RateHawk’s New Focus: Asian Travel Agents in the Spotlight

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RateHawk, an online booking system for hotels, air tickets, and transfers catering to travel professionals, has launched its first Asian headquarters in Singapore. Aiming to target travel agents in the dynamic region, RateHawk is offering an advanced booking tool customized for local markets. The establishment of this hub and legal entity in Singapore positions RateHawk as a key industry player, actively supporting travel agents throughout Asia.

Building on its success in Europe and the Middle East, RateHawk is now expanding into the Asian market with localized operations. Local travel agents, operators, travel management companies (TMCs), and other industry professionals will have access to comprehensive travel services on RateHawk’s platform, including over 2.5 million global accommodations, flights from 400+ airlines, transfers in 150 countries, car rentals, FIT bookings, group reservations, and other travel-related services. The platform is available in Thai, Chinese, and Korean, and offers dedicated support lines in Thai and Korean during business hours, along with 24/7 multilingual support to ensure exceptional customer care.

Establishing a legal entity in Singapore will streamline payment transactions, eliminating additional costs due to exchange rates. Travel professionals can make payments in various local currencies, such as Singapore Dollar (SGD), Thai Baht (THB), and Malaysian Ringgit (MYR).

Felix Shpilman, CEO of Emerging Travel Group, stated: “Our preliminary market evaluation showed a strong demand among travel industry players for a user-friendly, comprehensive B2B platform that offers a full range of services at competitive terms, powered by advanced technology and high-quality support. Our early operations in the region have confirmed the product-market fit of RateHawk in Asia. We are now ready to scale our operations and establish a robust presence in the region. We expect our new legal entity in Singapore to significantly enhance the user experience for partners in Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia. For us, launching this hub means laying the foundation to become the leading B2B booking platform in Asia. We will continue to localize our product and ensure full coverage of the entire region.”

RateHawk is entering the region with a commercial team of over 30 professionals—business development and sales managers—covering South-East, South, and East Asia. Each registered partner is assigned an account manager to help with system onboarding, contract customization, and financial matters. Recognizing the potential of the B2B travel sector in Asia, the company plans to expand the team further to support travel agencies across the continent.

Jennifer Chua, Head of Business Development South-East Asia, commented: “RateHawk is perfectly positioned to meet the needs of travel agencies and operators of all sizes, including collaborations through API and tech platforms. Our extensive 2.5 million strong accommodation supply spans over 220 countries, with particularly strong coverage in Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East, which are in high demand among local travel professionals.

“Our plan for 2024 is to strengthen the team and scale the business in Asia by increasing our local reach. RateHawk will be present at several major regional travel fairs, including ITB Asia later this year, where we will showcase our advanced solutions tailored for the local market.”

Launched in 2016, RateHawk employs over 500 professionals in commercial roles globally and has offices in London, Berlin, Milan, Lisbon, Warsaw, Dubai, Limassol, and Wilmington. The platform has over 70,000 travel professional partners worldwide and offers a web platform and mobile app for remote business management.

RateHawk is part of the UAE-based Emerging Travel Group, a global travel company operating brands for individual travelers (ZenHotels), B2B travel professionals (RateHawk), and corporate customers (Roundtrip) across 190+ markets. In 2023, Emerging Travel Group achieved a gross transaction value of $2.6 billion.