IRPFinalWebsite

• ‘To connect the global with the local’
• ‘Distribute the engagement and profits of tourism’
• ‘Elevate the travel experience’
However, the company has reached a point in their growth where their ambitions to
scale are affected by a number of previously identified factors. In order to gain a better
understanding of the company’s perception of itself and its vision for the future,
I conducted interviews with the CEOs, synthesised below.
5.2 THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE FOUNDERS
TakeMeTour has enjoyed exponential growth since its inception, this year alone carrying
ten times more people than the previous year. This has been attributed to strong dataled
improvements to the platform, and a deep focus on SEO and online advertising.
They operate in promising territory as their value proposition aligns with the Thai
government’s strategy of ‘distribution of tourism’, placing an emphasis on helping
second tier cities to develop outside of traditional tourism destinations in Thailand
(interview N Anukunwithaya).
However, the regulatory environment surrounding these experiences remains
ambiguous and although the company is trying to work with the government to change
the licensing structure for guides, progress remains slow. Further obstacles arise more
generally when trying to bring new tourism products to new destinations in Thailand as
it requires costly research that once developed is easily copiable as no regulation exists
to protect Intellectual Property. This in turn leads to agencies being reluctant to create
new tourism products or services (interview N Anukunwithaya).
To address this would require better education and governance in Thailand and
co-operation by the authorities to change regulation by traditional law, which officials
are reluctant to consider out of systemic protectionism. However, citing a speech by
Joe Gebbia, one of the founders of AirBnB, TakeMeTour subscribe to the belief that
the Sharing Economy is irreversible, therefore meaning that regulatory authorities
will eventually adapt (interview N Anukunwithaya).
TakeMeTour believe part of the reason for slower progress in less developed countries,
such as Thailand, is that people are less adaptive generally and when it comes to change
they look for acceptance through following the crowd. Further, Thai culture is generally
reserved and shy, which indirectly affects how much traction a new product or idea can
gain through early adoption reluctance (interview with T Amornched).
5.3 THE FUTURE FOR TAKEMETOUR
There is a perception that fragmentation of the market currently allows local players
to be strong, but brings with it a challenge of scaleability. Even with unlimited money,
it would still be difficult to expand out of Thailand because of differences in language
and cultures. Therefore, TakeMeTour identify partnerships as a potential way forward
(interview T Amornched).
In relation to the future of tourism and where the company’s innovation capabilities
will come from, successful use of data is seen to be key. However, they also acknowledge
that this is often problematic for smaller travel companies who do not have access to
the data Google or Amadeus collect (interview T Amornched).
40
With regard to the advance of nascent experience technologies that could potentially
compete with their core offering, TakeMeTour’s interpretation is it is not clear how VR
is going to affect the travel industry, if it can be monetised or whether travellers will
even want to use it (interview N Anukunwithaya). Therefore, the emphasis appears to