Taiwan Today

Founder of KKday Chen Ming-ming explores the vast potential markets of self-arranged travel.

Chen Ming-ming, founder of Asia’s largest online travel platform KKday, used to have titles such as co-founder of ezTravel Co. and Startravel, as well as general manager of ezfly Corp. Now, he is also an entrepreneur. In 2015, he single-handedly built up KKday, which has organized over 6,000 local tours with over 200 employees in 10 offices across Asia.

Working in the tourism industry for 17 years, Chen has faced a variety of challenges and struggles. In 2000, he gave up the stable income of being an engineer and co-founded ezTravel Co. Unfortunately, the business soon encountered troubles when the dot-com bubble burst. In 2003, he jointly founded Startravel. However, as soon as the business took off, there was an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

During those difficult times, Chen implemented his philosophy of “calmly waiting for proper opportunities to come,” as well as “no escape from challenges.” He said “bad economics is always a good opportunity for the company to lay low and prepare itself.” When the tourism market was miserable due to SARS, Startravel did not slack; instead, they took the chance to build connections with other leading companies that were once out of reach. In addition, Startravel also focused on advancing their online system. “When the country was removed from World Health Organization’s list of ‘infected areas,’ we were all ready to bounce back,” Chen said.

In line with Chen’s projections, the number of people going abroad surged, resulting in a resurgence of the tourism industry. Therefore, it only took Startravel another three years before the company began turning a profit, finally going public in 2008.

Chen also said although the number of travelers can easily be affected by various factors such as the economy and natural disasters, traveler numbers are still increasing in the long run. Therefore, he believes there will always be opportunities to develop businesses as long as you’re ready.

In 2010, Chen took over ezTravel Co. and became the company’s general manger. During his time as the head of the firm, he shifted the company’s main focus from domestic flight ticket sales to international flight ticket trading. The company went public in 2013.

Eyeing Asian markets, planning for tours.

Chen began noticing the growing popularity of low-cost airlines, online booking sites like Agoda and Airbnb, as well as consumers’ preference of directly booking through airlines’ official sites. The three main fields in tourism, he said, are airline tickets, accommodations and tours. After examination, Chen figured that the tour markets in Asian countries had not yet been developed.

He then decided to seize the opportunity and set up a local online tour platform with an operation similar to Agoda. Along with some partners, Chen set up a small space at the Center for Public and Business Administration Education in National Chengchi University. KKday was officially established soon after.

Perhaps due to his ample experience in entrepreneurship, Chen seemed to have less passion in comparison with younger entrepreneurs during our interview; instead, he was running at a more measured pace. Chen explained that he has built up many contacts as he has stayed in the same industry for years. “Unlike young entrepreneurs who need more time to explore the industry, I can spot business opportunities and seize them faster and more accurately.” Chen added.

Chen is considered a legend in the country’s tourism industry. At the age of 27, he was the supervisor of 80 employees at ezTravel; at age 30, he was the manager of 300 employees in Startravel. As he started in the business at a young age, he is willing to provide chances for younger employees to develop and explore their potential at KKday.

He pointed at KKday’s vibrant office and asked, “How many young employees do you think we have?” The average age of KKday’s employees is around 27 years old. Su Min-je, head of KKday’s business development team, is exactly 27 years old, overseeing more than 30 people and responsible for tour development. Having worked alongside Chen for a long time, Su said that Chen is willing to let employees try out their ideas, while giving some necessary instructions whenever needed.

As the online travel industry is booming in Taiwan, more and more agencies are setting up branch offices in the country and aiming for the international tourism market. Facing fierce competition, Chen still maintains his own pace with an optimistic attitude. He said that through the joint efforts of different travel agencies and companies, it will be much easier to promote the country’s tourism opportunities to global markets.

Enhancing competitiveness through insistence on developing business strategies on an international scale

Chen understands that the future of e-commerce depends on the global market. Therefore, when first starting KKday, all strategies were set on an international scale. Even when fundraising for the firm, he sought money from overseas corporations. KKday received US$4.5 million in its initial round of funding in 2016, and also raised an additional US$7 million at the end of last year. Most of KKday’s investors are from areas such as Hong Kong and Singapore.

To date, KKday’s business strategy of operating on an international scale has received positive results. Chen said that people in Taiwan arrange their accommodation abroad through booking on Airbnb and Agoda nowadays, while foreigners are starting to use KKday as a tool to schedule their visits to Taiwan and other countries.

[By Hsiao Yu-ping / tr. by Chiang Pei-ying]