Society Pass Inc. (Nasdaq: SOPA)’s Travel Platform, NusaTrip, Acquires Vietnam’s VLeisure, Marks Its First Acquisition Outside of Indonesia
Society Pass Incorporated
JAKARTA, Indonesia, April 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — via NewMediaWire — NusaTrip (“NusaTrip”), a leading Jakarta-based, IATA-licensed Online Travel Agency (“OTA”) and the travel vertical of Society Pass Inc. (Nasdaq: SOPA), Southeast Asia’s (SEA) next generation, data-driven, loyalty, fintech and e-commerce ecosystem, today announces the acquisition of VLeisure, a Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam-based online B2B hotel platform servicing small-to-medium size hotels in Vietnam and empowering online and offline travel agencies to manage and distribute travel products and services. The VLeisure acquisition extends NusaTrip’s base of operations and geographical reach outside of Indonesia for the first time. Going forward, NusaTrip will continue to acquire online and offline travel agencies in SEA as it builds a regional travel platform servicing the booming SEA travel market.
The VLeisure acquisition comes at an opportune time for NusaTrip with the dramatic rebound in the SEA travel market from the depths of the Covid pandemic. The marked increase in demand is driven by strong government initiatives to boost tourism, the rise of SEA’s burgeoning middle class and strong internet penetration, which enables more Southeast Asians to more easily book flights and hotels through OTAs. According to Web In Travel, gross bookings in 2025 will reach 94% of the record 2019 levels. And according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the tourism sector expects to welcome 110 million tourist arrivals in 2023, valued at US$27 billion, representing 5.7% of Vietnam’s projected 2023 GDP of US$469 billion.
Leveraging on SoPa’s capital and NusaTrip’s technology, VLeisure will market its hotel management SaaS products to small-to-medium size hotels initially in Vietnam and then to the rest of SEA. In addition, NusaTrip now acquires an operational foothold to significantly expand its B2C and B2B businesses in Vietnam. Phan Le, VLeisure Founder and Managing Director, comments, “I am honoured to join the SoPa ecosystem and Nusatrip. With SoPa’s rapid growth in 2021 and 2022 and NusaTrip’s position as a leading IATA-licensed travel platform in Indonesia, VLeisure now is able to access our parent companies’ infrastructure of capital, technology, marketing, and customer support, allowing VLeisure to better serve our Vietnam-based customers and accelerate growth in our hotel business. VLeisure’s trip planning, booking capabilities, hotel technology expertise complements Nusatrip’s existing travel services to deliver a more personalised user experience. Furthermore, as a Vietnamese, I am proud to join the first Vietnam-based company to be listed on Nasdaq. SoPa’s Nasdaq IPO in November 2021 is truly an historical event for Vietnam’s economy and an inspiration for all Vietnamese entrepreneurs.”
Founded in 2011 as a Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam-based online marketplace for hotels, airlines, and travel agencies, VLeisure empowers Vietnamese, regional and international OTAs by distributing their travel products. Travel agents access to VLeisure’s extensive inventory of over 650,000 registered hotels. It is also a hotel technology platform servicing small-to-medium-size hotels with customer booking and revenue collection software solutions.
Dennis Nguyen, Society Pass Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and NusaTrip Chairman, expounds, “We happily welcome VLeisure into our ever-expanding NusaTrip ecosystem. VLeisure seamlessly blends into our user and merchant growth strategy. We combine NusaTrip’s robust flight B2B technology and B2C operational breadth with VLeisure extensive hotel management software solutions. With Phan’s significant experience and knowledge of the Vietnamese travel sector, I appoint him as the Managing Director of Nusatrip Vietnam. As Head of our Hotel Business, his expertise in hotel technology allows him to create unique travel goods and services that meet the demands of Vietnamese travellers.”
Mr. Nguyen further explains, “As a Vietnamese, I am especially proud to continue to finance and support Vietnam’s start-up sector with this VLeisure acquisition. I believe that our Vietnamese entrepreneurs will continue to be an example for the rest of SEA. We look no further than the example of Phan Le.”
About VLeisure
Founded in 2011 as a Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam-based online marketplace for hotels, airlines, and travel agencies, VLeisure is a hotel technology platform servicing small-to-medium size hotels with customer booking and revenue collection software solutions. In addition, travel agents access to the company’s extensive inventory of over 650,000 registered hotels.
VLeisure is now an integral member of NusaTrip.
For more information, please visit: https://www.vleisure.com.
About NusaTrip
Founded in 2013, NusaTrip is a Jakarta, Indonesia-based, IATA-licensed online travel agency that serves both local and global customers and partners by optimizing cutting-edge technology and providing 24/7 customer-centric support team-as-a-service. With its first mover advantage, NusaTrip has onboarded +1.2 million registered users, +500 airlines and +200,000 hotels around the world as well as connected with over 80 million unique visitors.
NusaTrip is now an integral member of Society Pass (Nasdaq: SoPa) ecosystem.
For more information, please visit: https://www.nusatrip.com.
About Society Pass Inc.
Founded in 2018 as a data-driven loyalty, fintech and e-commerce ecosystem in the fast-growing markets of Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, which account for more than 80% of the SEA population, and with offices located in Angeles, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Manila, and Singapore, Society Pass Incorporated (Nasdaq: SOPA) is an acquisition-focused holding company operating 6 interconnected verticals (loyalty, digital media, travel, telecoms, lifestyle, and F&B), which seamlessly connects millions of registered consumers and hundreds of thousands of registered merchants/brands across multiple product and service categories throughout SEA.
Society Pass completed an initial public offering and began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker SOPA in November 2021. SOPA shares were added to the Russell 2000 index in December 2021.
SoPa acquires fast growing e-commerce companies and expands its user base across a robust product and service ecosystem. SoPa integrates these complementary businesses through its signature Society Pass fintech platform and circulation of its universal loyalty points or Society Points, which has entered beta testing and is expected to launch broadly at the beginning of 2023. Society Pass loyalty program members earn and redeem Society Points and receive personalised promotions based on SoPa’s data capabilities and understanding of consumer shopping behaviour. SoPa has amassed more than 3.3 million registered consumers and over 650,000 registered merchants and brands. It has invested 2+ years building proprietary IT architecture to effectively scale and support its consumers, merchants, and acquisitions.
Society Pass leverages technology to tailor a more personalised experience for customers in the purchase journey and to transform the entire retail value chain in SEA. SoPa operates Thoughtful Media Group, a Thailand-based, a social commerce-focused, premium digital video multi-platform network; NusaTrip, a leading Indonesia-based Online Travel Agency; VLeisure, a Vietnam-based hotel technology platform; Gorilla Networks, a Singapore-based, web3-enabled mobile blockchain network operator; Leflair.com, Vietnam’s leading lifestyle e-commerce platform; Pushkart.ph, a popular grocery delivery company in Philippines; Handycart.vn, a leading online restaurant delivery service based in Vietnam; and Mangan.ph, a leading local restaurant delivery service in Philippines.
For more information on Society Pass, please visit:
Website at https://www.thesocietypass.com or
LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/societypass or
Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/thesocietypass or
Twitter at https://twitter.com/society_pass or
Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/societypass/.
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Media Contacts:
Rosa Milyarna – NusaTrip
rosa@nusatrip.com
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