Chatbot startup TravelFlan wants to change hotel booking

Hong Kong's TravelFlan is offering chatbots to help corporations integrate online travel solutions into their pre-existing services.

TravelFlan runs an artificial intelligence-enabled travel marketplace platform. It has created chatbot technology to help companies sell travel to their existing user base.

• The startup has secured more than $10 million in funding since its establishment in 2015.
• Chief Executive and Co-Founder Abel Zhao is responsible for the firm’s growth strategy and sales. Zhao formerly led travel technology providers Travelport and Amadeus after helping Air Canada to build high-margin travel routes.
• Managing Partner Wang Wenbin previously worked for Amadeus and Renault. He is responsible for overseas partnerships.

TravelFlan utilizes a personalized chatbot engine to drive revenue creation from flight, air, hotel, and local experience bookings. They work with big corporate clients like Samsung and China Mobile. The solution allows them to engage existing users without developing their own travel systems.

• The firm started as a consumer-facing service. Due to high user acquisition costs, the original model was unsustainable.
• The company shifted focus to business-facing services in 2018.
• Operation costs have since dropped by nearly three-quarters. User acquisition fees fell to zero. Other platforms typically spend millions of dollars on marketing, Managing Partner Wang Wenbin said.

“Many compare us with online travel agency platforms like Ctrip and Alibaba’s Fliggy. But we see them as partners rather than competitors because we are serving clients like Samsung and China Mobile who are important distribution channels for their online travel services. Through our chatbot service, they can reach a broader user base for our enterprise clients.” 

—Wang Wenbin, Managing Partner of TravelFlan

In December, TravelFlan received a $7 million A round from SPK AI Travel Tech Fund founded by Lazard Korea at a valuation of $27 million. Other investors in the round include Artesian Capital, Linear Venture, Construction-Radiant Tech Ventures Fund, Hong Kong Government ITVFC Fund, SOSV and its accelerator Chinaccelerator.

Read more here