Agoda

Agoda.com is an online travel agency and metasearch engine for hotels, vacation rentals, flights, and airport transfer. It is owned by Agoda Company Pte. Ltd., headquartered in Singapore, and a subsidiary of Booking Holdings.

Agoda Company Pte. Ltd.
Type of site
Subsidiary
FoundedPhuket, Thailand in 2003 (2003)
HeadquartersSingapore
Area servedGlobal
Founder(s)Robert Rosenstein (co-founder)
Michael Kenny (co-founder)
Key peopleJohn Wroughton Brown (CEO)
Omri Morgenshtern (COO)
ProductsTravel agency
Metasearch engine
ParentBooking Holdings
URLwww.agoda.com

About half of Agoda's bookings are made via its mobile apps.[1] Agoda also offers iOS and Android apps for hotel and property owners.[2] The Grab mobile app allows users to book on Agoda.[3]

History

Agoda was co-founded by Michael Kenny and Robert Rosenstein. Prior to Agoda, Michael Kenny started two other hotel booking websites, PlanetHoliday.com and PrecisionReservations.com, but combined companies into Agoda in 2003, launching Agoda.com in 2005.[4]

In 2007, Agoda was acquired by Booking Holdings (formerly The Priceline Group).[5]

In July 2011, Agoda launched iOS and Android mobile apps for booking hotels.[6][7][8]

In 2014, Booking Holdings acquired Qlika, an Israel-based startup focused on optimization of pay-per-click advertising, and the Qlika team joined Agoda to automate and scale its marketing systems.[9]

In May 2016, Booking Holdings acquired WooMoo, a Taipei-based startup focused on mobile app prototyping, and the WooMoo team joined Agoda in Bangkok to work on mobile app development.[10]

In May 2016, Agoda reviews began to appear on Google search results.[11]

In 2017, Agoda began exploring non-hotel accommodations to try and appeal to millennials.[12]

In 2018, CEO and co-founder Rob Rosenstein became the Chairman of Agoda and a Strategic Advisor to Booking Holdings. John Wroughton Brown, the COO, was promoted as the new CEO of Agoda, with Chief Product Officer Omri Morgenshtern, who joined the company as part of the Qlika acquisition, named as the new COO.[13]

In April 2019, Agoda announced an interest in pursuing greater business emphasis in Israel and Europe, particularly expanding its Tel Aviv-based data science team, increase sales, and purchase promising Israeli startups.[14]

In September 2019, Agoda began work with Digitas for data-driven content marketing across various Asian markets.[15]

In October 2019, Agoda added a feature called Mix and Save, which allows customers to easily book a different room for every night of stay to get the best deal.[16]

In May 2020, Agoda lays off 1,500 people as it struggles to cope financially amid Covid19.[17]

Product Overview

Agoda offers over 2.5 million properties globally.[18] In addition to its accommodation booking platform, Agoda also has its own flight product, allowing users to book airfares on its site without having to leave the platform. This was introduced in October 2019.[19]

The Agoda VIP program enables participating properties to offer exclusive discounts to Agoda VIP status customers, categorized as VIPs because they have made a minimum of five bookings on Agoda in the past 24 months, and are less inclined to cancel bookings.[20] Hotel partners receive special VIP badges displayed on their property on both Agoda.com and on the Agoda mobile app. [20][21]

Agoda offers a "Book Without a Credit Card" option for hotels in Indonesia and Philippines,[22][23] and is the first online digital travel booking platform to enable Australians to book and pay for their holiday accommodation via interest-free instalments.[18]

Criticism

Rewards program

In 2015, USA Today deemed Agoda's reward program to be the worst out of the four booking sites it reviewed.[24]

Hotel burglary incident

In 2018, a customer who booked through the website had items stolen from her hotel room due to poor security. Agoda gave her a goodwill refund, but did not remove the hotel or allow her to post a review criticizing the hotel for legal reasons. A security consultant discussed how this policy reduces the number of negative reviews and that negative reviews are sometimes diluted.[25]

Refusal to offer refund

In 2017, Agoda initially refused to give a refund to a customer that booked a non-existent hotel. The incident gained traction on social media, and Agoda eventually paid a refund following a fraud complaint filed with the Thai government.[26]

Difficulty in leaving the platform

In 2019, Agoda was criticized for difficulties with customers removing their homes from the website. The customers cited customer service issues.[27]

Probe of hotel sites by United Kingdom

In 2017, Agoda, among other hotel sites, was subject to a probe by the Competition and Markets Authority in the United Kingdom. The probe was related to "concerns about hidden charges, pressure selling tactics, misleading discount claims and the order in which results appear on the site pages." Agoda agreed to change how it operates in response to this probe.[28][29]

Requests to drop illegal hotels

In 2017, the Tourism Minister of Thailand called for Agoda among others to drop illegal and unregistered hotels.[30] Agoda was the main target of criticism among those criticized, and its success is part of what drove the Ministry of Tourism & Sports to create a competitive hotel booking website.[31] In 2018, Agoda cooperated with the Taipei City Government's request to remove illegal and unregistered Taipei hotels from its listings.[32] Agoda faced legal action from the Turkish Travel Agencies Association due to alleged unfair competition in relation to the country's competition law.[33] It faced a potential ban as part of this lawsuit.[34]

