Tiket.Com Cuts Marketing and Targets New Segments

Startup provider online travel agent (OTA) Tiket.com said it would not terminate employment (layoff) or cut employee salaries to overcome the negative impact of the coronavirus or Covid-19.

Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Tiket.com Gaery Undarsa said, Tiket.com currently does not include layoff options as a strategy to survive during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Gaery, Tiket.com assesses that cutting employee salaries is the last option they can take to maintain business.

He explained, to survive the Covid-19 pandemic, Tiket.com has two strategies. First, cut marketing and commercial costs on a large scale. “So, we cut marketing and commercial expenses, overall, by 90%.

Because it’s time, we can’t help doing that so we can keep our employees,” Gaery said in an online video conference on Monday (4/13).

Secondly, Tiket.com will change the focus of the business by aiming at online streaming events when its main business, namely transportation ticket reservations, lodging and events fell sharply because of Covid-19.

According to him, currently online streaming events are still free, but Tiket.com predicts that this type of event will become a new trend. However, Gaery did not specify exactly when Tiket.com will enter this segment.

The Company Focuses on Serving Refunds

Currently, Tiket.com, according to him, is focusing on dealing with consumers in terms of the service for filing a refund or refund. The reason is, since the Covid-19 pandemic, refund requests at Tiket.com have increased 10-fold.

However, Gaery said, to date transactions at Tiket.com are still ongoing, although not as large as before the Covid-19 pandemic. Because, there are still some people who are still flying for personal, medical, or government service needs.

The company noted, last week ticket sales on its platform decreased by 75% from usual. However, this means that there are still people who travel by using Tiket.com to order tickets, both airplane and lodging trips.

Previously, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded the number of foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia in February 2020 dropped 885,000 or 28.9% compared to the same period last year. The number is estimated to be shrinking in March 2020, because many airlines have reduced flight schedules and tourist attractions have temporarily closed their businesses due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tiket.com noted that international travel product sales fell 52% during January and February 2020. While Traveloka did not mention the decline in transactions due to the pandemic. But, management revealed, requests for assistance related to refunds and rescheduling flight and hotel tickets have increased 10-fold.

Flight and Hotel Ticket Refunds Jump Up to 10 Times

Tiket.com said that requests for refunds or refunds for service orders through its platform jumped seven to 10 times compared to normal days due to the corona pandemic. The biggest refund request is in the form of airplane tickets and hotel reservations.

Therefore, according to him, the company’s service is currently focused on processing refund services as well as changing transportation ticket schedules and hotel reservations. The company also has provided a number of features that can help its customers in carrying out these activities.

He gave an example, the company has a smart schedule and e-refund feature so that customers can refund or reschedule without having to call customer care services. In addition, the company also detailed the information or procedures of various airlines that experienced changes due to this pandemic.

“Now it can be accessed via our application or website, there is a special page that we aggregate regarding all Covid-19 information,” Gaery said.

Previously, some customers were disappointed because refunds could not be processed in the form of cash, but vouchers that had a time limit. Responding to that, Gaery said that it was a procedure of the service provider.