Young Entrepreneurs Build $17 Billion Klook Empire as China's Golden Week Drives Travel Boom
Three young founders have transformed a frustrating travel experience into a $17 billion travel unicorn, with Klook Ltd. preparing for a U.S. IPO amid surging Chinese outbound tourism during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday.
The Hong Kong-based travel technology company has reportedly hired Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase to lead a planned Nasdaq listing in the second half of 2025, targeting roughly $500 million in funding. The move comes as visa-free policies across Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, UAE and South Korea fuel unprecedented demand for overseas travel experiences.
Klook's platform, which focuses on destination activities rather than traditional flight and hotel bookings, has captured young Chinese travelers seeking immersive local experiences abroad. The company achieved profitability in 2023 with gross merchandise value reaching $3 billion, positioning itself as a key beneficiary of China's travel recovery.
The timing reflects broader momentum in Asia-Pacific tourism, with the Asia Pacific Tourism Association forecasting international arrivals will reach 762 million by 2026, surpassing 2019 levels.
Three Founders Turn Travel Pain Points Into Business Opportunity
Klook's origins trace back to an unpleasant Nepal trip experienced by founders Eric Gnock Fah and Ethan Lin, both investment banking veterans from Citigroup, Standard Chartered and Morgan Stanley. Language barriers and difficulty booking authentic local experiences highlighted a gap in the online travel market dominated by flight and hotel platforms.
In May 2014, the duo partnered with technology specialist Bernie Xiong to launch Klook in Hong Kong. The founders leveraged their financial backgrounds for capital strategy while Xiong built the technical infrastructure to connect travelers with local experiences.
The startup initially focused on Hong Kong's tourism hub status, developing direct partnerships with attractions like Disneyland and Ocean Park while creating cloud-based ticketing management systems. This direct-sourcing approach eliminated intermediaries, enabling competitive pricing and quality control.
Klook has since raised over 1 billion across eight funding rounds,with Sequoia Capital participating in five rounds.The company achieved RMB 12 billion yuan($1.7 billion) valuation in April 2024, earning inclusion in the Hurun Global Unicorn Index.
Carving Niche Between OTA Giants and Local Platforms
Klook positioned itself strategically between traditional online travel agencies and local service platforms, describing its model as "Asia's Ctrip plus Meituan-to-store." While maintaining basic OTA services, the company concentrated supply chain efforts on local experiences and activities.
The platform covers over 3,400 destinations globally, offering attraction tickets, transportation passes, dining experiences and outdoor adventures. Rather than competing directly with established players on flights and hotels, Klook targets the "travel, tour, shop, entertainment" segments of destination experiences.
Klook's localization efforts include seamless integration with Alipay and WeChat Pay for Chinese travelers, eliminating foreign exchange complications. The platform supports multi-currency payments for inbound international visitors, creating bidirectional market access.
The company introduced a "travel experience curator" program in 2018, engaging travel enthusiasts to test services and provide user feedback for product development. This co-creation model ensures offerings align with evolving traveler preferences.
Visa-Free Policies Fuel Asia-Pacific Travel Surge
The 2025 Mid-Autumn and National Day holiday period showcased explosive Chinese outbound travel growth, with flight bookings to popular destinations up 40% year-over-year during September 26-October 1, according to Qunar data. Return and off-peak travel bookings surged 120% in the October 8-12 period.
Asia-Pacific Tourism Association projections show international visitor arrivals reaching 619 million in 2024, with growth to 762 million expected by 2026. This trajectory positions the region to exceed pre-pandemic 2019 levels as independent travel demand accelerates.
Klook faces intensifying competition as traditional OTA platforms expand destination services while social media companies like ByteDance and Xiaohongshu leverage content advantages to capture younger travelers. Regional players including Southeast Asia's Traveloka and Japan's Jalan compete using local market knowledge.
The company's 2023 performance showed $3 billion in gross merchandise value with overall profitability, though revenue remains concentrated in Asia-Pacific markets. Klook is targeting European and American expansion with localized products including city walks, outdoor adventures and museum experiences to replicate its Asian success globally.