In November 2018, South Korea's Fair Trade Commission issued a remedial order to Agoda on its refund policies following its noncompliance with a ruling they made.[35]

Text messages to customers

In 2018, a class action lawsuit in the U.S. accusing the company of spamming customers by sending them text messages confirming reservations and promoting the mobile app was dismissed, as the courts deemed them to be transactional messages, and thus no express written consent was required.[36]

Reduction in hotel profits

Agoda's Mix and Save feature leads to shorter stays, which increases hotel upkeep costs thereby reducing profits.[16]

References
  1. O'Neill, Sean (May 9, 2018). "Agoda Names New CEO as It Aims to Go Global". Skift.
  2. "AxisRooms certified as innovative supplier partner 2019 by Agoda". The Economic Times. June 12, 2019.
  3. Hamdi, Raini (April 23, 2019). "Grab Enters Travel Booking With Hotels Now and Flights Next". Skift.
  4. KAVEEVIVITCHAI, NITHI (August 5, 2013). "Boom at the inn". Bangkok Post.
  5. "Priceline.com acquires asian online hotel reservation service co Agoda". Reuters. November 9, 2007.
  6. Schaal, Dennis (July 15, 2011). "Agoda debuts iPhone app with lots of Asia hotels". Phocuswire.
  7. "Agoda.com introduces new iPhone app". Breaking Travel News. July 14, 2011.
  8. "agoda.com launches Android app for easy mobile hotel booking". Breaking Travel News. September 10, 2011.
  9. Empson, Rip (March 11, 2014). "Priceline Buys Israel's Qlika For $15-20M To Boost Global Expansion With Rocket Science-Powered Ad Tech". TechCrunch.
  10. Shu, Catherine (May 24, 2016). "Taipei-based startup Woomoo acqui-hired by Priceline". TechCrunch.
  11. Schwartz, Brian (May 25, 2016). "Google Adds Hotel Reviews From Other Sources". Search Engine Round Table.
  12. "Agoda eyes non-hotel accommodation options to attract millennials". The Jakarta Post. May 18, 2017.
  13. "Agoda names new CEO". The Nation. July 4, 2019.
  14. Halon, Eytan (April 22, 2019). "Travel platform Agoda sets sights on increased Israeli footprint". The Jerusalem Post.
  15. Ng, Avelyn (September 17, 2019). "Agoda appoints Digitas for data-driven content marketing across 8 Asian markets". Marketing Interactive.
  16. Resco, Laura (October 2, 2019). "5 Reasons Why Agoda's Mix and Save Feature Could Be Disastrous for Hotel Operations". Hotel Online (Press release).
  17. "Agoda to lay off a quarter of its staff – Travel Weekly".
  18. "A new way to budget for holidays from Agoda". Holidays With Kids. 2019-12-12. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  19. Hamdi, Raini (October 18, 2019). "Agoda Is Starting to Offer Flights to Take On Rivals in Asia". Skift.
  20. "Agoda introduces AgodaVIP program to boost sales for hotel partners". Global Travel Media. 2019-06-30. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  21. Weekly, Ttr. "Agoda badges hotels VIP partner | TTR Weekly". Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  22. "Check-in: No credit card? No problem". Manila Standard. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  23. "Agoda Kenalkan Cara Pembayaran Baru". investor.id (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  24. lottazachrisson (April 4, 2015). "Which online booking site has the best reward program?". USA Today.
  25. Burns-Francis, Anna (October 8, 2018). "Fair Go: Wellington mum 'gobsmacked' after Auckland hotel burglary due to botched security". 1 News.
  26. Thiagarajan, Tara (December 22, 2017). "Agoda Refunds Woman RM18,000 For Booking Non-Existent Hotel in Bangkok". World of Buzz.
  27. Hamdi, Raini (July 11, 2019). "Agoda Dubbed 'Hotel California' in Asia as Hotel Suppliers Say They Can Never Leave". Skift.
  28. "Six hotel sites agree to stop 'misleading' tactics and hidden charges". Sky News. June 2, 2019.
  29. Calder, Simon (October 27, 2017). "HOTEL Booking Websites Face Investigation into Selling Practices". The Independent.
  30. "Tourism Minister calls on Agoda, OTAs told to drop illegal hotels". The Phuket News. April 1, 2017.
  31. "Phuket News: Ministry to take on big hotel booking sites". The Phuket News. September 18, 2013.
  32. Strong, Matthew (June 12, 2018). "Online reservation site Agoda to remove illegal Taipei hotels". Taiwan News.
  33. "Tourism body to start legal action against 20 booking portals". Daily Sabah. September 8, 2018.
  34. "Turkey Looking to Ban 20 Travel Booking Sites". GTP Headlines. August 14, 2018.
  35. "FTC issues remedial order to Agoda, Booking.com on refund policies". Pulse News. November 21, 2018.
  36. "How About That? TCPA Class Action Dismissed as Text Promoting Defendant's App Was Transactional Message–Express Written Consent Not Required". JDSupra. December 21, 2018.
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