travel population of 39 million represents just 11% of the region’s adult population. As that figure rises, more travel providers are prioritizing this growing population of young, tech-savvy consumers, eager to travel.

Phocuswright’s The Southeast Asian Traveller offers a detailed look at the behaviours, attitudes and preferences of travellers in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. Each country has distinctive market realties and consumer habits, as revealed by detailed examination of online travel booking habits.

They’re Young, Especially in Indonesia and Thailand

While online travellers tend to skew younger than the total travel population globally, Southeast Asian travellers are significantly younger than in most other travel markets.

Overall, nearly seven in 10 Southeast Asian online travellers are millennials (18-34). In Indonesia and Thailand, the traveller population is even younger: 45% of online travellers in Indonesia and 41% in Thailand are age 18-24. In all four markets, the young traveller population is a defining characteristic that has important implications for online travel. These digital natives came of age in an interconnected world, and many rely heavily on the Internet and mobile devices.

Mobile travel adoption is high, led by Indonesia and Thailand

With high smartphone ownership incidence across Southeast Asia, mobile shopping in general is popular among consumers in the region. The same is true for travel, even though desktop/laptop computers remain the most popular device type for travel shopping and booking across markets.

Mobile travel booking habits reveal a contrast in Southeast Asia – between the more established economies and online travel markets of Singapore and Malaysia, compared to the more recently emerging markets of Indonesia and Thailand.

More Indonesian travellers report booking travel via smartphone in the past 12 months than report booking via laptop or desktop. And although Thai travellers are more likely to use desktop platforms, more than half have used mobile for travel purchases in the past year. Travelers from the more mature markets of Singapore and Malaysia are testing the mobile waters. But they are holding onto desktop bookings in a way their neighbours – who skew younger and have less experience with online travel – are not.

They Prefer General Search for Destination Selection

When Southeast Asia travellers research travel destinations, general search engines are the most popular type of websites/apps used. Roughly seven in 10 travellers in Indonesia and Malaysia used a general search engine to research the destination for their last trip; a smaller share of Thais and Singaporeans use general search, but it is still their top source of information.

Online travel agencies (OTAs) also play a major role at the top of the funnel in Southeast Asia. Overall, travellers are supplementing their general search engine sessions with visits to a variety of information sources – including sites and apps for social networking, traveller reviews, travel providers and messaging.

Get deeper insights on the Asia Pacific market and network with the change makers in the industry at the upcoming Phocuswright India (February 28 – March 2, 2017, in Gurgaon, NCR, India). The three day event features several sessions with APAC’s leading OTAs including a Joint Interview of MakeMyTrip and ibibo Group, Keynote by Yatra.com and Joint Interview of Fliggy (Alitrip) and Paytm among others.

View the full program here.

The registrations are open for just the last few days. Register now to network and learn from Asia Pacific’s most innovative thinkers and leaders in the hospitality, travel and tourism industry.

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The conversations about the Asia-Pacific travel market often converge around China or India. The past 15 years have moved the pointer from markets like Australia and Japan to these countries. Larger population and improved Internet connectivity, primarily via mobile helped this transition. However, on the sidelines, the Southeast Asian market has also evolved into a lucrative proposition for online travel businesses and new products in travel. Companies like AirAsia, Grab and Traveloka have headlined the growth in this region. Young internet connected travellers open to new technologies have created room for e-commerce companies. A recent report by Phocuswright looks closely at this region, primarily the key markets – Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, to understand the trends driving the market and behaviour of travellers. Here are some quick highlights from the report that indicate how the Southeast Asia region is a market ripe for innovators in travel:

USD 55.7 billion opportunity

By the year 2020, travel gross bookings in Southeast Asia- comprising of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand will near USD 55.7 billion. During this period, the region is expected to account for 11% of the total Asia Pacific travel market. A growing GDP across the region (over 5%) is also seen as a contributory factory towards the growth of not only online travel but entire e-commerce industry.

Savvy young audience

Seven out of 10 travellers from the region are millennials aged between 18-34 years and are comfortable searching and buying online, including mobile. The players in online travel space have an opportunity to tap into this behaviour. Indonesia and Thailand have the youngest travellers in Southeast Asia and these travellers are well connected via their mobile devices. Taking a mobile first approach and embracing not only popular social platforms like Facebook and Instagram but also regionally popular channels like Path or Line will help brands connect with these travellers.

Window to inspire

Last year, a majority of travellers from Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia travelled to domestic destinations. However, thanks to the visa-free travel across ASEAN countries, efforts by travel companies to inspire travellers and competitive fares by LCCs, the outbound travel has also registered growth. Up to one in two Indonesian and Malaysian travellers, and more than three in four Singaporeans travelled overseas to other SEA countries last year.

Investors’ attention

During 2014, travel startups across Asia Pacific collectively raised over USD 2.5 billion in funding and the number more than quadrupled in 2015. Travel startup funding in 2016 neared USD 9 billion, significantly higher than North America which indicates the increased interest of investors across the entire region and SEA won’t go amiss.

During the upcoming Phocuswright India 2017, Chetan Kapoor – Research Analyst, Asia Pacific, Phocuswright will share deeper insights from the research to help brands looking to tap into the region. Executives from brands who have pioneered the market will take the stage to share their expertise. Phocuswright India will also see participation from the most influential leaders from around the world offering an opportunity for the attendees to connect with the decision makers and explore synergies to grow together.

The event is scheduled for February 28-March 2, 2017. Registration options and full schedule can be found here.

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