RateHawk, an online system for booking hotels, air tickets, and transfers for travel professionals, has established its first Asian headquarters in Singapore, with the goal of targeting travel agents in the region.
RateHawk will provide local travel professionals with an advanced booking tool tailored to the local markets. It will offer a localised platform and business operations where local travel agents, operators, travel management companies, and other industry professionals will have access to a full range of travel services on RateHawk’s platform.
The platform will enable local travel agents to book more than 2.5 million accommodation worldwide, flights from over 400 airlines, and transfers in 150 countries. Languages featured include Thai, Chinese, and Korean, with dedicated language support lines in Thai and Korean available within business hours, as well as a 24/7 multi-language support line.
The launch of this hub and legal entity in Singapore follows the success RateHawk has experienced in Europe and the Middle East. It will also facilitate payment transactions, avoiding additional costs due to exchange rates – accepted currencies include Singapore dollar, Thai baht, and Malaysian ringgit.
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 number of RateHawk partners exceeds 70,000 travel professionals worldwide.
RateHawk is part of the UAE-based Emerging Travel Group, and offers a web platform and a mobile app for partners to handle business remotely.
Felix Shpilman, CEO of Emerging Travel Group, commented: “Our early operations in the region have demonstrated the product-market fit of RateHawk in Asia. Therefore, we are now ready to elevate our operations and establish a robust presence in the region. We will continue to further localise the product and ensure full coverage of the entire region.”
RateHawk plans to further strengthen the team and scale the business in Asia by increasing the reach locally, and will be present at several major regional travel fairs, including ITB Asia later this year.